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Now, let me note that the UK readers are not left out of the paperback ECHO celebrations! True, British/Australian/New Zealand fans don’t get the famous Green Slime trade paperback, nor do they get the EXILE eight-page full-color excerpt. Nor do you get THE EXILE itself, unless you can convince Orion Books that there is indeed a market for graphic novels on your side the pond. [g] On the other hand…
September 30th heralds the publication of the UK mass-market paperback edition (that’s the smaller size) of AN ECHO IN THE BONE! Besides the very snazzy cover shown above (it’s actually covered with gold flakes, not just yellow; very eye-catching, though not green [g]), you also get a nice chunk of what the UK publisher tantalizingly describes as “end-matter.” [cough]
This is stuff they put at the end of the book, in hopes of providing new purchasers with something special. In this case, UK fans will get:
1) Potted biographies of a number of prominent characters,
2) An essay on the Life and Times of Scotland in the 18th century (not written by me, but a nice job by whoever did write it),
3) _Beautiful_ (and geographically correct!) maps, both of the Scottish Highlands, and of the American Colonies, circa 1776. Aaaannnnddd…
4) An excerpt from Book Eight, which tells you What Happened to Jem in the Tunnel. Which I will give you a small taste of here….
Excerpt BOOK EIGHT
Copyright Diana Gabaldon 2010
He must be getting near the end of the tunnel. Jem could tell by the way the air pushed back against his face. All he could see was the little red light on the train’s dashboard–did you call it a dashboard on a train? he wondered. He didn’t want to stop, because that meant he’d have to get out of the train, into the dark. But the train was running out of track, so there wasn’t much else he could do.
He pulled back a little bit on the lever that made the train go, and it slowed down. More. Just a little more, and the lever clicked into a kind of slot and the train stopped with a little jerk that made him stumble and grab the edge of the cab.
An electric train didn’t make any engine noise, but the wheels rattled on the track and the train made squeaks and clunks as it moved. When it stopped, the noise stopped too. It was really quiet.
“Hey!” he said out loud, because he didn’t want to listen to his heart beating. The sound echoed, and he looked up, startled. Mum had said the tunnel was really high, more than thirty feet, but he’d forgot that. The idea that there was a lot of empty space hanging over him that he couldn’t see bothered him a lot. He swallowed, and stepped out of the tiny engine, holding on to the frame with one hand.
“Hey!” he shouted at the invisible ceiling. “Are there any bats up there?”
Silence. He’d kind of been hoping there were bats. He wasn’t afraid of them–there were bats in the old broch, and he liked to sit and watch them come out to hunt in the summer evenings. But he was alone. Except for the dark.
His hands were sweating. He let go of the metal cab and scrubbed both hands on his jeans. Now he could hear himself breathing, too.
“Crap,” he whispered under his breath. That made him feel better, so he said it again. Maybe he ought to be praying, instead, but he didn’t feel like that, not yet.
There was a door, Mum said. At the end of the tunnel. It led into the service chamber, where the big turbines could be lifted up from the dam if they needed fixing. Would the door be locked?
Suddenly he realized that he’d stepped away from the train and he didn’t know whether he was facing the end of the tunnel or back the way he’d come. In a panic, he blundered to and fro, hands out, looking for the train. He tripped over part of the track and fell sprawling. He lay there for a second saying “Crap-crap-crap-crap-crap!” because he’d skinned both knees and the palm of his hand, but he was OK, really, and now he knew where the track was, so he could follow it and not get lost.
He got up, wiped his nose, and shuffled slowly along, kicking the track every few steps to be sure he stayed with it. He thought he was in front of where the train had stopped, so it didn’t really matter which way he was going–either he’d find the train or he’d find the end of the tunnel. And then the door. If it was locked, maybe–
Something like an electric shock ran right through him. He gasped and fell over backward. …
(You _were_ paying attention, weren’t you, when I told you I was really Black Jack Randall…?)
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Echo-Bone-Outlander-7/dp/0752883992/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1277250039&sr=8-1
or
www.poisonedpen.com or call them at 480-947-2974. Normally, they can get UK books without much trouble, and I’d be delighted to stop by the bookstore and sign them for you.
GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!
How would one go about getting this in Canada, I wonder?
Dear Virgo–
You could order it from amazon.co.uk–or you might get in touch with the Poisoned Pen and see if they can get it for you; they usually can get UK books, and they'll ship anywhere in the world.
You are too much! Hope your knee is feeling better. Thanks for the fun cliff hanger, again!
What the what?!? You know cliff hangers just make people bug you about the next book more right?
Love it anyway
Honest question, with nothing but curiosity behind it: you clearly felt, at least, strongly about the fanfic posts you made.
Why delete them, then? Or, why delete them and at least not put up a note explaining why, or that you have been presented ideas you need to think on?
After all, to be frank, once it's on the web, it's there–someone, somewhere, copied the text, or screencapped, and it ain't going away. But if you feel so strongly, why just delete it all with no explanation?
Mind, you don't owe me one, nor an answer to this comment. But like I said, I'm honestly curious.
You did this for me didn't you? I knew it. And yes, of course I knew you were Black Jack Randall at the end of the book…. mwahahahahaha
Tempt me not! Swedish edition won't be out till August 4th, so I set a world record in scrolling by the excerpt…
Now I will go to bed & try to forget that the text is there…
Rose–
Because this blog is principally for the benefit of my fans, and having all that hoo-ha going on was distressing a lot of them.
I left the discussion up long enough for everyone who had a say to say it, believe me. (And there was at the same time a sane, reasonable discussion of the issues involved, going on in my folder at the Compuserve Books and Writers Community. That's still there, if anyone _really_ wants to read it.) I figured–having been online for lo, these many years, and having a Really Good idea how things work–that if I left any capacity for comments up, we'd get endless repetitive guff, of no discernible benefit in terms of discussion, and it would drive away all the people who come here to get news and talk about things they're interested in about my work.
arrrgggggggggghhhhhhh – I've just finished reading An Echo in the Bone (blue version) which I carefully saved for my Summer read and that ending was bad enough but Diana – poor wee Jem – what have you done to him? And your Irish readers – will we get the same treatment as the UK market
your in agonized suspense
Siobhán
Dear Siobhan–
Well, yes, I imagine so. The UK edition does have the _whole_ Jem-in-the-tunnel excerpt, you understand, not just this teaser. [g]
Diana, thank you so much for this little taste, you made my day! I got so excited when I saw it that I jumped up and felt the need to tell someone about it…but then I remembered that I cant talk any of my friends and family into reading my very favorite books, so they wouldnt understand my excitment. I wish I could find a stone circle that will take me two or three years into the future when book eight is out!
I hear a wee bit of Claire here. She tends to curse in a crisis too.
Virgo
Not sure which book it is you are looking for in Canada but everything released so far is currently available online at Amazon.ca or Chapters.ca or in store at Chapters, and both are taking pre-orders for The Exile.
re above post, only anonymous cause I don't have an 'name' here.
AUGH! You couldn't have posted just a little bit more?!?!?!
I should be used to this by now, after lo, these many years, of reading your excerpts and being tortured.
Yeah, I see the BJR part of you coming out in the way you cut that exerpt.
Dear Black Jack Randall,
Holy Shit!
Midge
HaHa…that was very funny Diana…thanks for the teaser, couldn't read it fast enough…well I know what I'll be asking my mum for when she goes to Scotland later this year
Having lived through seven major cliffhangers thus far, this is just a wee tease. But that's alright… I'll just go back to my knitting and cogitate ~ sooner or later I will have the whole book in my hands and this will just be a mosquito bite. (Yeah, ok ~ it itches! I will not scratch!)
Crap is right! *g* As others have said before, you really do have a way with a cliffhanger! Love the idea that the UK edition will have these little extras – may have to get it just for the maps.
Ruth