Yes, despite absolutely no requests at all, Sir Apropos of Nothing has returned. This time his adventures take him to the ancient land of Rogypt where he must free a race of slaves while avoiding a mummy’s curse. It’s “Pyramid Schemes,” now available in paperback, with the eBook version out in a few days.
You can find it here.
PAD
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When the eBook version is out, I’ll be buying this! I’m also anxiously awaiting Hidden Earth #3. Any thoughts on when this will be out?
Just bought two – one for me to read and the other for the cover artist’s library. 🙂
I was going to send you copies, actually.
The only reason there weren’t any requests is because I didn’t know where to send the requests to. 😉 Eagerly awaiting the ebook upon its release!
Got a spot all ready for it!
https://imgur.com/a/0pDjD
In its spot 🙂
https://imgur.com/a/6QVnF
$15 for a paperback? WTF? When did paperbacks get so expensive? I was planning on waiting for the ebook anyway, just wanted to check the cover art and the description, but ye gods.
Also, does this mean that the other 3 books are also now available in ebook form? ‘Cause I’m about halfway through the last Temeraire novel, and starting to think about what to read next *g*
It’s a trade paperback, which as far as I can recall have always commanded a higher price than a mass market paperback. When PAD was here at Denver Comic Con, he had the new printing of Sir Apropos on hand, and it was also trade paperback sized.
I must admit, when it comes to the dead tree edition, if it’s not in hardcover I’d prefer mass market paperback as well. But I also got a new Kindle Paperwhite, and I need to break it in. 🙂
Looking forward to the e-book (will it be available from iTunes?)
Also, will Graphic Audio be doing an audiobook of this one soon?
Thanks…
Yes, once they send me a dámņëd contract.
PAD
Sweet – I’ll be pre-ordering it…keep up the great work…
$15.00 and dimensions of 5.5 x 0.6 x 8.5 inches? Is this a large format paperback? Don’t get me wrong, I will NEED this book in my life eventually, and so it WILL be mine… but I am a bit disappointed I won’t be able to shelve it right next to the original three and have it look right next to them…
Still… awesome that this is a thing! I look forward to reading it. Been so long since I read the first three (plus the comic book) that I should probably refresh my memory of them, first, though.
Good lord, why can’t anyone just buy the book in the form(s) available and be happy?
I honestly have no idea. It’s been one of the Crazy 8 problems. No matter what format we release books in, we get complaints from people who only buy books in some dámņëd format we haven’t got covered.
PAD
If my previous posting was one of the comments that lead to Tom’s reply, to be clear, I fully intend to buy the book someday. And I am sure I will enjoy the tale written within the book.
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My only annoyance is that, when I am NOT reading the book, and it is on the shelf, it seems it won’t match (size-wise) with the previous books in the series. That’s just me being OCD about wanting individual instalments within a series to look good together on a shelf. 😛
Because I have a limited amount of space available… and it’s already overflowing with other books. Other than anthologies for the beach, I simply no longer purchase physical books. I wouldn’t have purchased this at 50 cents less, I wouldn’t have purchased it at 5 bucks less, I wouldn’t have purchased it at $13 less. I will purchase the ebook when it’s available, because that’s my preferred format. You don’t want to wait? Bully for you. I don’t have the kind of disposable cash available to purchase something twice when one of those times is a version I don’t want.
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I was merely surprised at the price for a paperback because it’s been so long since I’ve purchased one, it wouldn’t surprise me in the slightest if that was now standard.
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Also, your comments about waiting for stone tablet or braille version are disingenuous at best, and I would go with rude & insulting. Nobody’s suggesting stone tablet, and if I was blind, you can bet dámņëd well I’d want a braille version (or at least the audio).
Oh, let me be clear, I don’t care what version you buy, or don’t buy. For the record, I’m also going to be buying it as an eBook. But it just seems that whenever PAD posts about a new book, people make it a point to ask about other random formats, complain about how they’re broke, or generally make a lot of excuses to why they won’t be buying the book.
It wasn’t so much any one response on this thread, so sorry if it felt like I was coming at anyone, it just seemed like the thread was heading that way. Looking back, maybe I projected a bit.
There’s certainly valid feedback to be had about prices sometimes, and formats (especially audio related). I just hate to see them so quickly after an exciting announcement.
But I’m just a guy so bully for me.
And for the record, my comments about stone tablets was very ingenuous. You should see my collection.
Is it going to be written on stone tablets sometime in the future? When does the braille version come out? I would buy it if it cost .50 cents less!
After all the hours that went in PAD writing the book, and the hours of enjoyment you’ll no doubt have reading it, just buy the dámņ thing, or don’t.
People are so weird.
A little surprised to be the first person here to offer my thoughts on the book (by which I mean the story) as opposed to the book (as in, the physical or electronic artifact it’s bound to).
I’ll try to be vague about specific plot points, but even that will give away more than I would’ve wanted to know before I read this, so consider this your SPOILER WARNING.
It’s been a while since I revisited Apropos, so I began re-reading the prior books (and comics, and short story…) a bit before Pyramid Schemes came out, so everything was fresh in my mind when I began the new volume. I enjoyed seeing an Apropos who’d matured a bit and was no longer so at war with himself. The progression had been developing over the years, evolving from the first book where virtually everything that happened involved him doing the right thing for the wrong reasons, the right thing accidentally, the wrong thing for the right reasons, or the right thing for the right reasons but convincing himself that it was due to some fluke or secret bad intent. Not to say he’s become a dashing hero of the kind he’s always scorned, but he’s more bold, more willing to stand up for himself or others, less likely to make excuses, and amenable to moving in a heroic direction. Certainly, if he’d encountered the burning bush in “The Woad to Wuin,” even a couple well-placed lightning bolts wouldn’t have stopped him from trying to weasel out of the situation at the next opportunity.
I do want to comment specifically on the character of Ahmway. He was introduced in the kind of situation Apropos would frequently find himself in (though without the black comedy that would go along with it), and his equanimity and clear-headedness about what he did, why he did it, whether he had a practical choice in the matter, and his willingness to accept whatever consequence the aggrieved party deemed appropriate, along with his personal loyalty and integrity made an interesting contrast to Apropos. Though I suppose, he may have been more like Apropos than he seemed, since we don’t have the benefit of Ahmway’s internal monologue. I’ve wondered a few times how you might adapt the Apropos novels in a film without using narration, since going just by what he says and does, his character would come across as far more uncomplicated and noble than we know he is, since we’ve got his internal monologue Hamletting all over the place. For instance, how do you stage a scene like the one from the first book when he accidentally threw his settlement money in the knights’ faces and then decided to pretend it was intentional? The whole point is that from the outside, it appeared to be a deliberate act of moral outrage and not a poorly-timed cough. These are the things I think about.
Still, much more exciting for me than Apropos’s exodus-inspired sojourn was the latter half of the book. Since I read the first novel, it seemed inevitable to me that Apropos’s story would eventually have to come full-circle, between the foreshadowing and my having read my Joseph Campbell. I worried we’d never actually get that far, with Tong Lashing ending on such a down note without any further books coming up (until recently), and the comic and short story not having room for anything more than nods to the larger storyline. The long and short of it is, I’d been waiting for the twist in the narrative to occur for, God help us all, about half my life (I’m sure describing it that way makes us all feel old for very different reasons).
The whole thing went a bit more abruptly than I might’ve hoped, though Apropos-the-narrator did describe a growing inclination to cut to the chase. I’m curious about what might’ve happened had he been fully honest about what had prompted his earlier actions, though the way things turned out was certainly apro— that is, thematically fitting considering what had happened thus far. I’m also curious about which version of the years since Apropos’s departure was more accurate, though it’d be fair to say the final twist gives us a pretty good clue. Nice Trump reference, by the way.
It does seem like there’s room for at least one more volume of Sir Apropos, to settle old business and bring him to whatever drafty study he’s been setting down his memoirs in. The “Receding Heir” story seemed to take place in the middle of one of Apropos’s trademark early-to-mid-book detours, and I’d definitely like a better idea of how he bounced through at least two different kingships. I’m also curious to touch base with Odclay, King Meander, and the surprisingly-long-lived-for-his-occupation Warlord Shank. Considering the fates that various people close to Apropos met in this novel and “Tong Lashing,” I think I’d prefer my favorite character, Sharee the Weaver, continue to enjoy a long and happy retirement outside the scope of this narrative.
Also, random thought from looking at my podcast player; A “Sir Apropos of Nothing”/”Hello From the Magic Tavern” crossover would be fûçkìņg amazing. If anyone from the Chicago Improv reads these words and makes that happen… I guess I’ll owe you ping pong.
I am so sorry I didn’t notice/forgot that I had to include periods to make my line breaks show up. That review really does look imposing not divided into paragraphs.