Sometime last year, when the lockdown was taking up most of my brain space, I decided it was better to just make the most out of all that “free time” re-releasing my first epic fantasy book. Or, rather, the entire trilogy, which starts out with that first book, Jaeth’s Eye. Which sounds like a much better use of my time than an existential angst spiral. I decided I was going to make The Agartes Epilogues available once again as individual ebooks, with a bit of new content, a fresh edit, and most importantly, new covers to match the fantastic ones on Chronicles of the Bitch Queen. (The best part about the self-publishing side of this business is just deciding to do things on a whim. The worst part is how my bank account suffers afterwards).
It was a nerve-wracking but also exciting time going through portfolios–I was committed to finding Filipino artists to breathe new life into the books. I wasn’t sure what I wanted on the covers, so I also spent time studying cover designs of popular epic fantasy books within the genre, which the Liam’s Vigil team kind of grudgingly agreed had one foot in romantic fantasy (I mean, the whole series revolves more around the love triangle than actually killing the damn villain). I didn’t want it to look horror, as the omnibus kind of portrayed. And I’m not going to lie and indicate that this series is as “fast-paced” as Chronicles of the Bitch Queen (which, I know, people have described as slow burn at times). No–this series is just as epic and intimate, but spans over months, even years, as many an epic fantasy book does. I wanted book covers that portrayed the breadth and depth of The Agartes Epilogues.
I finally decided on having Sume Kaggawa take the lead for Book One. Sume, for those who have faithfully read all three Chronicles of the Bitch Queen books, is the shadowy figure behind Queen Talyien Orenar’s ascension to the throne. An inconspicuous, gentle, soft-spoken woman who worked for the Ikessars’ Ryia, her most famous contribution to the Agos-agan universe was her seeming betrayal of her employer (and friend) by presenting the idea of a betrothal between the Ikessars’ Prince Rayyel and the Orenars’ Talyien to none other than Warlord Yeshin himself.
Sume is none of these things in The Agartes Epilogues, of course. Set a few decades before Chronicles of the Bitch Queen, Agartes shows Kaggawa’s humble origins. The Legacy of the Lost Mage edition seeks to highlight her adventure even more than the previous editions of this series, and having her on the cover of the first book is a start.
We did a simultaneous cover launch and re-release of the first book last August 31 (I didn’t post about it here because frankly, I forgot. That’s the annoying bit about having to juggle multiple projects at once…I just forget things now). If you see the price at $2.99 or below, it’s on sale! Grab it before it goes back to full price…
