Three months since the last one. Two books moved, one went backwards, and Blood and Faith finally came back from the reviewers.
The reviews are in
The Historical Fiction Company · August 2026 · 4.4 / 5
“Vaness is a master at taking what could be dry, tedious political moments and transforming them into high-stakes drama.”
“A book with a cinematic feel and quality, visual richness, dramatic pacing, sharp dialogue, and the emotional depth of a great historical film.”
Reader Views · September 2026 · 5 / 5 · Reviewed by Jessica Dickenson
“Vaness makes history come alive in a way that even the most passive reader can’t help but pull up a Wikipedia page to learn more.”
“The defeat of Guy de Lusignan becomes less of a royal blunder and more one of devastating hubris from a man who had everything to prove and lost everything.”
She also compared the book to A Song of Ice and Fire, which I have decided to accept quietly and without argument. Both reviews are up in full on the book’s page.
Four juries are reading it
Blood and Faith is a 2026 entrant in four juried awards. Nothing decided yet — here’s the calendar:
- American Book Fest, Best Book Awards · Fiction: Historical · results around November
- Reader Views Literary Awards · Historical Fiction · finalists late November
- The Historical Fiction Company, Book of the Year · Historical War · December 31
- Chanticleer International, The CHAUCER Awards · Medieval & Renaissance · rolling into 2027
I’ll report every one of them. Including the ones that go nowhere.
On the desk
The Gate of Bones is close. The problems I found in June turned out to be fixable, and the rewrite did what it needed to. I’m giving you a season rather than a month this time: this winter. I’ve missed two dates already — I’d rather beat a wide window than miss a narrow one again.
Nothing to Declare — first draft complete. Forty-three chapters, three points of view, following Oscar Wilde across America in 1882 as a lecture tour turns into the invention of modern celebrity. I did not expect this to be the book that finished first.
The Iron Revenants Saga, Book 1 — this is the one I owe you an explanation for. In June I told you it was in final edits and publishing soon. It isn’t, and it won’t be for a while.
There’s no single flaw I can point to. No collapsed plot, no broken character. It read as competent. Competent isn’t the bar, and a first book that sets up nineteen more has to be better than adequate or none of the rest of them matter. So it goes back to the bench.
Vesper 01 and The First Doubt are where they were in June.
Want to read The Gate of Bones first?
Before it goes on sale, I’m sending advance copies to readers on this list. No obligation beyond an honest review if you feel like leaving one. Reply to this email with “advance copy” and I’ll put you down.
One thing worth your time
Wilde in America: Oscar Wilde and the Invention of Modern Celebrity by David M. Friedman. The book that sat open on my desk for most of Nothing to Declare — a full account of the 1882 tour, the 140 lectures, the newspapers that alternately lionised and savaged him, and the way a young man with no real achievements yet manufactured a reputation out of nothing but presence. If you have ever wondered when fame stopped requiring accomplishment, the answer is roughly 1882.
More soon —
Collin
P.S. If you’ve read Blood and Faith, an honest review on Amazon or Goodreads genuinely helps — two lines is plenty.