Pathfinder Tales: Death's Heretic

Just announced! The current cover image uses the final artwork, but the cover design may change slightly prior to publication.

Ohhhhh shiny!!

WANT.

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand, now I'm a Tales subscriber. It was only a matter of time, I suppose... :-p

*drools*
Whoever said money don´t buy happiness didn´t subscribe for Paizo products.

Thanks, folks! I'm glad people are as excited about the book as I am. It's time we got some plane-hopping up in here... :)

Thanks, folks! I'm glad people are as excited about the book as I am. It's time we got some plane-hopping up in here... :)

So earlier in the year, you teased on the boards in a thread about protean speach and language, that one of them might show up in a novel at some point. Would this be it? :D

WANT.

+1

Todd Stewart wrote:

WANT.

+1

+2

Very, very cool. Definitely will be picking this up.

This sounds very cool.

The latest episode of Atomic Array has Sutter spilling the beans on this book, as well as interview with many of the other Pathfinder Tales Authours.

Sutter? SUTTER?!?! That guy still owes me money!!

Just kidding. Looks interesting. I'll definitely be picking this one up.

Definately glad to be adding this to my collection in November. Happy birthday to me indeed.

Looks to be interesting! I have not yet read a Pathfinder Tale that I did not enjoy. I'm looking forward to it, should be a nice Christmas Present to me (maybe I'll ask my wife to wrap it up and put it under the tree).

Looking forward to it!

So earlier in the year, you teased on the boards in a thread about protean speach and language, that one of them might show up in a novel at some point. Would this be it? :D

Could be. :)

Would asking about how Salim is bound to Pharasma's church ruin anything in the book?

Would asking about how Salim is bound to Pharasma's church ruin anything in the book?

Quite possibly! I'll try to give you two different answers, organized by amount of spoilage, and hopefully without giving EVERYTHING away. But before you read either, ask yourself: do I REALLY want to know? Or should I just wait until November to find out? Only you can decide. :D

Some slight spoilage:

Lots of spoilers:

I speak from personal experience when I say it is really quite good.

-Ben.

I speak from personal experience when I say it is really quite good.

-Ben.

Woo! Thanks, Ben!

Looking forward to this one.

Thanks James for Judging our Pathfinder Chronicler fiction contest! This book should have been part of our awards...

If only these fitted into the envelope with my Adventure Path subscription. Buying a book for $10 costs me an extra $10 in shipping and I just dont have it these days. I will be getting a pdf though :-)

I speak from personal experience when I say it is really quite good.

Indeed, Death's Heretic is very good!

@carborundum That's strange, my ap sub and tales sub come in one package.

On page 114 right now and cannot put it down to save my soul.

edit: also I'm loving the main character. Please don't let this be a one off.

edit: also I'm loving the main character. Please don't let this be a one off.

Thanks, BWT! And your wish is my command--there'll be a free prequel story with Salim starting in a few weeks as part of our Wednesday web fiction. :D

On page 114 right now and cannot put it down to save my soul.

Buh-dum-PSHT! :D

Buh-dum-PSHT! :D

Thought you'd like that :p

Just finished it. It's definitely on the level of Plague of Shadows in terms of characters. In setting and adventure, I think it exceeds it.

I don't like to pick outright favourites, but this is a tier 1 novel ;)

Agree with thebwt. Lots of fun with this book; I hope to see more of the characters in the future.

Oh! It would be pretty cool to see wallpapers for the last couple of novels, too, when y'all find the time... I've got lots of computers. :D

Thanks, everybody!

Also, a brief plug for folks who like reviewing things: If you enjoy a novel (whether mine, some other PF Tales book, or a totally unrelated book), please post a review on its page at Amazon.com! Posting an Amazon review is one of the best things you can do to help an author--even if it's not a 5-star one--as it helps raise the book's profile, and people pay a lot of attention to what other readers have to say on there. This is especially true if you're already reviewing it on Paizo.com--it's easy to crosspost.

I plan on making this my first Pathfinder Tales book in exploring this line and I am getting excited with every good thing I hear!!!

I plan on making this my first Pathfinder Tales book in exploring this line and I am getting excited with every good thing I hear!!!

Yay! Thanks, Jester! :D

Just finished Chapter 2, and I'm really enjoying it so far. I will probably need to leave this book home Thanksgiving weekend so that I don't spend family visiting time with my nose in a book! ;)

Good sauce so far. And Mr Sutter reminded me in an above post that I need to get my reviews written for all the Pathfinder Tales Novels.

-Aaron

Edit: @Jester: I would recommend subscribing to the Tales line. They really are great fiction.

Thanks, everybody!

Also, a brief plug for folks who like reviewing things: If you enjoy a novel (whether mine, some other PF Tales book, or a totally unrelated book), please post a review on its page at Amazon.com! Posting an Amazon review is one of the best things you can do to help an author--even if it's not a 5-star one--as it helps raise the book's profile, and people pay a lot of attention to what other readers have to say on there. This is especially true if you're already reviewing it on Paizo.com--it's easy to crosspost.

Crosspost? That sounds like work. :) But, I'll probably go ahead and do it.

I enjoyed the book (especially because I was paid very well while reading it). The only really odd moment I had

Well except for the jarring language (which I won't rehash) I enjoyed the book.

Oh, one thing

Two things surprised me.
1)

2)

@Kata

Just finished the book and really enjoyed it. I've bought all the pathfinder tales and enjoyed them all but I finished this one quicker then the rest....great job. Can someone put in a spoiler stating Salim's class. I know which one I feel he is but curious as too what James or others think.

Also, a brief plug for folks who like reviewing things: If you enjoy a novel (whether mine, some other PF Tales book, or a totally unrelated book), please post a review on its page at Amazon.com! Posting an Amazon review is one of the best things you can do to help an author--even if it's not a 5-star one--as it helps raise the book's profile, and people pay a lot of attention to what other readers have to say on there. This is especially true if you're already reviewing it on Paizo.com--it's easy to crosspost.

Happily done! Hopefully, Amazon approves the review soon and there will be another five star rating of your novel on Amazon :-).

Woo! Thanks, guys!

And Kohl--answers after the spoiler jump:

This is most likely an editing mistake, but having the book I couldn't help but download the Chronicle Sheet. It says on page one:

• In order for the Chronicle sheet to be considered legal for play, the player must show to the GM a copy of Plague of Shadows, either in printed or digital format.

I assume that instead of Plague of Shadows that should read Death's Heretic?

I was even more interested by hearing Faithful Servants read on Starship Sofa.

Seeing I added a PFS Chronicle sheet is gravy.

e:Faithful Servants

This is most likely an editing mistake, but having the book I couldn't help but download the Chronicle Sheet. It says on page one:

Chronicle Sheet wrote:

• In order for the Chronicle sheet to be considered legal for play, the player must show to the GM a copy of Plague of Shadows, either in printed or digital format.

I assume that instead of Plague of Shadows that should read Death's Heretic?

Yep... we'll get that fixed. Thanks!

An explosion of 5-star reviews. Great work Mr. Sutter! Thanks for a good read.

An explosion of 5-star reviews. Great work Mr. Sutter! Thanks for a good read.

Thanks! And I'm absolutely flabbergasted by the reviews--you folks are the best. :D

I really enjoyed Death's Heretic. My review is up and I lament the fact that I couldn't select 3.5 stars, which reflects my actual rating. Good job, I'm keen to hear more about Salim in the future.

I really enjoyed Death's Heretic. My review is up and I lament the fact that I couldn't select 3.5 stars, which reflects my actual rating. Good job, I'm keen to hear more about Salim in the future.

Tangential: from reading your review, it seems that you enjoyed the book. Yet you gave it 3 (or 3,5) stars, which pretty much screams "average" for me if I ever wanted to make a purchasing decision.

So, is this book an homage to True Grit?

LoreKeeper wrote:

I really enjoyed Death's Heretic. My review is up and I lament the fact that I couldn't select 3.5 stars, which reflects my actual rating. Good job, I'm keen to hear more about Salim in the future.

Tangential: from reading your review, it seems that you enjoyed the book. Yet you gave it 3 (or 3,5) stars, which pretty much screams "average" for me if I ever wanted to make a purchasing decision.

Not for me, a 3 is a good solid performance (more so a 3.5 of course). A 4 is at the level where I buy the book for others to read. At 5 the story is a work of literary genius that transcends the pages it is written upon.

To put it into context: I'm a fan, so a typical book by Terry Pratchett rates around 4 for me, with individual works by the author reaching 4.5. The absolute highpoint, for me, in his body of work he co-authored with Neil Gaiman: Good Omens. Which I give a 5 for.

Now, compared against these ratings and values, I cannot with a straight-face give Death's Heretic a "4".

It is part of the distortion of values that it is easy to in the spur-of-the-moment hand out 1s or 5s. The internet likes such extremes. But the actual fact of the matter is that a "3" is a good book that tells an enjoyable story. More so a 3.5, of course. I've tried to reflect this positive experience in my review of it. And I'm looking forward to reading Master of Devils, once it reaches me in a month or so. It is by a different author, but I'm still keen to see where this Pathfinder Tales will be going and how it grows.

I'm with LoreKeeper. I haven't finished the book yet (and I only tend to review things that I'll give glowing reviews to), but I tend to feel constrained by the 5-star system. In fact, the 5-star system is one of the reasons I don't like doing reviews.

I know it's a bit late in the game, but I'd much much rather see a 7 or 10 star system than a 5-star system. For me a 3 is a decent book, a 4 is a good book that I am willing to recommend, and a 5, being the best ranking one can give, better mean that the book is among the best in the genre.

Everyone uses the rankings differently, of course.

I know it's a bit late in the game, but I'd much much rather see a 7 or 10 star system than a 5-star system. For me a 3 is a decent book, a 4 is a good book that I am willing to recommend, and a 5, being the best ranking one can give, better mean that the book is among the best in the genre.

Everyone uses the rankings differently, of course.

That's actually precisely why we chose the 5-star system: the more rankings there are to choose from, the more people's own impressions of the system vary.

For example, if given a 1-to-100 scale, some people assume 50 is average because it's right in the middle, and others assume 70 is average because it's a "C" in well-known educational grading systems. And people used to scoring wine on a 100-point scale would probably consider anything lower than about 85 a failure hardly worthy of mention.

With the 5-star system, I think most people peg "3" as "average."