I’ve been running this website for about three and a half years. In those three and a half years I’ve had the wonderful opportunity to meet and interact with some incredible authors, publishers, agents, PR gurus, fellow reviewers, and wonderful readers. I’ve found a vibrant and incredible internet community, which keeps me endlessly entertained and has helped me through my own struggle with cancer more than any of you will ever really know. All of that being said, I’ve never really felt quite as intensely proud, pleased and vindicated (because seriously, I love his writing and I’ve always believed that he’d go incredibly far) as I do right now.

My life isn’t very exciting. I kind of plod through the days and try to keep my almost two-year-old from getting herself killed. I throw in a few good books for good measure and I work occasionally but otherwise, I’m pretty boring. I tend to live vicariously through the wonderful news that people send my way, like the news I got today, which has peeked my peckish spirits immensely.

I think Dave-Brendon De Burgh is probably one of the first people I started talking to when I began this reviewing gig. He runs this wonderful website and has spent all the time I’ve known him working on a fantasy novel, of which I’ve read part (and enjoyed). He’s been doggedly editing, re-editing, writing, and re-writing for years now and it’s finally paying off. I feel like this is a huge victory for him, and my geeky self can’t help but feel like the news he released today is some sort of huge accomplishment for reviewers, genre fans, and geeks everywhere. It also shows just what is possible when people are determined and keep on keeping on, no matter how tough life gets.

It’s been a true joy for me to talk to Dave over the years, to watch him grow and develop as an author, and to see all that effort pay off with today’s stunning news.

Congratulations, Dave. I haven’t been this genuinely happy for a fellow genre geek in…. well, years.

The press release is below. You can read the original here. According to the author, the book is scheduled to drop sometime during South Africa’s Autumn next year.

ANNOUNCING:
Betrayal’s Shadow by Dave-Brendon de Burgh.

“Brice Serholm, a general in the kingdom of Avidar’s elite Blade Knights, is faced with a difficult decision – remain true to his king and his duty, or save the lives of his men. His choice takes him into the last bastion of a forgotten deity and sets him on the path to godhood.”

Now, we can’t say too much yet. But here’s what you need to know: Dave is a South African writer. His writing has appeared in a variety of anthologies (notably AfroSF in 2012). He’s a lover of all things SFF, and he’s a brilliant Fantasy writer (if we may say so ourselves). Betrayal’s Shadow is his first novel, and is Book 1 in the series The Mahaelian Chronicle.

Keep checking in for updates, details, author interviews, and many other lovely things!

Betrayal’s Shadow will hit the shelves in autumn of 2014. We hope you’re as excited as we are.

In Dave’s words: BE EPIC!