Most of you will remember Mr. Shan as the author of the Cirque du Freak vampire novels (which recently hit the big screen) and The Demonata Series. Procession of the Dead, however, is his first adult novel and part of a trilogy called The City. It debuted in the United States on June 4th from Grand Central Publishing. You can find out more about Darren Shan and his books on his website.
Details about the giveaway are at the bottom of this post (contest is international). Here's the cover image (after the fold):
About the Book:The City trilogy is a noirish, gritty urban fantasy for adults from the bestselling author otherwise known as Darren Shan. Quick-witted and cocksure, young upstart Capac Raimi arrives in the City determined to make his mark. As he learns the tricks of his new trade from his Uncle Theo -- extortion, racketeering, threatening behaviour -- he’s soon well on his way to becoming a promising new gangster. Then he crosses paths with The Cardinal, and his life changes forever. The Cardinal is the City and the City is The Cardinal. They are joined at the soul. Nothing moves on the streets, or below them, without the Cardinal’s knowledge. His rule is absolute. As Capac begins to discover more about the extent of the Cardinal’s influence on his own life he is faced with hard choices. And as his ambition soars ever higher he will learn all there is to know about loss, and the true cost of ultimate power!Here's the author talking about the U.S. release:
About Darren Shan:Darren Shan was born in London but at an early age he moved to Limerick, Ireland, with his parents and younger brother. He is a New York Times bestselling author. An extended biography can be found on Mr. Shan's website.
Giveaway Details:
Anyone may enter, unless you live somewhere where I cannot ship the books, like the bottom of the ocean or the Moon. Otherwise, it's open worldwide.
To enter to win a copy of Procession of the Dead you may do any of the following things:
1. Leave a general comment (you can say anything you like)(if your email is not attached to your profile, then leave a way to contact you)
2. Leave a comment telling me a weird, bizarre, scary, or downright creepy thing that you have seen or done (it can be anything, just tell me about it, briefly or at length; you can even make something up)(again, please make sure I have a way to contact you)
3. Send an email to arconna[at]yahoo[dot]com with the subject line as "Darren Shan" (you can put whatever you like in the email)
The first two winners will be selected at random from a list of all entries. The third winner, however, will be selected based on the most entertaining response to the 2nd option above.
Additional entries:
--Follow this blog on Google (the follow widget is on the right-hand side)(+1 to follow; +1 if you already follow)
--Subscribe to this blog via RSS, Email, or the Kindle (links on the right; let me know which or if you already subscribe)(+1 to subscribe or be subscribed)
--Tweet about this giveaway with @shaunduke in the message (+1)
--Blog about this giveaway (provide a link in your comment)(+1)
--Share this giveaway via Stumbleupon, Digg, or any other social network (+1 for each; provide links)
Contest runs until June 25th, 2010. As long as it's still the 25th for you, you can still enter.
Thanks and good luck!
This book looks great. I wish I had done something creepy. I am one boring dude in that respect. But I am subscribed to your RSS, so that's twice entered! Get me at davebaxter [at] sonofhowell [dot] com
ReplyDeleteConsider yourself entered twice, then :). Thanks! Spread the word!
ReplyDeleteI'm woefully under read in adult urban fantasy, but I'm willing to learn. Thanks for hosting!
ReplyDeleteI've heard some very good things about Shan's writing, and I love the cover for this novel.
ReplyDeleteSomething creepy . . . nope, nothing I'm going to put out there for the world to see. ;-D
Great post!
Jonathan: Your'e entered. Thanks for popping by. Spread the word :).
ReplyDeleteTeresa: Why thanks :). I didn't do much. I just took information from various sources and put it all together...thank Shan and his publicist and publisher for doing all the real work.
I liked this on stumble but I have no idea how to provide a link for that. o.o Also just RTed! Which, since we follow each other, you can view there!
ReplyDeleteUhhhm and I really don't have a scary/wierd/bizarre thing that's happened to me. However, something that was pretty scary to me for a while: this past May, I shaved my head. I used to have hair past my shoulder and I looooved my hair to death. It was pretty, I loved brushing it, and it made me look sexy!
But, yes, I shaved it. And for weeks I agonized over how I would look, how I might just look flat out ugly without hair, and it'd be terrible - and, Dear God, I'd have to face my exboyfriend with my bald head because we had class together, and what would he think? Would he think, "Good thing I broke up with that girl, she looks ugly now, that was dumb!" And I had my mom saying I'd cry and cry and cry, and it would grow back and look horrible, and I'd hate myself. But, I decided to shave it anyway:
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=30777181&l=29b3b6143b&id=1293570593 (if the link doesn't work, I'll find something else for you!)
Despite all my fear, shaving my head was entirely worth it. I raised almost $500 to go towards children's cancer research, and donated my hair to Locks of Love.
I'm not trying to pull the "look it me I did something awesome" card, because seriously. o.o that is one of the scariest things I've done. I'm not much of a dare devil, but, jeez! No hair? But, as scary as it was, I'm happy I did it, and my hair is slowly growing back. :3
Yay contest! Thanks for setting this up and I'm excited to see what happens of it.
And you may contact me at suz [dot] myszkowski [at] gmail [dot] com
Consider yourself entered! Thanks for the story. I'd say I know how you feel, but it's strangely not the same for a guy to shave his hair off...
ReplyDeleteI once made the mistake of befriending a dishevelled UCSC student. He started stalking me. If I said hello he'd make comments about soiling his pants in a Sean Connery voice.
ReplyDeleteI'm a little afraid of him. (I think he's watching me... RIGHT NOW!)
I once met my exact physical double. We had no known genetic relationship. He actually was a nice guy.
ReplyDeleteIf life was a soap opera I guess that would make me the evil twin.
a.t.johns@shaw.ca
You're both entered. Thanks for the comments :)
ReplyDeleteHello! I'm kinda excited for this book (crosses fingers for the win). I followed you, email subscribed, and tweeted.
ReplyDeleteA weird/scary/unbelievable story...
Okay. Here you go.
The first time I went to India (in 1999), I went to Varanasi (aka Benaras) which is THE holiest of holy cities in India. It's where the living and the dead collide. It is perhaps one of the most crowded cities in all of India, yet the river is littered with dead things (dead cows, dead fish) and, because mendicants (holy men who have forsaken all worldly possessions) travel to Varanasi to die (you gain a certain amount of karma for dying in such a holy place) it is not uncommon to see vultures picking at decaying human carcasses.
True story--I saw it all.
Varanasi is perhaps most famous in the western world for its ghats--you've probably seen those pictures in National Geographic of way too many people crowded together on steps that go down into the water.THAT'S Varanasi). One of the most famous ghats are The Burning Ghats--the place where Hindu's cremate their dead. I was young, stupid, and totally out of line... I went as a sort of touristing expediton to the Burning Ghats.
The Burning Ghats are lifeless. Literally. Dead bodies wrapped in white sheets rest atop pyres of dull brown logs. The men of the family--sons, cousins, nephews, sometimes fathers--huddle around the bodies. Also dressed in white, they look like wraiths waiting to welcome a new soul to their ghoulish brotherhood. The ghat is devoid of color--no flags, no colorful saries, no saffron robes for the sadhus. Only the brown, gray and white of death.
Until they light the pyre and hot yellow, red, and sometimes blue flames lick up the side of the wood, devour the body.
It smells like BBQ. But that's not the worse part.
Down towards the water, a man piles something into a boat. At first, it appears as though he's stacking bundles of wood tied together by white cloth. It makes sense, but it doesn't. If it were wood, he should be unloading it at the Burning Ghat for use in the pyres, not loading it from the Ghat into his boat. I squint and peer through the smoke that fills the air. I move down the steps, closer to the water.
Babies. He's stacking babies swaddled in the same white cloth as the burning corpses above.
He rows out into the water. Solemnly, the boy that is with him lifts each white bundle, ties a weight around it and drops it into the water with a small, hollow plop.
Babies can't be burned. They have no soul.
Tina: Consider yourself entered!
ReplyDelete