David Keck's KING OF COBWEBS finally has a release date

David Keck's long, long-delayed third novel, A King in Cobwebs, has a publication date. It will be released by Tor Books on 24 July 2018 in the US, ten years after the publication of the previous volume.

The book is the third in the Durand Col series, following on from In the Eye of Heaven and In a Time of Treason. The third book was delayed by the author starting a family and life getting in the way.

I haven't read the series but it does have some fans who've kept the interest alive for a decade.

David Keck and Ken Scholes deliver their long-delayed novels

2006 saw many debut fantasy novelists begin their careers, most famously Joe Abercrombie, Daniel Abraham and Scott Lynch. Slightly less well-known is David Keck, whose first fantasy novel, In the Eye of Heaven, was published to moderately good reviews.

He followed that up with In a Time of Treason in 2008, but his third novel has been MIA since then. The good news is that the book, A King in Cobwebs, has been completed, delivered to Tor and returned for edits (now completed). The book is making its way through Tor's publishing machinery and should be out, hopefully, in 2017 or 2018.

The fates of other long-awaited fantasy novels is less clear. Patrick Rothfuss is still working on The Doors of Stone (curiously, since an apparently-completed manuscript was circulating with beta readers over two years ago), George R.R. Martin is still working on The Winds of Winter and J.V. Jones remains completely MIA. However, Ken Scholes has delivered Hymn, the long-awaited final novel in The Psalms of Isaak, and that will be released in December 2017.

David Keck update

Canadian fantasy author David Keck has given an update on his long-delayed third fantasy novel, The King in Cobwebs, the conclusion of the Durand Col trilogy.

Keck published his debut novel, In the Eye of Heaven, in 2006. It was followed by In a Time of Treason in 2008. The third volume has been repeatedly delayed with updates relatively few and far between.

The new update reveals that Keck is polishing off the first draft now, and will begin editing shortly afterwards. How long these edits will take is unclear, and there is still no final publication date. However, it is major step towards completion and publication.