I first met Brad Beaulieu when he submitted the novella “From the Spices of Sanandira” to Black Gate magazine. It was a terrific tale, filled with magic, intrigue, and a desert filled with long-buried secrets. Alas, Black Gate was nearly defunct by that point, and we’d largely stopped buying fiction. He eventually found a home for it at Scott H. Andrew’s excellent Beneath Ceaseless Skies, where it was published in two parts (you can read it free here).

I followed Brad’s career closely after that. He published The Lays of Anuskaya trilogy through Night Shade Books (2011-2013), and late last year I heard he’d signed a contract for a major new Arabian Nights-inspired series with DAW: The Song of Shattered Sands. The first volume, Twelve Kings in Sharakhai, is scheduled to be released next month, and you can read all the details — and get a peek at the absolutely gorgeous cover art — in the wraparound image above (click for bigger version.)

Twelve Kings in Sharakhai will be published by DAW on September 1, 2015. It is 592 pages, priced at $24.95 in hardcover, and $9.99 for the digital version. The cover art is by Adam Paquette. Get more details at Brad’s website.