Son of the Black Sword making all the Best Of lists

Son of the Black Sword is doing pretty darned good. I was curious how my first foray into epic fantasy would do compared to my regular urban fantasy, but it has been really solid, steady sales for months now. Audio especially has been great. It appears that this is my best reviewed book yet. Plus many of my regular fans were surprised that I could get all literary nuanced and shit.

But anyways, Son of the Black Sword made the LA Times holiday picks:

http://www.latimes.com/style/holiday/la-jc-holiday-books-guide-fiction-20151104-html-htmlstory.html

And it made BuzzFeed’s best of 2015 list:

http://www.buzzfeed.com/awesomer/best-fantasy-books-of-2015?utm_term=.inLkOvjPk#.fbJDAnQ1D

It is kind of funny. I’ve gone my whole career without hardly ever being mentioned in any of the mainstream review places. That’s been true for most Baen authors. But not this year. Now we’re popping up all over the place. Go figure.  🙂

And Son of the Black Sword was picked as one of the best audiobooks of the year:

http://www.audible.com/mt/Best-of-2015-Fantasy((Holy cats that’s a long link! Written link has been shortened to help mobile users. Just click anywhere in here. Even with these words it’s shorter than that link!- Jack))

So in the fantasy category, my book with a Jim Butcher cover blurb, came in only behind Jim Butcher. Because Jim Butcher wins at life. When notified of this (mostly by me typing CURSE YOU BUTCHER!!! on facebook) Jim told me I need to add a dog, because people love dogs.  Note to self. Add dog to next book. This time, don’t have werewolf eat it.


Baen Podcast, SotBS part 2
Monster Hunter Memoirs: Grunge

49 thoughts on “Son of the Black Sword making all the Best Of lists”

  1. He only said that because there was a talking cat in his book this year, and he doesn’t want you to compete in that category. He knows just as well as anybody that if there’s something the Internet loves, it’s a talking cat.

    1. I saw Jim Butcher when he was GoH at Dysprosium this year. (IMNSHO he’s a very nice guy.) His comment was (IIRC) “I’d like to think you’re going to love this book because of the tight plotting and complex characters, but no you’re going to love it because it has talking cats.” He then went on to explain, “We see that your warehouse is rodent free, if you would like it to remain rodent free . . . ” -eg-

      Meanwhile, congrats to Larry. 🙂

  2. “Note to self. Add dog to next book. This time, don’t have werewolf eat it.”

    Made me laugh.

    I loved SotBS. I’m already waiting impatiently for the sequel. How many books do you think this’ll turn into? Are we talking traditional trilogy, or are you going to be your ridiculous, lovable self and spin it into 10-15 volumes?

    Keep it coming, Larry. We need more like you.

      1. Please just don’t go all GRRM/Jordan/Weber on us with this one. Those interminable, door-stopper series *really* abuse the readers and I, for one, have lost interest in all of ’em. If a single story (note: NOT connected-while-standing-alone-just-fine stories in the same universe, ala MHI) goes beyond five volumes, I figure the author’s just milking me.

        1. I’d say it really depends on how the story goes. As long as you don’t have books for books sake in the same series they might NEED a dozen books to properly finish a good epic sized story. Just don’t do the shit Jordan did at like the 7th or 8th book and make it mostly filler adding a fuckton of new characters to focus on we don’t give a shit about before finally finishing up.

          The one that pissed me off the most was the one that spent nearly the entire book(not sure if it’s all of it as I gave up) telling where everybody was during the time they removed the devil’s curse from magic. I knew it was very important without you taking the whole next volume and beating the importance of the act into my head with a sledgehammer, I am not that stupid.

      2. I hate buying books when the series is not yet finished. The wait for the others just becomes torture.

        And yes, I’ve subjected myself to the torture knowing that this was the first of several books.

        Now get back to work and keep writing. Stop having a life.

  3. As the saying goes, “There’s no such thing as bad publicity.”

    I thought the line was originally from Sam Goldwyn, but it seems to have come from Brendan Behan’s brother. Anyhow, for proof, look at Donald Trump.

  4. And I’m certain that some people are wondering how Larry “gamed” the LA Times and Buzzfeed. 😉

    1. Last time the conspiracy theory at Vile 770 was “Book Bombs” were how I got on the NYT list… Even though I’ve never book bombed myself ever, and even if I did, Amazon sales don’t count toward the NYT. 😀

      So my guess? The Healing Power of Crystals.

      1. They were looking for a Scientology angle during Sad Puppies. Maybe they think you send your minions to buy your books in large quantities, or something.

    2. Here we have certain proof that the literati’s warnings of Larry “ruining his career” by defying them were actually reverse psychology.

      Authors who bow to such demands only incur the CHORFs’ contempt. Persistently refusing to be their bitch gains their grudging respect.

  5. I tried picking it up in my local bookstore on my lunch break yesterday. Sadly it was not available. I’ll have to scoop it up on Amazon later. Their loss, plus Larry gets my cash either way.

  6. I think it’s a fantastic book. Actually one of the best books I have read this year. I think you will see some new additions to your fan base because of it. For example take me. I read your blog all the time but don’t really read the MHI books. I read the first one, liked it, but I’m not a fan of the genre. But I love SotBS and cant wait for the story to continue.

  7. *Puts on tinfoil hat*

    What if they’re trying to discredit you in the eyes of the puppies?

    “Shit, we can’t stop him, what do we do?”

    “Fuck, I don’t know, let’s try and make him one of ours and see if that works.”

  8. Kind of related, but I figured that you’ll find it amusing: Dead Six was spotlighted in RECOIL Magazine’s 2015 Holiday Gift Guide.

    Yes, I read RECOIL. Don’t judge me.

    1. I had to go out on the web to find out that RECOIL is still being printed, for some reason. I thought those losers had closed their doors years ago.

  9. Don’t sell your self short, Larry…ewww, I punned. Even if we weren’t all willing minions of the “Lord of Evil” we would say your stuff is actually good. I’m biased. Your gun work, humor and just plain Badassitude are right up my alley. Even if I could only read your works while wearing my pajamas, sipping my hot chocolate, deep within my “safe space” I’d still enjoy them. I could never admit to anyone that I did, but I still would. If I were a hippster douchebag, that is.

    1. Pffft. They’d never get to a fight: it would be love/epic bromance at first sight. With belly rubs. And Harry would likely be out one temple dog, but for his daughter…

  10. I told you back after Alpha AND after Exodus that killing sweet fur babies is bad juju. And both were German Shepherd Dogs. Dexter still cringes whenever he sees me reading one of your books.

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