Alabama Booksmith hosted Robert McCammon on Saturday, December 3, 2022, for the public launch of The King of Shadows. I managed to make it down to Birmingham for the event, and it was great to see so many people turn out for it. The crowd—80 to 100 people—was easily twice the size of the turnout for the Cardinal Black launch in 2019. Considering how small the bookstore is, that was a lot of people!
Before signing books, Mr. McCammon read an excerpt from The King of Shadows and answered audience questions. Thanks to Alabama Booksmith, the event was livestreamed on Facebook, and I’ve uploaded it to YouTube.
In addition, thanks to Tony Thomas, better video of just the reading from The King of Shadows is also available on YouTube:
Finally, YouTube user It’s Terrific has posted a video of his experience and the items he had signed.
Finally, finally, YouTube channel The Jeff Word also posted a video of his experience.
Check RobertMcCammon.com in a day or two for some photos from the event.
It’s publication day for the trade hardcover edition of The King of Shadows, book eight in Robert McCammon’s Matthew Corbett series! Copies ordered from Lividian Publications and their resellers are signed. Copies ordered from Amazon, B&N, etc, are not. Signed copies can also be ordered from the Alabama Booksmith (they also have a few other signed books available).
Lividian Publications is proud to be publishing a deluxe trade hardcover edition of The King of Shadows by Robert McCammon, the eighth volume in his acclaimed Matthew Corbett series. This beautiful hardcover edition features new Vincent Chong full-color artwork for the dust jacket.
Please note: this trade hardcover edition contains the exact same text as the Limited Edition, but with different spacing for the interior page design, to reduce the page count and keep the retail price as reasonable as possible in the current market. It’ll still be very readable!
Production Features for the FIRST PRINTING only: • Full-color dust jacket artwork by Vincent Chong (different from the Limited Edition)
• Offset printed on an acid-free archival quality paper stock
• Hot foil stamping on the spine
• Smyth-sewn to create a more durable binding
• Twine head and tail bands
• Colored endpapers
About the Book:
It’s January of 1704, and Matthew Corbett continues his mission to Italy, accompanied by Hudson Greathouse and former enemy Professor Fell. They seek Brazio Valeriani and information about the mirror created by his father, the sorcerer Ciro. Legend claims the mirror can be used to summon demons from beyond.
But fate has other plans for Matthew as their ship is disabled by a pod of whales, and they seek refuge on a secluded island. The islanders welcome them with a massive feast, but all is not what it seems. As the island pulls them deeper into its influence, the castaways struggle to maintain their grip on reality, even their very identity. Matthew must keep his wits about him and solve the mystery enshrouding the other side of the island, where an active volcano looms and a secretive creature lurks.
The King of Shadows is the eighth installment in bestselling author Robert McCammon’s acclaimed series of historical thrillers featuring Matthew Corbett, a brave “problem-solver” who now faces a challenging foe that threatens to take over his most valuable resource: his own mind.
About the Author:
Robert McCammon is the New York Times bestselling author of twenty-six books. He is the winner of five Bram Stoker Awards and a World Fantasy Award. He is best known for Swan Song (1987), The Wolf’s Hour (1989), and Boy’s Life (1991). More recently, McCammon has published The Five, which Stephen King called his best novel ever, and The Border, and is writing the Matthew Corbett series, a nine-book series of historical thrillers that USA Network has called “the Early American James Bond.” McCammon lives in Birmingham, Alabama.
Reviews and Praise:
“Admirers of action-packed suspense with paranormal elements… will find much to like.”
— Publishers Weekly
Earlier this year, Robert McCammon generously agreed to sign signature sheets for this edition, which means that any copies ordered directly from Lividian Publicationsor one the retailers below will be a 1st printing signed by the author. This includes copies already ordered, you do not need to order again.
The Alabama Booksmith is also receiving 1st printing copies, but without the signed tip sheet because Robert McCammon will be visiting their store for a launch event and personally signing all of their copies. If you cannot attend this signing, you can also preorder a copy through their website.
Please Note: We’ve received a surge of orders over the last six weeks and we’ve reached the point where Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and the other bigger retailers will not be getting first printings. Given the current supply chain problems with the printers, there is no way to rush a second printing in time for pub day, so we will also be publishing this title as a print-on-demand hardcover using the same printer Cemetery Dance used for Gwendy’s Final Task. If you order from a bigger retailer, the odds are good that is what you will receive. They’re still very nice books, and a huge leap forward from where POD was just five years ago, but we wanted to be clear that those copies wouldn’t be part of the offset 1st printing we’re talking about above.
German publisher Luzifer Verlag has announced that they will publish a German translation of Freedom of the Mask on April 30, 2023! Luzifer has previously published translations of the first five Matthew Corbett books, in addition to Boy’s Life and The Border. The cover art for MATTHEW CORBETT und der maskierte Rächer is by Michael Schubert. The title translates as Matthew Corbett and the Masked Avenger.
Robert McCammon asked me to post this video of author Pete Mesling performing his original composition “Remembering Fount Royal.” Pete wrote:
This is a piece I wrote recently. It’s inspired by the setting of Robert McCammon’s first Matthew Corbett novel, SPEAKS THE NIGHTBIRD. I call it “Remembering Fount Royal.” It’s by no means a definitive recording, but I hope you dig it.
As we previously announced, Lividian Publications will release the trade hardcover edition of The King of Shadows in December 2022, after trade paperback releases of the five Matthew Corbett books between Mister Slaughter and Cardinal Black from July through November.
However, the limited edition of the book—which has long been sold out—will begin shipping from Lividian around the end of June 2022.
The trade hardcover edition can be pre-ordered from Lividian Publications. Amazon, B&N, and other pre-order links will be available in the coming months.
I can also now announce that Open Road Media and Audible will release the ebook and audiobook editions of The King of Shadows on Tuesday, June 28, 2022! The audiobook will once again be narrated by Edoardo Ballerini.
German publisher Luzifer Verlag has acquired the German translation rights to Freedom of the Mask, book six in the Matthew Corbett series. Luzifer has been on a roll for the past few years, publishing German editions of the first five Matthew Corbett books, plus Boy’s Life and The Border. Presumably, their edition of Freedom of the Mask will be published in 2023. More info when I have it!
The upcoming Lividian Publications trade paperback editions of the Matthew Corbett books can now be pre-ordered from Amazon US, Amazon UK, Barnes & Noble, Books-a-Million (BAM!), and Book Depository.
I found this image online. This may not be the image he’s talking about, but it’s the same idea! –Hunter
I remember as a little boy being fascinated by a drawing of a man’s face that showed a smile, but it was cleverly done so that when you turned the drawing upside down the same face became a frown. You may have seen this because I’m sure it’s still floating around somewhere.
Anyway…I determined some time ago that life was very much like that drawing, or rather the “idea” behind the drawing. Smile or frown? The same face, just depending on how you looked at it. And you know some things that seem “bad” or disappointing in the short run turn out to be good things in the long run.
So…let’s get to the news, and you can decide for yourselves whether to smile or frown, or whether what is a frown today becomes a smile tomorrow as it did for me.
Supply chain problems have hit the publishing industry in the form of paper shortages. Simply put, many printers around the country can’t get enough paper to do their work, so this is throwing all schedules off by at least several months. Lividian Publications, scheduled to publish the new Matthew Corbett novel The King of Shadows in April, has not been immune to this nationwide problem. When I first heard from Lividian’s owner and publisher Brian Freeman that the book will be delayed quite some time by this unhappy circumstance you can believe I frowned Bigtime…but then I heard Brian’s alternate idea, and here it is:
The King of Shadows limited edition will be released in June of 2022, depending, I understand, on the slipcase production.
And now, the really cool stuff that made me smile:
Lividian will be publishing trade paperbacks of the Corbett novels beginning with Mister Slaughter, all the books with covers done by the award-winning, acclaimed, and extremely talented artist Vincent Chong. You can see these covers below and judge (or delight, as I did) for yourselves.
The schedule would be:
Mister Slaughter in July of 2022.
The Providence Rider in August of 2022.
The River of Souls in September of 2022.
Freedom of the Mask in October of 2022.
Cardinal Black in November of 2022.
And The King of Shadows regular hardcover edition in December of 2022.
Wow! I’m smiling right now thinking about this!
This schedule will see me finish the book of Corbett short stories I’ve wanted to do for a while, titled Seven Shades of Evil, and then finish also the last book in the series, Leviathan, so there should be no long delay as there’s been in the past. And I have to say the long delay of The King of Shadows has been primarily of my doing, since it took me awhile to saturate the idea with the bourbon of imagination and the scotch of effort. Ahem. And then it did take a long time to write, as it’s pretty involved and everything had to mesh just so.
But…there you have it! I’m really excited about this schedule! You can look at Vincent Chong’s covers and see that the trade paperback editions are getting some absolutely beautiful reasons to collect the series!
Onward and upward. As always, thank you for your readership and your patience with the current situation. Lividian and Brian Freeman have found a way to turn a frown into a smile, and in my case an absolute cross-eyed grin.
Alabama Booksmith hosted Robert McCammon on Saturday, December 3, 2022, for the public launch of The King of Shadows. I managed to make it down to Birmingham for the event, and it was great to see so many people turn out for it. The crowd—80 to 100 people—was easily twice the size of the turnout for the Cardinal Black launch in 2019. Considering how small the bookstore is, that was a lot of people!
German publisher 
