Coville’s Third Unicorn Chronicle Arrives
By Sally Lodge, Publishers Weekly -- Publishers Weekly, 8/7/2008
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Bruce Coville. |
Why the long time lapse between the second and third novels? Coville, who has penned more than 90 books and has won a dozen children’s choice awards, blames the delay primarily on his preoccupation with Full Cast Audio, the audio book publishing company he founded in 2002. “That venture definitely diverted my energies,” he says. “But another reason Dark Whispers took me so long to write was that it became a much bigger book than I anticipated, and as that world continued to grow in my mind, the story became more difficult to write.”
This third tale became so lengthy, in fact, that Coville decided to split it into two books: the fourth installment, The Last Hunt, is expected in 2010. Coville says he’s received thousands of letters over the years from readers inquiring when the next book might arrive. “I didn’t want to let them down,” he says. “With the first two books, I set a mark to live up to which kind of terrified me. But now that Dark Whispers is out, I am unburdened of my guilt at taking so long to write it. I am much lighter of spirit now.”
Scholastic has also just released new paperback editions of the first two Unicorn Chronicles with new cover art by Petar Meseldžija, the same artist who created the Dark Whispers jacket art. Marketing plans include a bookmark featuring all three novels and a dedicated Web site.
Unicorn Chronicles Book 3: Dark Whispers by Bruce Coville. Scholastic, $17.99 ISBN 978-0-590-45951-8
