Your enemies will do anything to stop you. Your best friend might be dead. And your only hope is your father…a man you’ve never met-until now. Who would you trust? Would you even trust yourself?

That’s the dilemma tormenting Bran Hambric, the eponymous hero of The Specter Key, the second novel in Kaleb Nation’s middle grade epic just published by Sourcebooks.

Bran Hambric believes that the Farfield Curse is over with. But when he discovers a safe-deposit box in his dead mother’s name-in the very bank vault where he was discovered as a boy-Bran’s past comes rushing back. Now he’s on a frightening path that puts everyone he cares about in danger.

When Bran’s best friend, Astara, is kidnapped, Bran will do whatever it takes to save her and prevent the evil mage on his trail from claiming the power of the curse for herself. But will the magic destroy him the way it destroyed his mother?

The Farfield Curse, the launch novel in this remarkable series, is available in paperback or E-Reads e-book.

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Kaleb Nation

On the third night of the third month in 2003, 14-year-old Kaleb Nation suddenly imagined a boy and a banker on a roof waiting for a burglar to come. From that original idea was born the story of Bran Hambric. The novel would take most of Kaleb’s teenage years to complete. Aside from writing, Kaleb is a blogger and former radio host; he is the creator of the wildly popular TwilightGuy.com. His personal website is KalebNation.com.

Bran Hambric: The Farfield Curse by Kaleb Nation

What if your mother was a criminal? What if her crime was magic? What if magic ran in the family?

Bran Hambric was found alone in a locked bank vault when he was six years old. He doesn’t have a clue how he got there, or any memory of his past. There’s only one explanation: Magic. But magic is outlawed in the Great and Glorious City of Dunce.

Eight years later, a twisted, hissing creature confronts Bran and his foster father, Sewey, on their rooftop. Sewey, not the brightest Duncelander to begin with, believes it’s a gnome. Bran knows otherwise.

Bran soon discovers that whatever leaped onto his roof is connected to the mother he never knew and that Bran himself is the missing link in a plot so secret and evil that those behind it will stop at nothing to hunt him down.

Armed with wands and weapons, Bran’s enemies are about to attack – with all the power of a horrible curse and a terrible crime. Magic won’t be the only law broken in the City of Dunce…

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On the 3rd night of the 3rd month of 2003, fourteen-year-old Kaleb Nation was inspired to begin the story of Bran Hambric, a novel that would take most of his teenage years to write. In early 2007, he finished the first book. It was published on the 9th day of the 9th month of 2009 by Sourcebooks. You can buy the paperback here. The sequel, The Specter Key, will be published on the 10th day of the 10th month of 2010.

You can follow Kaleb on http://www.kalebnation.com. Below, a video of Kaleb reporting completion of The Specter Key.

“Wow, what can I say?” exclaims Maranda (“Donnie”) Mangino on Amazon. “This book is pure genius. I received an ARC of this book back in June, and I read it in 5 days! I could NOT put this book down. It was everything a teenage read should be, funny, epic, magic, and spooky all at ONCE. Are you wondering if it’s worth the money? IT’S WORTH EVERY PENNY, BUY IT, READ IT, AND THEN READ IT AGAIN! Kaleb Nation you are AWESOME.”

We’re not given to all-cap outbursts but in this case Donnie’s got it right. Kaleb Nation is AWESOME! Today is publication of The Farfield Curse, the first novel in a young readers fantasy series featuring Bran Hambric. (Nation had a specific reason for requesting a publication date of 9/9/09.) The novel not only launches Bran but launches the career of a remarkable young author who started the novel when he fourteen. Completing it at the age of nineteen, he submitted it to our agency and we immediately recognized a fully formed professional writer, skillful, poised and wise. It wasn’t long before it was snapped up by Sourcebooks, a dynamic Chicago publisher hungry for product to fill the list of a newly created children’s book division.

Nation’s easy familiarity with all things digital places him at the forefront of Web 2.0 where he has shown an amazing instinct for cultivating and communicating with his audience, as you will see when you visit his website. He not only writes books, he also designed the talisman at the heart of his novel’s mystery, and he composed the music that will accompany the audio edition.

What’s The Farfield Curse about? In a bustling metropolis where magic is outlawed, a six-year-old child is found inside a locked bank vault. A scrap of paper reveals his name: Bran Hambric. The child remembers nothing of his life before the vault. Only magic could have done this. But why would any mage risk breaking the law to place a child in a bank vault?

Read it and see if you don’t agree with D.J. MacHale, author of the Pendragon Series: “The Farfield Curse brims with mystery, magic, and fun. Kaleb Nation’s wry sense of humor kept me smiling, even while the mystical sparks flew. Get ready for lots of surprises and watch out for gnomes!”

Look for the e-book edition later in the year.

Richard Curtis

Sourcebooks publisher Dominique Raccah (pictured below), who pitched herself into the eye of a storm when she decided to delay the e-book edition a major book, has articulated her reasons for the decision. In a statement published on Booksquare, blogger Kassia Crozser’s website, she takes pains to express her strategic thinking about holding back the e-edition of Bran Hambric by Kaleb Nation when Sourcebooks publishes it in September. (Above right, the youthful author signs advance reading copies at BEA,)

Her conclusion?

“I agree with Kassia that it’s dangerous to expect consumers to play by the rules of last year’s business model. I’ve taken action in this one situation and I certainly wonder if there are other options that are neither mine nor the $9.99 option. And I also agree that we need to experiment, and I see our industry beginning to do that. But this pricing and release-date situation doesn’t feel like an experiment. This actually seems more like a dictate that could have enormous ramifications, perhaps not today, perhaps not tomorrow, but certainly long-term on the future of authors and books. And I think all I’m saying is, let’s think about this. It’s too important. As a publisher, we have to be strategic, book by book (and it’s important to remember that we’re talking about 1 book; Sourcebooks has 850 ebooks available). These are big decisions for our authors and ourselves. So in situations where the e-format release could hurt the author’s launch, what if we were to wait?”

For a cross-section of debate, be sure to read the comments below Raccah’s statement.

Richard Curtis