IN Belgium and The Netherlnds, AH has a solid fan base, but I don't know about the other two
When I met him he said that Belguim was his favorite country to visit (don't know if it's true though...) and that he has a lot of fans there...
He's said that more than once, but it's true too. He started riting about the time that Facet started publishing...and he was one of their first contracts. They grew big together, facet sold a lot of his books, and he was able to sell a lot of books through him...if that little allegiance wouldn't ahve ben there, then neither of them would be where they are today, i suspect...well AH would, most probably cause he deserves it, but Facet would be non-existant.
And if that's not the reason...we got great beer and great chocoalte...what more do you want?
They chose a good date for the release here in belgium actually. It's the wednesday before the fall vacation