Ruadán Books announces a two-book deal with author Mike Allen
Boston, MA — September 15, 2024 — Ruadán Books is delighted to announce that it has signed a very good deal with author, editor, and publisher Mike Allen for 2025 and 2026. Allen, a poet, dark fantasy and horror writer, news reporter, and culture columnist, is excited about the partnership and deal with the newest publisher that inspires and elevates unique voices in the space of dark speculative fiction and crime noir.
The first novel of the Stormblight Symphony series, a re-edited and re-imagined The Black Fire Concerto, arrives in the Spring of 2025:
The Red Empress is the only home Erzelle has known since the day her family was lured aboard and murdered, victims of a grisly ritual meant to make the elite immortal. Erzelle plays her harp for the diners inside this ghoul-infested riverboat, knowing her own death looms, escaping through the music that’s all she has left of her parents.
Her nightmare’s upended in the space of a day by the arrival of Olyssa, a fellow musician, but so much more.
Erzelle is swept up in Olyssa’s quest to find her ensorcelled sister Lilla, a journey across a mutated landscape that leads them to an enemy responsible for the deaths of millions. To stop the slaughter of countless more, the pair has no choice but to draw on the deadly magic that reshaped the world … a power that’s as dangerous to its wielders as it is to its foes, one that’s killing Erzelle even as she fights to control it.
“Some very black magic indeed… A prize for the multitude of fans who relish strong Grand Guignol with their sword and sorcery.”
—Tanith Lee
“A dark, luscious feast of a book… Allen has created a fantastic world of fantasy and horror like a Bosch painting, like a Shostakovitch symphony—something out of a beautiful nightmare.”
—R.S. Belcher
And in 2026, the second book in the series, The Ghoulmaker’s Aria, will premiere as a Ruadán Books title:
A city under siege by the sinister ghoul-eater known as the Cottonmouth has offered refuge to Olyssa, Erzelle, and their surviving companions.
The sorceress and her apprentice mean to return the kindness by ending the threat posed by the Cottonmouth and the magic-wielding slaves he controls.
Yet Olyssa and Erzelle’s attempt to bring the fight to the enemy leads to an unexpected collision with a pitiless new foe…
“As a writer it’s important to land where your voice is heard and I am so glad to be working with R.B. and Ruadán Books,” says Allen.
About Ruadán Books
Ruadán (pronounced ROO-ah-dawn) Books derives its name from the Irish god of Mystery and Espionage. Ruadán Books’ mission is to welcome new authors and inspire and tell unique stories from authors worldwide.
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About Mike Allen
Mike Allen wears many creative hats, at least one of them tailor-made by his wife and partner-in-crime Anita. An author, editor and publisher of science fiction, fantasy and horror, Mike has written, edited, or co-edited thirty-nine books, among them his sidearms, sorcery, and zombies sequence The Black Fire Concerto and The Ghoulmaker’s Aria, his forthcoming dark fantasy novel Trail of Shadows, and his newest horror collection, Slow Burn.
Unseaming and Aftermath of an Industrial Accident, his first two volumes of horror tales, were both finalists for the Shirley Jackson Award for Best Story Collection, and his dark fable “The Button Bin” was a nominee for the Nebula Award for Best Short Story. Another collection, The Spider Tapestries, contains experiments in weird science fiction and fantasy.
As an editor and publisher, Mike has been nominated twice for the World Fantasy Award: first, for his anthology Clockwork Phoenix 5, the culmination of the Clockwork Phoenix series showcasing tales of beauty and strangeness that defy genre classification; and then, for Mythic Delirium, the magazine of poetry and fiction he edited for twenty years.
He’s a three-time winner of the Rhysling Award for poetry. His six poetry collections include Strange Wisdoms of the Dead, a Philadelphia Inquirer Editor’s Choice selection, and Hungry Constellations, a Suzette Haden Elgin Award nominee.
With Anita, he runs Mythic Delirium Books, based in Roanoke, Virginia. Their cat Pandora assists. You can find him on Instagram at @mythicdelirium and Bluesky at @mythicdelirium.bsky.social.
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