Blog and Site

It may be noted that this blog is now incorporated (after a fashion) into arachispress.com, via a linked tab in the site navigation. If we'd known it was that simple, we would have done it quite some time ago, but we'd been exploring ways to embed a blog instead. This should word just fine and announcements can easily be found by visiting the Arachis Press site. Or just come here.

Combined Donzalo

We have decided to re-release the all-in-one edition of Stephen Brooke’s epic fantasy, “Donalo’s Destiny,” in paperback (no hard cover, at least for now). It was withdrawn from publication when we released newly edited and typeset versions of the four constituent novels (more or less novels though one can see DD as one long novels), “The Song of the Sword,” “The Shadow of Asak,” “The Sign of the Arrow,” and “The Hand of Sorcerer.” Plans are to make the book available before the end of the year.

However, the separate volumes remain available, both in print and as free ebooks, and will continue so, at Arachis Press (arachispress.com).

Countdown to Counting Words

We have decided not to hold Stephen Brooke's new poetry collection, 'Counting Words,' until next year, as originally intended. The release date now (and this is fairly solid) is October 25. More news, cover reveal, and so on to come in a bit (once 'The City and the Sword' is out). 'Counting Words' is a collection of poems with an emphasis on language and its uses, both serious and for play.

Promo for The City and the Sword

 A promotional image for Stephen Brooke's upcoming fantasy novel, The City and the Sword.

The City and the Sword Release Date

The official release date for Stephen Brooke's new fantasy novel, THE CITY AND THE SWORD is August 23,  2024, which gets it out there before the Labor Day weekend. Admittedly, official releases don't mean as much in these days of ebooks and print-on-demand. Here's the rear cover blurb:

Famod had fallen. Young Lellie and fellow orphan Nib had barely escaped the sack of the port and its attendant horrors. Where could they reach sanctuary and a new life? Across the hills in Tesra, City of Wizardry, seemed the only choice.

There, under the tutelage of Zil, merchant and spy, Lellie finds a purpose she had not known, learning the ways of the sword and much more—all while discovering her own self as she becomes a young woman.

More info will be upcoming. As ever, the book will be available as print paperback and free ebooks (EPUB and PDF).

 

Stempel Garamond

Stempel Garamond was first issued by the Stempel foundry almost a hundred years ago as Garamond-Antiqua. It was—and remains—one of the more faithful and attractive revivals of the Garamond typefaces. There have been a number of versions since, clones, reissues, digitalizations. One of the better known would be the free URW++ Garmond No.8, which may be found readily online. It is ‘almost’ an open license font; a publisher needn’t worry about using it for print or embedding it in a PDF. I see it pretty much as a publisher’s starting kit, dependable and usable for pretty much any project.

Incidentally, its italics are based on ones actually designed by Claude Garamond, where many other Garamond typefaces use italics by Robert Granjon, a respected successor of Garamond.

The Garamond Original typeface—a name used by both Bitstream and SoftMaker—is essentially a clone of Stempel. As with Garamond No.8, they lack opentype features for those who want or need them, though SoftMaker does offer separate small caps. That makes up for much. The typeface is included in SoftMaker’s MegaFont collection, which remains a rather good deal.

Not surprisingly, various opentype projects based on Garamond No.8 have popped up over the last couple decades but none have seemed to go much of anywhere. Be that as it may, the versions that are available are quite viable alternatives to commercial Garamonds or the popular EB Garamond and other open license Garamond (or Garamond-like) fonts. Stempel Garamond, under whatever name, is a good choice for anyone producing books.

We have used versions in all Stephen Brooke’s fantasy novels set among the Mora (the Malvern Trilogy, the Mora Trilogy, etc). We are entirely likely to use Stempel again in books to come. Indeed, we consider it our default for novels.

Free Books

For every one of our print books, we also create a downloadable PDF version. This is in most respects identical to the print edition, the main difference being equal margins throughout (no need for gutters), and the removal of a few unnecessary blank pages and the ISBN. We also add a color cover at the beginning.

These are all available free on the download page at the Arachis Press site (arachispress.com), as are EPUB versions of many. No strings attached—if one wishes to support us, the print editions can be purchased and there is also a merchandise shop, the Peanut Road Emporium (https://www.cafepress.com/peanutroad). And, of course, reviews are welcome, wherever they appear.

Most of all, we wish you to enjoy the books.