The Theraeon/The Strains of Malice
"This is an authentic and well developed epic fantasy world with lots of heroes to root for and villains to dislike. This may be of interest for fans of ‘The Song of Ice and Fire’ Books in terms of format and genre, and Prince Magnus certainly seems to give Joffrey a run for his money."
Charlotte Walker, LoveReading
"Andrew Beardmore is a fantastic storyteller with a penchant for meticulous details. He crafts a world so humanistically flawed and tremendously intriguing. I am bouncing in anticipation of the second book, and would give an arm and a leg to have this book directed into a movie series.”
onlinebookclub.org
SERIES UPDATE
As previously reported here, I now have alternative options to KDP for The Strains of Malice. However, I decided to pull out of the contract that I signed with a mainstream UK publisher in April 2023 – this during the initial fourteen-day period, as was my contractual right. I am currently weighing up the best way to progress from here.
In the meantime, the KDP versions of the series have been restored to Amazon, but these have been temporarily re-assigned to a new series which is also entitled The Strains of Malice. This is for two reasons. Firstly, it is due to consistent advice from publishers about what is more manageable and attractive to them – this being a series of four books of c.400 pages apiece, as opposed to the original Theraeon series, which was five books of c.800 pages apiece. And secondly because, once published in KDP, you cannot change the titles – and as both currently published books are entitled The Strains of Malice (Parts I and II), I've had no choice but to call the new series The Strains of Malice as well. Fortunately, it doesn't look too bad - check out the graphic below.
However, should I decide to go with another mainstream option (and I already have interest), the series title and individual book titles will change again. This will be to reflect a four-book series (aka a tetralogy) revolving around Nessemi (readers of the books will understand what I mean). Series One will then end at the point that Book Two of The Theraeon was originally scheduled to end. The rest of that original series (Books 3, 4 and 5) would then become Series Two, if Series One was a success.
Below, underneath the first two book jackets, are the tetralogy book covers should I stay solo and stick with KDP! Under these circumstances, both Retribution and Nessemi (Parts Three and Four) should be published before the end of 2023. If I go with a mainstream publisher, only Part One (which would be redefined as Book One) will be published this year, and possibly next year, with Books Two, Three and Four potentially following in 2024, 2025 and 2026, respectively - if Book One sells well. You now see my dilemma…
Full Jackets of Parts One and Two
Front Covers of Parts One to Four
