Andrzej Sapkowski might be best known for writingthe Witcher series(and givingincredibly candid interviews ) , but there are plenty of titles under his belt . His other majorfantasy serial publication — one that ’s establish on actual history — is finally coming to the United States in the first English translation of The Tower of Fools .
https://gizmodo.com/i-do-not-like-working-too-hard-or-too-long-a-refreshin-1841209529
Desperate to escape the wife ’s brothers , the Holy Inquisition , and a series of unusual , mystical forces , Reynevan winds up in a Narrenturm , a mediaeval institution for masses suffering from rarefied and mental diseases … and also dissenter of the status quo . Unlike the Witcher series , which was based entirely in a fictional region , the Hussite trilogy is a fantastical take on veridical history — including an appearance from thepolymath Nicolaus Copernicus , as a fellow patient role at the Narrenturm .
Full cover reveal below!Image: Orbit Books
Here ’s the blanket for U.S. variant of The Tower of Fools .
The follow excerption lays the groundwork for Reynevan ’s perilous journey , showing how he was caught for his affair and pull to go on the run in a high - speed Salmon P. Chase through the streets of his small town .
Gloria Patri , et Filio et Spiritui sancto .
I’m guessing that goblet doesn’t have apple juice in it.Image: Orbit Books
Sicut erat in principio , et nunc , et semper
et in saecula saeculorum , Amen .
Alleluia !
As the monks concluded the Gloria , Reynevan , kissing the back of Adèle of Stercza ’s neck , placed his deal beneath her plantation of pomegranates , engulf , mad , like a young hart bound off upon the mountains to his beloved . . .
A mailed fist run into the doorway , which thud open with such power that the ringlet was tear off the frame and film through the windowpane like a meteor . Adèle screamed shrilly as the Stercza brothers burst into the sleeping accommodation .
Reynevan catch on out of bed , positioning it between himself and the trespasser , grabbed his apparel and began to in haste put them on . He for the most part succeeded , but only because the brothers Stercza had guide their frontal tone-beginning at their sister - in - legal philosophy .
‘ You vile tart ! ’ bellow Morold of Stercza , dragging a bare Adèle from the bedclothes .
‘ Wanton lady of pleasure ! ’ chime in Wittich , his older brother , while Wolfher – next oldest after Adèle ’s married man Gelfrad – did not even open his back talk , for sick fury had deprived him of speech . He run into Adèle hard in the face . The Burgundian screamed . Wolfher happen upon her again , this time backhanded .
‘ Do n’t you presume collide with her , Stercza ! ’ yelled Reynevan , but his voice broke and tremble with fear and a paralysing feeling of impotency , because of his trouser being round his stifle . ‘ Do n’t you dare ! ’
His cry achieved its burden , although not the way he had designate . Wolfher and Wittich , momentarily forgetting their cheating sister - in - constabulary , pounced on Reynevan , raining down a hail of punch and recoil on the male child . He cowered under the blows , but rather than defend or protect himself , he obdurately draw on his trousers as though they were some form of sorcerous armour . Out of the quoin of one eye , he saw Wittich drawing a tongue . Adèle screamed .
‘ Do n’t , ’ Wolfher snapped at his chum . ‘ Not here ! ’
Reynevan wield to get onto his articulatio genus . Wittich , face white with fury , jumped at him and punched him , throwing him to the floor again . Adèle let out a piercing scream which broke off as Morold struck her in the brass and take out her hair’s-breadth .
‘ Do n’t you presume . . . ’ Reynevan groaned ‘ . . . arrive at her , you scoundrels ! ’
‘ Bastard ! ’ holler Wittich . ‘ Just you wait ! ’
Wittich jump forward , plug and kicked once and twice . Wolfher stopped him at the third .
‘ Not here , ’ Wolfher repeated calmly , but it was a menacing calm . ‘ Into the court with him . We ’ll take him to Bierutów . That slut , too . ’
‘ I ’m clean-handed ! ’ wailed Adèle of Stercza . ‘ He bewitched me ! Enchanted me ! He ’s a sorcerer ! Sorcier ! Diab — ’
Morold shut up her with another clout . ‘ Hold your clapper , slattern , ’ he grumble . ‘ You ’ll get the chance to scream . Just wait a while . ’
‘ Do n’t you dare hit her ! ’ yelled Reynevan .
‘ We ’ll give you a prospect to scream , too , little rooster , ’ Wolfher add , still menacingly calm . ‘ Come on , out with him . ’
The Stercza buddy cast Reynevan down the loft ’s steep stairs and the son get onto onto the landing , splintering part of the wooden balustrade . Before he could get up , they seized him again and befuddle him out into the courtyard , onto Amandine Aurore Lucie Dupin strewn with steaming stack of Equus caballus asshole .
‘ Well , well , well , ’ read Nicolaus of Stercza , the youngest of the brothers , hardly a teenager , who was defend the horses . ‘ Look who ’s stopped by . Could it be Reinmar of Bielawa ? ’
‘ The scholarly braggart Bielawa , ’ snorted Jentsch of Knobelsdorf , known as Eagle Owl , a comrade and relative of the Sterczas . ‘ The arrogant know - all Bielawa ! ’
‘ Shitty poet , ’ added Dieter Haxt , another champion of the family . ‘ Bloody Abélard ! ’
‘ And to show to him we ’re well read , too , ’ order Wolfher as he descended the stairs , ‘ we ’ll do to him what they did to Abélard when he was caught with Héloïse . Well , Bielawa ? How do you visualize being a capon ? ’
‘ Go have a go at it yourself , Stercza . ’
‘ What ? What ? ’ Although it seemed unsufferable , Wolfher Stercza had turned even paler . ‘ The cock still has the audaciousness to open his nib ? To triumph ? The bullwhip , Jentsch ! ’
‘ Do n’t you make bold beat him ! ’ Adèle called helplessly as she was led down the step , now clothed , albeit incompletely . ‘ Do n’t you defy ! Or I ’ll tell everyone what you are like ! That you courted me yourself , pawed me and tried to debauch me behind your brother ’s back ! That you swear retribution on me if I spurn you ! Which is why you are so . . . so . . . ’
She could n’t rule the German word and the integral philippic fell aside . Wolfher just express joy .
‘ Verily ! ’ he mocked . ‘ People will heed to the Frenchwoman , the lewd strumpet . The bullwhip , Eagle Owl ! ’
The courtyard was suddenly awash with black-market Augustinian habits .
‘ What is happening here ? ’ cry out the venerable Prior Erasmus Steinkeller , a bony and sallow old valet . ‘ Christians , what are you doing ? ’
‘ Begone ! ’ roar Wolfher , cracking the bullwhip . ‘ Begone , shaved - heads , hasten off to your prayer books ! Do n’t interpose in chivalric affairs , or woe betide you , blackbacks ! ’
‘ secure Lord . ’ The anterior put his liver - spotted hands together . ‘ Forgive them , for they know not what they do . In nomine Patris , et Filii — ’
‘ Morold , Wittich ! ’ roared Wolfher . ‘ Bring the harlot here ! Jentsch , Dieter , adhere her paramour ! ’
‘ Or perhaps , ’ snarled Stefan Rotkirch , another Quaker of the family who had been silent until then , ‘ we ’ll drag him behind a horse a little ? ’
‘ We could . But first , we ’ll give him a tanning ! ’
Wolfher take aim a black eye with the horsewhip at the still - prone Reynevan but did not connect , as his wrist was seize by Brother Innocent , nicknamed ‘ Brother Insolent ’ by his fellow friars , whose impressive summit and shape were apparent despite his humble monkish stoop . His vicelike hairgrip have got Wolfher ’s arm motionless .
Stercza swore coarsely , jerked himself away and gave the Thelonious Sphere Monk a unvoiced shove . But he might as well have shove the towboat in Oleśnica Castle for all the effect it had . Brother Innocent did n’t budge an inch . He shoved Wolfher back , propelling him halfway across the courtyard and dumping him in a pile of muck .
For a import , there was quiet . And then they all rushed the immense monk . Eagle Owl , the first to attack , was punch in the teeth and tumble across the sand . Morold of Stercza engage a thump to the ear and staggered off to one side , staring vacantly . The others swarmed over the Augustinian like ants , raining blows on the monk ’s vast form . Brother Insolent strike back just as brutally and in a clearly unchristian path , quite at odds with Saint Augustine ’s rule of humbleness .
The sight enrage the onetime prior . He flush like a beetroot , howl like a lion and rushed into the fray , striking leftover and correct with heavy blows of his rosewood tree crucifix .
‘ Pax ! ’ he roar as he discover . ‘ Pax ! Vobiscum ! enjoy thy neighbor ! Proximum tuum ! Sicut te ipsum ! cocksucker ! ’
Dieter Haxt punched him intemperately . The old homo was fling over backwards and his sandal flew up , describing pretty trajectories in the aviation . The Augustinians scream out and several of them charged into struggle , ineffective to restrain themselves . The courtyard was seething in dear .
Wolfher of Stercza , who had been jostle out of the confusion , draw a short sword and brandished it – bloodshed count inevitable . But Reynevan , who had finally oversee to stick out up , whop him in the back of the drumhead with the handle of the bullwhip he had pick up . Stercza held his forefront and turn around , only for Reynevan to whip him across the aspect . As Wolfher fell to the primer , Reynevan hie towards the horses .
‘ Adèle ! Here ! To me ! ’
Adèle did n’t even budge , and the indifference paint on her face was alarming . Reynevan leap into the bicycle seat . The horse neighed and fidget .
‘ Adèèèèèèle ! ’
Morold , Wittich , Haxt and Eagle Owl were now run towards him . Reynevan reined the knight around , whistled bitterly and spur it hard , making for the gate .
‘ After him ! ’ yelled Wolfher . ‘ To your cavalry and get after him ! ’
Reynevan ’s first thought was to head towards Saint Mary ’s Gate and out of the town into the woods , but the stretch of Cattle Street lead to the logic gate was all grind away with wagons . Furthermore , the sawhorse , urge on and frightened by the cries of an unfamiliar passenger , was designate great individual initiative , so before he knew it , Reynevan was hurtling along at a gallop towards the town square , splash mud and scattering passers - by . He did n’t have to look back to make love the others were hot on his heels given the thudding of hoof , the neighing of horses , the tempestuous roaring of the Sterczas and the raging yelling of people being shove .
He jabbed the horse cavalry to a full gallop with his hound , hitting and knock over a baker carry a basket . A shower of loaves and pastries flew into the mud , soon to be trodden beneath the hooves of the Sterczas ’ horse . Reynevan did n’t even look back , more concerned with what was beforehand of him than behind . A cart piled luxuriously with faggots of coppice loomed up before his eyes . The handcart was blocking almost the total street , the residue of which was engage by a group of half - garment urchin , kneel down and busily digging something exceedingly engrossing out of the slime .
‘ We have you , Bielawa ! ’ thundered Wolfher from behind , also run across the obstacle .
Reynevan ’s Equus caballus was racing so fleetly there was no chance of stopping it . He pressed himself against its mane and closed his eyes . As a result , he did n’t see the half - naked children spread out with the speed and saving grace of so-and-so . He did n’t calculate back , so nor did he see a peasant in a sheepskin jerkin turn around , somewhat stupefied , as he hauled a handcart into the road . Nor did he see the Sterczas sit handbill into the cart . Nor Jentsch of Knobelsdorf hang glide from the saddle and wholesale one-half of the faggots from the go-cart with his body .
Reynevan galloped down Saint John ’s Street , between the town anteroom and the burgermeister ’s house , hurtle at full speed into Oleśnica ’s huge and crowded township public square . Pandemonium erupted . take aim for the southerly frontal and the squat , solid towboat of the Oława Gate visible above it , Reynevan extend through the crowd , leave havoc behind him . town yelled and pigs squeal , as overturned stalls and benches shower a hail of household good and foodstuffs of every kind in all directions . Clouds of feathers fly everywhere as the Sterczas – hot on Reynevan ’s heels – added to the wipeout .
Reynevan ’s Equus caballus , scare by a twat fly past its nose , funk and hurtled into a Pisces the Fishes stall , shatter crates and bust open barrel . The enraged fishmonger made a great swipe with a keep meshwork , neglect Reynevan but come to the horse ’s rump . The sawbuck whinnied and slewed sideways , upend a stall trade thread and ribbons , and only a miracle prevent Reynevan from falling . Out of the street corner of one eye , he saw the stallholder running after him brandish a huge chopper ( service God only knew what purpose in the haberdashery deal ) . Spitting out some goof plume stuck to his lip , he bring the Equus caballus under control and galloped through the shamble , knowing that the Oława Gate was very close .
‘ I ’ll deplume your balls off , Bielawa ! ’ Wolfher of Stercza roared from behind . ‘ I ’ll charge them off and gorge them down your throat ! ’
‘ Kiss my seat ! ’
Only four man were chasing him now – Rotkirch had been pull from his horse and was being rough in up by some infuriated market traders .
Reynevan darted like an pointer down an avenue of animal carcasses suspended by their ramification . Most of the stumbler leaped back in warning machine , but one carrying a large haunch of beef on one shoulder tumbled under the hooves of Wittich ’s buck , which took fright , lift up and was ploughed into by Wolfher ’s Equus caballus . Wittich fly from the saddleback straight onto the meat stand , nose - first into liver , lights and kidneys , and was then landed on by Wolfher . His ft was watch in the stapes and before he could give up himself , he had destroyed a large number of stable and embrace himself in mud and stemma .
At the last second , Reynevan quickly depress his head over the horse cavalry ’s cervix to duck under a wooden sign with a piglet ’s head painted on it . Dieter Haxt , who was bearing down on him , was n’t immediate enough and the cheerfully grinning piglet slam into his forehead . Dieter fly from the bicycle seat and crashed into a pile of refuse , frightening some cats . Reynevan grow around . Now only Nicolaus of Stercza was keeping up with him .
Reynevan shot out of the chaos at a full gallop and into a small square where some tanner were working . As a human body hung with wet skin loom up before him , he urged his horse to jump . It did . And Reynevan did n’t fall off . Another miracle .
Nicolaus was n’t as favorable . His horse skidded to a halt in front of the frame and collided with it , slipping on the mud and scraps of pith and adipose tissue . The youthful Stercza shoot over his buck ’s head , with very unfortunate termination . He vanish belly - first right onto a scythe used for scrape leather which the tanner had left propped up against the frame .
At first , Nicolaus had no idea what had take place . He get up from the ground , trance detention of his horse , and only when it snort and step back did his knee sag and crumple beneath him . Still not really live what was happening , the youngest Stercza slid across the mud after the frightened Equus caballus , which was still move back and snorting . at last , as he unloose the rein and strain to get to his feet again , he realised something was unseasonable and count down at his midsection .
And screamed .
He spend to his knees in the centre of a rapidly spread out pool of blood .
Dieter Haxt razz up , reined in his horse and dismounted . A moment later , Wolfher and Wittich followed suit .
Nicolaus sat down to a great extent . Looked at his stomach again . Screamed and then burst into tears . His eyes began to glaze over as the bloodline gushing from him mingle with the blood of the ox and hogs butchered that sunup .
‘ Nicolaaaaus ! ’ hollo Wolfher .
Nicolaus of Stercza coughed and choked . And died .
‘ You are idle , Reinmar of Bielawa ! ’ Wolfher of Stercza , sick with fury , bellowed towards the gate . ‘ I ’ll catch you , pour down you , destroy you . Exterminate you and your integral viperous family . Your integral viperous family , do you hear ? ’
Reynevan did n’t . Amid the thud of horseshoe on the bridge plank , he was leaving Oleśnica and dashing south , directly for the Wrocław main road .
Excerpted from The Tower of Fools . © 2020 Published by Orbit Books ( US ) and Gollancz ( UK ) , October 27 , 2020 . All Rights Reserved .
Andrzej Sapkowski ’s The Tower of Fools is out October 27 , 2020 , but you may pre - order a transcript here for theU.S. andUKeditions .
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