Episodes 38-41: Isles of the Gods readalong

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Welcome to the Pub Dates newsletter! We’re so glad you’re here.

This newsletter is released as a companion to each podcast episode, and we use it to share the visual elements of our discussion — from mood boards to design sketches, from photos to secret giveaways just for subscribers.

In episodes thirty-eight to forty-one, we shared a four part readalong, taking you through The Isles of the Gods to celebrate the US paperback release, and help you prep for the release of The Heart of the World in September. (Or at the end of August if you’re an Aussie — perks of local authors!)

In this issue:

• US paperback news

• Episode flashbacks to pair with the Isles readalong

• Inspiration pics

• Life updates

• Annotated giveaway update

• The Heart of the World cover copy revealed!

Let’s go!

US paperbacks: they exist now.

If you haven’t grabbed your copy of the Isles paperback yet, you can find links here. (And if you missed the hardcover, you can find it for the price of a paperback here.)

And if you want to grab the Nightbirds paperback, with its fancy new cover, you can do that right here — it’s out this week! We’ve just dropped the first episode of our four week readalong, so you can jump straight in.

Episode flashbacks:

We want to remind you of some of old episodes you might like to revisit, either before or after listening to the Isles readalong:

Reintroduce yourself to our main characters: Questionable Characters

Find out more about how Amie built her world: What in the World and Research: Building a World

Discover how the 1920s influenced ISLES: The 1920s: Take It Or Leave it

Find out more about how the book's map and the story influenced each other: Mapping a World

Find out more about how Amie crafted the book's romance: Writing Romance

For answers to your burning (and spoilery) ISLES questions: The Isles of the Gods Spoiler Chat

Travel back in time with us to Melbourne, AUS, to experience Amie's book launch: The Isles of the Gods Launch Party

Inspiration pic:

We mentioned during the readalong that we were both inspired, outfit-wise, but the Phryne Fisher exhibition we went to together as we started drafting. The pic Amie took of the suit that inspired Laskia is apparently lost to the mists of time, but we did turn up this one.

This is the dress that inspired Selly’s green dress in Port Naranda. The hemline came up and the colour changed, but the way the beads gather at the waist and then radiate out like a starburst were where that dress began.

Life updates:

We love that the thing we hear most often from Pub Dates listeners when we meet them in the wild is that they feel like they’re listening to two of their friends chatting. That’s exactly how we want it to feel. So, friends, a quick peek into what we’ve been up to behind the scenes!

Amie got this view of the Aurora from the beach at the end of her street. Yes, there were happy tears as she ticked off a lifelong dream.

And Kate is going to share a picture of two of her favourite things: a dog in a sweater, and a remote cabin. She ran away to a place with no reception, and had the best of all possible times.

What about the giveaway?

What giveaway? Well, we’re giving away a very annotated copy of The Isles of the Gods to one lucky listener on the readalong.

The winner (from the many, many entries — we didn’t expect so many of you to make it through all four episodes!) will be announced in the third episode of the Nightbirds readalong, which is due to release on June 20th. The winner will also be emailed.

That episode will be recorded on June 13th, so that’s the last day you can send in a readalong entry! If you haven’t already, get listening — you can enter up to four times!

Cover copy revealed!

The back cover copy for The Heart of the World went live — here it is, though if you haven’t read The Isles of the Gods yet, then (a) you should jump on it, it’s really a very good book and (b) skim to the next heading to avoid spoilers.

Magic and sacrifice will collide as lovers and gods, enemies and allies vie for the fate of the world in this heart-pounding sequel to THE ISLES OF THE GODS, which Stephanie Garber called “deliciously diabolical and full of heart.”

When Selly and Leander began their treacherous voyage to the Isles of the Gods, the captain’s daughter and the playboy prince  were strangers. But amid talk of war and a deadly attack on their ship, the unthinkable happened.

They fell in love.

Leander’s ritual at the island temple was meant to prevent a war between the gods. Instead, it nearly cost him his life, and drew the goddess Barrica back from exile. Now, as her Messenger, Leander is imbued with her deadly magic, and only Selly’s presence can stop it from consuming him.

But Barrica wasn’t the only immortal roused from sleep. The God of Risk, Macean, was awakened by an enemy all thought dead, and across the sea he’s calling for war.

The fight to save their world will take Selly and Leander from the gilded ballroom of the royal palace to the hallowed halls of an ancient library. Battle lines will be drawn, and bonds will break.

With the wrath of gods and the machinations of power-hungry rulers straining their loyalties, can their love withstand the trials that await them?

And that’s it for this month!

We’ll see you again in July, when we wrap up our readalong for Nightbirds.

After that, it’s time to plan our episodes for July, August, September and beyond. We have a to-do list of our own, but if there’s anything you’d love us to cover, do let us know!