Popular author of the Monster Hunter International series, Larry Correia, is starting a new fantasy world. No stranger to RPG-inspired worlds with his Legend of the Five Rings homage in Son of a Black Sword, he’s now creating one publisher Aethon says is inspired by Dungeons & Dragons.
Their press release on their website says:
We are excited to announce that we have signed a deal with Larry Corriea, New York Times bestselling author of Monster Hunter International, to pen an Epic Progression Fantasy series titled, ACADEMY OF OUTCASTS!
Set in a DnD inspired world split into elemental realms, it features a poor young man from the fire realm who is destined for nothing except servitude to magic-wielding masters. Until one day he sneaks through the portal which connects each realm and gains access to one of the Academies for the gifted.
The worst one…
There, he’ll find out if he can master magic he thought was impossible, make something of himself, and bring the Academy of Outcasts to glory.
Expect to see ACADEMY OF OUTCASTS release in all formats in 2025! We can’t wait to share the incredible world Larry is building with readers everywhere.
Aethon Books is a publishing house run by Rhett C. Bruno, and the announcement comes as a surprise to most Larry Correia fans as his recent books have all been published through Baen Books.
Larry Correia posted to Facebook, assuring his Monster Hunter International fans that there would be guns involved in his fantasy world:
Here’s a project I’ve been working on that I can finally announce.
This story is pretty damned fun. I’m borrowing heavily from a whole bunch of RPG campaigns I’ve run or played in over the years. I’ll give you guys some more story details as it gets closer.
To answer the inevitable questions, don’t worry, this isn’t really interrupting my regular series, those are still moving right along, and there’s more regular series MHI coming next year. Why Aethon instead of my regular publisher, Baen? This one’s a sub-genre that Baen’s not into (progression fantasy). Plus, Aethon are masters at working Kindle Unlimited, which is an area of publishing that I’ve never messed with. And I’m one of those guys who tries not to get stagnant, so that’s an area I need to get some experience with (can’t cohost a writing podcast if I don’t keep up on one of the biggest markets in the industry).
The story itself is in a setting that’s based on a few different games I’ve run (and one realm I stole from Steve’s last campaign), crossed with some ideas I got editing the Down These Mean Streets anthologies (I had a killer idea for a magical hub city but didn’t have a chance to develop it then), mixed with wizard academies that fight against each other like the schools in kung fu movies, only WITH MAGIC GUNS. 😃 I hope you guys like it.
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Larry Correia’s fans reacted positively, noting the departure from Baen Books but also having a generally positive reception of Aethon Books from their prior releases.
What do you think of Larry Correia’s new fantasy book Academy Of Outcasts coming from Aethon Books? Leave a comment and let us know.
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This is honestly a surprise. Yet, this isn’t unprecedented from Comrade Correia. All of the Tom Stranger stories were technically done with Audible Studios (They also happen to be my favorite of Larry’s works). And he’s cooperated on a couple of non-Baen anthologies.
Don’t think there’s anything to read into here, besides Baen and Tor’s reluctance to produce works in genres that readers are seeking out. Kind of surprising how similar reader bases are becoming in America when compared to Japan (Web novels and their light novel compilations being the big reads)