Read a Free Pathfinder Tales Story from Howard Andrew Jones
Every time I call Howard, he’s writing. He’s typing while we’re talking. He denies it, but I can hear the keyboard in the background. I think he wrote his first novel while waiting in line at the DMV. The man is the hardest working writer in the business.
Two weeks ago I called up to ask if he remembered that Edison Marshall Hercules novel he mentioned to me a while back (he did — Earth Giant), and while we were talking he wrote an entire short story. “Bells for the Dead.” If I hadn’t distracted him, it probably would have turned into a novel. The man drives me crazy.
Anyway, the story is now online at Paizo, as part of their free Pathfinder Tales library — which already includes BG Contributing Editor Bill Ward’s story “The Box,” and an earlier tale from Howard, “The Walkers from the Crypt” (which he wrote while waiting for a red light to change).
“Bells For the Dead” features the gunslinging bounty hunter Lisette from Howard’s new novel Stalking the Beast, in a brand new adventure. It will be published in four parts at Paizo.com. Read the first installment here.
Interested in winning a free copy of Stalking the Beast? Enter our contest! Just tell us your favorite sword & sorcery tale in one paragraph or less, and win one of five copies, compliments of Paizo. Full details here.
Howard’s previous Pathfinder book was Plague of Shadows, released in 2011. His most recent novel was The Bones of the Old Ones.
Interested in more Pathfinder goodness? Black Gate can hook you up. Check out the latest right here — including the first chapters of Dave Gross’s novels King of Chaos and Queen of Thorns, and our review of Tim Pratt’s Liar’s Blade.
Howard does really great work when you factor in volume. Quality and volume is a tough, stump-filled field to plow.
I speak from experience. 19 novels in a little over 10 years, here. Plus we had three kids.
> 19 novels in a little over 10 years, here. Plus we had three kids.
Anyone who can write 19 novels in 10 years is a consummate professional. I don’t think that many novels can actually be done while having children, though. Are you sure you didn’t hallucinate some of them?
Beyond the Black River by Robert E Howard.
Conan, hand’s-down, is the undisputed greatest sword&sorcery character and my favorite Conan story is Beyond the Black River. It’s an awesome frontier story that is also the only Conan tale written in a 1st person narrative by a follow soldier of Conan. The narrator is a Gunderman which would be the equivalent of a pioneer, so by no means is a “city bred civilized weakling” but in comparison to the Cimmerian scout, he’s like a cultured and educated, gentleman. But even more savage than Conan are the primorial Picts. The extreme contrasts make for great elements of the story, and is probably the most unique Conan story, that Howard wrote.
Hi Kid Greg,
Thanks for entering our contest! Although, y’know, technically contest entries are supposed to be mailed to john@blackgate.com, so participants don’t influence each other. But we’ll overlook it, just this once.
[…] been interviewed by Suvudu, garnered increasing fan praise, and posted the first two parts of his new story “Bells For the Dead,” featuring the gunslinging bounty hunter Lisette from Stalking the Beast, […]