Q&A with Jon Sprunk discussion

Shadow's Son is my debut fantasy novel. It was published in June of this year by Pyr Books in the United States, and it became available in the U.K. in July. It will appear in France sometime in October with other countries to follow.

Please feel free to ask me anything about the book here.

Not much for the US cover art. I was shown a couple drafts early on, but that was about it.

For the UK cover, the publisher (Gollancz) actually gave me some options. I didn't have total control or anything, but they did listen.

Hi Jon

Thanks for setting up this forum, I have read that you are contracted for 3 books however does the story of Caim & Kit end there or will you be writing beyond 3 books as well?

The trilogy will wrap up "this" story for Caim & Kit (and don't forget Josey!). But I have some ideas for another series beyond that. I would like to write something else in between, though.

I downloaded Shadow's Son sample from Amazon for my Kindle on my PC last night and the bloody thing hooked me. I ended up buying it. Obviously, I'm finding it to be a very fun read.

My question revolves around research. I write dark urban fantasy and horror stories, and have only written one epic fantasy short story. Otherwise, I have no idea how to even begin the research for writing epic fantasy. Where did you start for Shadow's Son? Especially concerning assassins and their techiques.

Jason: first, thanks for checking out Shadow's Son. I appreciate it.

As to research, I suggest writing a tight, entertaining story first, and worry about the research later. In fact, unless you need a pertinent detail that simply cannot be fabricated, I don't know if you need any hard facts (caveat: unless you are writing historical fiction or hard sci-fi).

For Son I relied on 30 years of reading fantasy, a couple decades of martial arts study, and a day job where confronting physical violence is a regular occurance. That's about it.

Awesome. Thank you, Jon. So far, I'm really into the Shadow's Son.

Just an FYI: I'll be at Dragon*Con this year. Pyr has a booth where I expect to spend much of my time.

I was wondering if Josey would be around again. It seems Caim is going on a trip. I didn't know if he would leave her behind and not think of her again. But the position she takes on at the end of the book... we can't leave her behind. She has some very large influence in the world. I am curious to see what she does with it being as young as she is.

You've not seen the last of Josey.

So glad to have not seen the last of Josey. I really liked her. And I am curious what it will mean to the people. I have wondered if the citizens will be divided on their thoughts and who they follow.

I am really curious with how Caim falls into the shadows world. I'm hoping to learn more on his family history. AND I wonder if his mother is still alive! He never really saw her "die".

Aside: on my blog you can hear about my Dragon*Con experience.

Melissa, I wish I could say more. :)

Jon's blog, in case you don't have it right handy:

http://jonsprunk.blogspot.com/

Thanks, Joe. :)

No worries, chum.

I do have a question for you, though, since this is a Q&A. What authors do you currently draw inspiration from? I'm on a big Joe Abercrombie kick.

I draw inspiration from every good book I read, because it makes me want to achieve something great. I enjoyed Abercrombie's First Law series, A Song of Fire and Ice (Martin), the Black Company (Cook), and many many others.

My inspiration these days definitely comes from Joe Abercrombie and David Gemmell, and I also go back and peruse R. E. Howard from time to time (I'm able to put the racial biases of the time aside, of course).

You know, I keep hearing Glen Cook and Steven Erikson mentioned a lot in the same breath as Abercrombie and Gemmell. I've tried reading them both and for some reason or another I put them down and moved on to other works. That was years ago though, so maybe I need to give them another try.

I would call GRRM an influence as well, though I have to admit I'm on fence these days since it's taking so doggone long between books (sometimes I wonder if we'll ever see another).

Hey folks,

Just wanted to say a big thank you to everyone who has taken the time to review SHADOW'S SON on Amazon or some other online site. You guys are helping spread the word in a big way.

If you haven't reviewed the book, please consider it.

Thanks!

Here's something pretty cool. Peter V. Brett, author of the best-selling THE WARDED MAN has Jon's book tagged as currently reading and with a four-star rating. Excellent.

Wow! I met Peat at World Fantasy last year -- a very cool guy.

Don't know if anyone saw this, but Tyson at Speculative Book Review has SHADOW'S SON listed as #3 in his Top 5 picks of "The Year's Best...So Far."

http://speculativebookreview.blogspot...

Yep. I'm hoping it survives to be one of his favs for the entire year.