DarkTales Publications to Reissue Acclaimed "Shaman Cycle" Series

Adam Niswander's highly acclaimed "Shaman Cycle" series of novels has found a new home.

For Immediate Release
Contact: Nick Kaufmann (nick@darktales.com)

It was "The Series That Almost Died."

DarkTales Publications (www.darktales.com) has rescued Adam Niswanders "Shaman Cycle" from an early and undeserved grave, reissuing these unique Southwestern Supernatural Thrillers in uniform trade paperback editions with all new cover art.

Integra Press originally published The Charm, the opening novel in this acclaimed series, in hardcover in 1993. The first printing sold out in three days. A second, larger printing was immediately ordered. Every major publisher contacted Integra about mass-market rights, and three film studios contacted Niswander about movie rights. As the reviews rolled in, Niswander
was compared to everyone from Tony Hillerman and Louis LAmour to Stephen King, H.P. Lovecraft and Robert Heinlein. The second volume, The Serpent Slayers, premiered at the 1994 World Horror Convention, and received equally positive reviews.

Then, as Niswander puts it, "It hit the fan."

Volume three, The Hound Hunters, was scheduled for release in October of 1994 but, due to the actions of an unscrupulous distributor, Integra Press folded before The Hound Hunters could hit the shelves (since then, galley proofs of The Hound Hunters have become coveted collectors items). The series never found a new home. Until now.

DarkTales Publications will re-release volume one, The Charm, in September, 2001, followed by The Serpent Slayers in October and The Hound Hunters in November. Then, in spring of 2002, DarkTales will premiere the recently completed fourth volume in the series, The War of the Whisperers. Plans are in place for DarkTales to continue the projected thirteen-volume series of
independent but linked novels featuring the continuing adventures of a "Great Gathering" of Native American medicine people who face the threat of ancient evil.

"No one picks up a series in mid-stream," says David Nordhaus of DarkTales Publications, "so we knew we would have to go back to the beginning and do it the DarkTales way right from the start. We decided to go ahead not only with reissuing the first two previously published titles, but to publish the official First Edition of The Hound Hunters and a brand new book to be titled The War of the Whisperers."

But, for Niswander, its a resurrection.

"I'm grateful that DarkTales felt strongly enough about the series to go with a four-book deal, something they had never done before. Now the series has a chance to reach a whole new generation of readers. I hope everyone will love reading the books as much as I love writing them."

Adam Niswander will be available via e-mail for interviews and features. Please contact Nick Kaufmann at nick@darktales.com for information.

PRAISE FOR THE SHAMAN CYCLE:

The Charm:

"Fast-paced, well-written, debut...Niswander invests his characters with colorful personalities, displays knowledge of and respect for Native
American culture, and knows how to weave disparate story lines together into a compelling whole." -- Publishers Weekly

"An interesting excursion into multicultural horror. This is top of the heap." -- Locus

"An intriguing excursion into the mythology and wonders of both the old and new American Southwest." -- Alan Dean Foster

The Serpent Slayers:

"An entertaining fantasy/horror tale." -- Publishers Weekly

"We know that Niswander has the skills and talent to handle fantasy and horror. We know that he is excellent with characterization. The remaining
question is, can he, over the course of a thirteen novel cycle, provide sufficient variety of plot to allow the succeeding books to be as exciting and readable as are The Charm and The Serpent Slayers? I'm betting he can. There's no sophomore slump here. Four stars on this one." -- Baryon

"The Southwestern United States is the most interesting and exotic part of the country. It is also, strangely, the most neglected by writers, perhaps especially in the science fiction and fantasy fields. Thus it was very good to see Adam Niswander use this setting knowledgeably, sympathetically, and, above all, excitingly, in The Charm. Now he has done The Serpent Slayers, a
book just as taut and evocative. How fine that we can look forward to a third." -- Poul Anderson

The Hound Hunters:

"The Hound Hunters has enough heroic characters for half a dozen novels, but the monsters, human and otherwise, are nasty enough to give the good guys all they can handle." -- Fred Saberhagen