Kind things said at Powell's

So many people have been saying such nice things about The Servant of the Manthycore. This is from Powell's:

I started reading the Servant of the Manthycore series on The Sword Review site. I found it to be well researched historical fantasy. The characterizations, atmosphere, and action combine to make one feel they are actually experiencing life in ancient Mesopotamia... a vivid fantasy that lives and breathes.

Terry Weide, author of Dream of Power, Dream of Glory

Thanks, Terry!

Folks on Amazon with kind words...

So far it has been all good...

M. Pizzo
"...Ehart pulls from a known world (expertly and factually), and while it's far enough removed from our own to solidly qualify as fantasy, it freed him to create a fascinating heroine and story. I like my characters morally ambivalent...people who do what they know they gotta do -- but suffer exquisitely and privately for their conviction. The Servant is that and more. She is a warrior woman hell-bent, literally, yet utterly sympathetic. (Buffy who?!) This book is fast-paced, terrifically-written, and character-driven - and it is both heart-breaking and optimistic. Buy it today - you won't put it down until you're done with it."

Nathan E. Meyer
"Michael Ehart... weaves a cast of complex, vividly drawn characters in morally difficult situations against a well crafted historical/mythos backdrop and then proceeds full speed with his story.

Adventure, battle, the eternal power of love, betrayal, ambiguous decisions by courageous characters. I can't give this book enough praise."


Jeff Draper
"The stories that make up the narrative arc are... filled with good guys and bad guys and fighting and blood and magic. There's just nothing not to like.

...what really attracts me to this story is the main character and the weight of betrayal that she carries around for many, many years. Ehart masterfully weaves her through her paces and combines longing sadness with grim determination. She is a character that reveals both the good and the evil that men do."

More kind words

A very nice review of The Servant of the Manthycore on Book Book:

...the manthycore holds her childhood love captive. as the monster feeds, she always asks to see the vision of her lover, radiant and young, as she remembers him. altho ninshi has not aged, she is scarred by the countless fights she has endured, older from the weight of the curse she has beared for so many centuries.

it is her "daughter" miri, a slave girl ninshi purchased on a whim, who allows us to see the soft side of our heroine. it is through miri we piece together more of ninshi's stories. ehart does a fine job in his prose, evoking the feeling and setting of the time.

Thanks, Cyn!

RadCon today---see you there!

Radcon
Itinerary for Ehart, Michael
Panel Start Panel End Panel Title

Panel Location Panel Description
Moderator in Bold

Sat Feb 16 4:00:pm Sat Feb 16 5:00:pm Small Press
Cobalt What is small press? Who publishes? What can you expect? Why small press is putting out the best Science Fiction in the industry.
Ehart, Michael Eudaly, Rhonda Kenyon, Kay Slinski, Beth Swenson, Patrick

Sat Feb 16 1:00:pm Sat Feb 16 2:00:pm Special Abilities: What is the price of Power?
Garnet So your character has special abilities, magic, super strong, fast, or what ever. What is the cost? How to keep real without writing a Greek tragedy.
Ehart, Michael Fredericks, Deborah Helfers, John Louve, Rhiannon McGalliard, Julie Morgan, Christine

Sat Feb 16 11:00:am Sat Feb 16 1:00:pm Lunch as a Book Signing
Bronze The Barnes and Noble Book Signing. Barnes and Noble join with the Northwest’s finest authors and provide you a two hour window to track down the greatest writers and make them sign your books. Bring the stacks, the piles, everything you have at once.
yyAlexander, Alma Radford, Irene Lake, Jay Taylor, Bruce Bonham, Maggie Ehart, Michael Cherryh, Carolyn Turtledove, Dr. Harry yyBob Brown yyBarr, Donna yyBriggs, Patricia yyCooper, Brenda Fredericks, Deborah Helfers, John Kenyon, Kay Levine, David R.

Sat Feb 16 9:00:am Sat Feb 16 10:00:am Swords and Their Friends
Harvest A Hands on discussion of swords, armor, and related handheld weapons. Geared twoards the writer, collector, reenactors, gamers, and general enthusiasts. I'll bring mine and so should you.
McWatters, Mike Farley, Mike Radford, Irene Ehart, Michael

Sat Feb 16 12:00:am Sat Feb 16 1:00:am Midnight Horror Reading
Cobalt Come and hear the Best Horror Writers in the Northwest read their short Horror at Midnight, Friday the 15th.
Morgan, Christine Ehart, Michael Lake, Jay Eudaly, Rhonda McGalliard, Julie White, Lori

Fri Feb 15 4:00:pm Fri Feb 15 5:00:pm Computer Security
Harvest So computer hacking is done by bored kids with nothing better to do right? WRONG! The world of computer security has changed dramatically in the last five years. Come and join in a discussion lead by Dr. Carol Taylor, EWU Professor in Computer Science and Mark Rounds Instructor and PhD Candidate in Computer Science about the realities of cyberscape.
Ehart, Michael Levine, David R. Taylor, Carol

"Without Napier" to EDF

Just got an acceptance for my French hard-boiled noir story "Without Napier" from EDF. I really enjoyed writing this pastiche of the French detective stories of the 50's and 60's. I'll keep you posted as to when it will appear.
If you are not already a subscriber, get on over there. Every Day Fiction has become a part of my morning ritual--- a new story appears in my inbox each morning, and I read it over my first cup of coffee. best of all? It is free.

#13 in Epic fantasy!

Oh, how I love Canada! Slipped to #19 at this writing, but peaked today at #13 on Amazon Canada!

Sic transit gloria Amazonia

Just had pointed out to me that The Servant of the Manthycore is #55 in the Dark Fantasy catagory on Amazon Canada. When I announced this at work a co-worker opined that I had clearly captured the entire dark fantasy readership of Canada, all 2 of them.
Anyway, basking in the small and temporary glory!

February's First Sale!

Just heard from Camille and Jordan at EDF. They have decided to go with my boxing story "Only His Name." It was great fun to write, and I am thrilled to have another story with them.

Michael Moorcock's kind words

While it seems that I have shouted it from every digital rooftop, it has been pointed out that not everyone knows or realizes that Michael Moorcock, the legendary dfantasy writer, creator of Elric and many other classic characters, was kind enough to write a foreword for The Servant of the Manthycore.
For those of you who have not yet read the book, here is a teaser--- Mr. Moorcock's foreword:

In the fine tradition of Mary Renault, Henry Treece, Thomas Burnett Swann or Rex Warner, Michael Ehart has given us an outstanding story of the ancient world. This is a narrative concerning the fantastic unlike most books published today as fantasy fiction. It resonates with the authenticity of genuine myth, bringing a deep, true sense of the past; a conviction which does not borrow from genre but mines our profoundest dreams and memories; the kind which give birth to myths. As Ehart's protagonist, the beautifully realized warrior woman sometimes known as Ninshi, tells us "Songs all end up right. Life does not." Yet, as she demonstrates, it is part of the human condition that we are forever striving to make things end up like the songs.

This novel demonstrates the difference between a good folk tale, a genre story and an enduring myth. The genre story usually dodges the facts of genuine tragedy while the myth, or the story which retains the quality of myth, does not.

Michael Ehart's story of dark bloodshed, torment and betrayal invokes the earliest civilizations of Mesopotamia, of Ur and Babylon, set against landscapes we all now know so well from our nightly news bulletins. These are the places where our oldest mythologies began and where our youngest ones are now being created. He provides us with telling images as well as some tremendous descriptions, none more so than the terrifying monster of the title.

This is a grim and gripping tale appealing to all of us who grew up fascinated by our Indo-European heritage, by Fraser's Golden Bough or Graves's White Goddess, by Zoroaster and the Epic of Gilgamesh or tales of the Minotaur, even Beowulf and The Green Knight.

This book is a thoroughly engaging page-turner. It's a very long time since I read a fantastic tale as good as this. Michael Ehart is an impressive talent.
-- Michael Moorcock

Now you know why I was walking on air when I received this!