Chronicles of the Nameless Dwarf

D.P. Prior's Official Website

2012-02-26T15:30:00.000-08:00

All Nameless Dwarf news has now been moved to the official D.P. Prior site:

Official D.P. Prior site

Giveaway

2012-02-08T11:13:00.000-08:00

To celebrate the launch of The Nameless Dwarf Omnibus, I'm giving away 3 copies of the book (any e-book format). All you need to do to enter is follow the blog and leave a comment ("Yes" is sufficient; "Shog" is better; "Where's my shogging copy?" is best). Please make sure to send me your email address so I can send the free copy (send to derekprior [at] yahoo.co.uk).

The Nameless Dwarf Omnibus

2012-02-08T09:30:00.000-08:00

Good news, dwarf fans! The Nameless Dwarf Omnibus, featuring the first three books of the Chronicles of the Nameless Dwarf is now available on all e-book platforms.

Buy from Amazon US

Buy from Amazon UK

Buy from Smashwords (all formats)

The Scout and the Serpent cover

2012-02-06T10:23:00.000-08:00

Here's the finished cover.

The Nameless Dwarf Omnibus

2012-02-06T03:51:00.000-08:00

I've had a few people bemoan the fact that the Chronicles of the Nameless Dwarf is part of the Kindle Select programme, and therefore exclusive to Amazon. I've therefore decided to pull books 2 and 3 from Select so that I can release an omnibus (books 1-3) across all platforms. It will be titled The Nameless Dwarf Omnibus and will include all the original covers.

Here's the blurb:

Following his massacre of the dwarves in their ravine city, the Nameless Dwarf pursues the survivors to the brigand town of Malfen, where he learns they have crossed the mountains into the lands of nightmare. His only intention is to save them, but he's the last person on earth they'd want to find them.

Here it comes!

2012-02-06T00:06:00.000-08:00

Book 3 is formatted and the cover art is in. Just a few days to go until it's released.

Here's the cover art, which depicts Nameless taking a swing at a very big snake, and Ilesa taking the moral high ground.

The cover was painted by Patrick Stacy.

Nameless and Ilesa end up marooned at the middle of a newly-formed lake after fleeing a pack of wolf-men. Nils is on the shore, but someone or something is watching him from the forest, and Silas is spending far too much time alone with a book that promises everything ...

The Scout and the Serpent

2012-02-05T09:50:00.001-08:00

Book 3, The Scout and the Serpent, has now gone for formatting. Should be out very soon now.

Rise of the Nameless Dwarf

2012-02-04T05:07:00.000-08:00

Nameless makes his first appearance in book 3 of the Shader series, The Unweaving, but it is the events of book 5, Rise of the Nameless Dwarf that lead on to the Chronicles of the Nameless Dwarf.

In case you were wondering how terrible his actions as the Ravine Butcher could really be, given that Nameless is such an affable, ale drinking, bawdy barrel of laughs, here's a sneak preview at the (unfinished) cover art for Rise of the Nameless Dwarf:

Progress

2012-02-03T16:50:00.000-08:00

Just finished the first set of revisions and copy editing for The Scout and the Serpent. It's off for external edits now and looks set to be released next week.

New review for Ant-Man

2012-01-27T19:49:00.000-08:00

The Ant-Man of Malfen review

Ant-Man now has 11 reviews on Amazon US. It's still free for a few more hours!

Free for one more day!

2012-01-27T08:53:00.000-08:00

The Ant-Man of Malfen is free for the rest of the day. It had 1300 downloads overnight and reached number 5 in Epic Fantasy.

The Ant-Man of Malfen is FREE today

2012-01-26T00:15:00.000-08:00

Amazon US link

The Scout and the Serpent

2012-01-20T12:31:00.000-08:00

Book 3 of the Chronicles of the Nameless dwarf is well and trull underway. This story tells us more about Ilesa, Silas's book, and the dwarves of Arx Gravis. Nameless finds himself in a difficulty spot and has to rely on others for a change.

There are strong sword and sorcery elements in this tale, and an ending that starts bringing the story arc into clearer focus, setting the scene for the events of books 4 and 5.

Cover art is once more being provided by Patrick Stacy. I've seen the sketches and absolutely love it. It has a bit of a Frazetta feel to it.

Meanwhile, book 2, The Axe of the Dwarf Lords, continues to sell extremely well. I'm hoping to see some more reviews soon, but the first review was a nice one. Book 1, The Ant-Man of Malfen, is currently free in the UK and will be featured on ENT at some point this year.

Other Nameless news: He makes his first appearance in book 3 of the Shader series, The Unweaving. I'm now at the stage of redrafting the scene where Shader first encounters Nameless. If all goes to plan, The Unweaving should be out by April (if not during the summer some time).

For those of you who don't know, book 5 of the Shader series, which is only in note form currently, is called Rise of the Nameless Dwarf. It's scheduled for release next year, but there's still a chance it could be written this year if certain other things fall into place.

Reading order

2012-01-16T00:20:00.000-08:00

I recently had a query about which order the Shader and Nameless books should be read in. Below is the ideal, although Nameless can also be read alone:

Shader series:

Cadman's Gambit
Best Laid Plans
The Unweaving (due out this spring)
The Archon's Assassin (due out late summer)
Rise of the Nameless Dwarf (2013)
A Dark Perdurance (2013)

The Nameless books actually take place between books 5 and 6 of Shader (still in first draft), but they don't need you to read Shader first. There are a few references to Shader, but nothing that would ruin the Shader story if you read Nameless first. The Nameless books can actually be read independently of Shader.They are lighter in style - much more old school sword and sorcery, with a dash of irreverent humour.

I've just started work on Nameless 3, btw. There are five planned books for Chronicles of the Nameless Dwarf. After that I'll be bringing out a series of "further adventures", which may well include Shadrak from the Shader books.

Wonderful 5 star review for The Axe of the Dwarf Lords

2012-01-15T13:02:00.000-08:00

After an anxious wait, the first review has come in for The Axe of the Dwarf Lords, and it's a good one! It's nice to hear from readers that the series is going in the right direction.

Link to review

Free for one day!

2012-01-13T04:11:00.000-08:00

The Axe of the Dwarf Lords is FREE for Kindle (all regions) for the day (Friday 13th January 2012). The Ant-Man of Malfen is free in the UK.

Amazon link

The Axe of the Dwarf Lords - now available from Amazon!

2012-01-12T00:29:00.000-08:00

Amazon link

Blurb for The Axe of the Dwarf Lords

2012-01-10T15:10:00.000-08:00

Second Chronicle:

Nils wishes he’d never taken the job to escort a dwarf with no name on a madcap quest for redemption. Ilesa reckons she should have asked for a bigger bounty, and Silas is beginning to think the grimoire he stole from the Academy has a sinister will of its own.

Nameless, on the other hand, is having the time of his life. After all, what more could a dwarf want than a horde of undead to splatter with his axe, a shape-shifting woman who does dwarf especially well, and a wizard who can produce ale out of thin air?

But his ever fragile mood takes a turn for the worse when he discovers a terrible secret at the bottom of the sea—an unstoppable horror that destroyed an entire race, and a mythical axe that brings back the darkest of memories from his recent past.

The Axe of the Dwarf Lords cover art

2012-01-09T23:32:00.000-08:00

Here's the cover art for Nameless 2, The Axe of the Dwarf Lords. The picture is by Patrick Stacy.

New cover design for Ant-Man

2012-01-09T12:37:00.001-08:00

The Ant-Man of Malfen has had a bit of a makeover in preparation for the release of The Axe of the Dwarf Lords next week. It's also available in the Kindle lending library now.

The Axe of the Dwarf Lords

2012-01-08T23:43:00.000-08:00

I'm just coming to the end of the first round of edits. It's already in pretty good shape. Just two more sweeps and then proofreading to go. The cover art is nearly finished and at this rate The Axe of the Dwarf Lords should be out in another week or so.

I've also now written the synopsis for book 3, The Scout and the Serpent, and Patrick is working on the cover for that one. I'll be working on a few chapters of Shader 3 first (The Unweaving) and will then get Nameless 3 out in between editing commissions. The outlines of books 4 and 5 (which complete the Chronicles) are starting to shape up nicely too.

Once this series is complete, I'll be developing some further adventures of Nameless, possibly alongside his old buddy Shadrak the Unseen. They'll fall outside of the story arc of the Chronicles and the Shader series and will most likely be short standalone tales in the tradition of old style sword and sorcery.

The Axe of the Dwarf Lords

2012-01-04T01:01:00.000-08:00

I seemed to be dreaming all night about a particularly horrific monster. When I woke up all the pieces of the Axe of the Dwarf Lords fell into place. The conclusion, which I'd been pondering for some time as I wrote the early stages, came sharply into focus.

This is going to be an epic ending, one that tells us more about the dwarves, Nameless, and even the homunculi (the children of the Demiurgos).

The Axe of the Dwarf Lords

2011-12-29T15:44:00.000-08:00

Book 2 of the Chronicles of the Nameless Dwarf, The Axe of the Dwarf Lords, is underway and should be released during January 2012.

Nameless, Silas, Nils, and Ilesa have entered the nightmare lands of Qlippoth so that Nameless can attempt to save the last of the dwarves from Arx Gravis from extinction. However, things start badly when Nils and Ilesa find themselves surrounded by zombies, and Silas's bladder gets him into a whole load of trouble.

Nameless finds his gentler nature aroused, if only temporarily, and then finds himself on a voyage of discovery that reveals there is far more to the dwarves, and himself, than he could ever have imagined.

The Axe of the Dwarf Lords features cover art by the talented Patrick Stacy and will be available in print and ebook formats.

Other Nameless news: I'm well into writing of The Unweaving (Shader book 3) in which Nameless makes his debut. The Unweaving is scheduled for release by the summer and will be followed shortly after by The Archon's Assassin (book 4) which also features Nameless.

Book 5 of the Shader series is titled Rise of the Nameless Dwarf, and is set to be a dark tale with a massive siege scene.

Axe of the Dwarf Lords

2011-12-19T14:46:00.000-08:00

Work is underway on the second book of The Chronicles of the Nameless Dwarf, Axe of the Dwarf Lords. It will be another novella length story featuring Nameless, Nils, Silas, and Ilesa. There are more revelations about the dwarves, and about Nameless himself, and Silas continues to make worrying discoveries.

Cover art is also in progress. I'll post sketches etc as I receive them.

R. Nicholson gives Ant-Man 5 stars

2011-09-16T13:29:00.000-07:00

Another wonderful review for The Ant-Man of Malfen, and this time from R. Nicholson who has also written a very nice review for Cadman's Gambit.

R. Nicholson's review of Ant-Man:

Ant-Man gets 5 stars from Red Adept!!!

2011-08-31T03:18:00.000-07:00

Another 5 star review for The Ant-Man of Malfen, and this one from Red Adepts Reviews. It's a very thorough and insightful review. Makes all the hard work worthwhile.

Red Adept's Review of The Ant-Man of Malfen

Ant-Man on Spalding's Racket

2011-01-20T07:57:00.000-08:00

The Ant-Man of Malfen is featured on "Spalding's Racket" today. Please pop by to take a look:

http://spaldings-racket.blogspot.com/

5 star review from Readers Favorite (Amazon Vine Reviewer)

2010-12-27T20:53:00.000-08:00

Read the review here:

Readers Favorite review of The Ant-Man of Malfen

The Ant-Man of Malfen: released December 2010

2010-12-20T16:49:00.000-08:00

The First Chronicle of the Nameless Dwarf, The Ant-Man of Malfen, is now available in paperback and all eBook formats.

The Chronicles of the Nameless Dwarf are a blend of Sword and Sorcery and contemporary fantasy, combining strange worlds, dark magic, heroic action and an astonishing depth of world building.

The Ant-Man of Malfen reintroduces the Nameless Dwarf from the acclaimed SHADER series by D.P. Prior. Nameless is a manic-depressive pariah whose past is littered with atrocities. With an almost elemental ferocity and a gift for violence, Nameless alternates between bouts of crippling depression and boisterous episodes of elation, which are usually brought on by the prospect of a good fight. He also has an eye for the women - particularly those under four feet tall.

This story also introduces Silas Thrall, a student of the mantic arts with a dark secret that consumes more each day; and Nils Fargin, son of the most feared guildmaster in New Jerusalem.