Blade of the Avatar

Blade of the Avatar is a series of novels by Tracy Hickman and Richard Garriott for. It features illustrations by Denis Loubet, renowned Ultima artist, and a cover designed by Portalarium artist Stephen Daniele and Tracy Hickman.

The novels are prequels to the storyline, being set roughly 200 years prior to the launch of the game.

Books

 * The Sword of Midras
 * Shards of the Avatar
 * Untitled Book Three

Trivia

 * During the Cyber Monday 12 Hour Streamathon, Tracy and Richard announced that Blade of the Avatar will be available through traditional publishers. Additionally, they have ordered two additional books, making a trilogy of prequel novels for written by Tracy Hickman and Richard Garriott! It was later noted that the first book will be expanded to include four additional chapters.
 * NOTE: The Sword of Midras is not the version of the novel included in the SotA pledge rewards. The original Blade of the Avatar novel has already been delivered as an electronic PDF to all pledges prior to May 31, 2015 (when it expired). For those who qualify for this reward, you can find the link to the PDF on your SotA website account page Special Rewards tab for download. The physical and signed version of the novel that was a reward at the Citizen (and above) level up through May 31, 2015 will be a paperback print version of the original Blade of the Avatar novel that has been delivered as an electronic PDF. This physical reward will be delivered to backers at the same time that all physical rewards are delivered, which we currently expect will be toward the end of this year.
 * Portalarium failed to reach an agreement with the publisher on distribution of the physical and signed version of the Blade of the Avatar books for backers. Instead, Patron-level backers eligible for a physical copy of the book will instead receive a unique in-game Challenge Dungeon Remote Dungeon Entrance, and Citizen-level backers eligible for a signed copy will instead receive a Sword of Midras Library Dungeon Room and a Sword of Midras Magical Printing Press.