"...immediately putting Shank on my auto-buy authors list." - Esmay Rosalyne, reviewer on staff for the "Before We Go" blog
Magon Dross graduated his mage school, the Tower, with flying colors. Then his old schoolmaster burned his runebook and stole his magic. Now the Tower wants him dead.
To spare himself, his family, and his people from danger, Magon must find help and answers. His country is on the brink of war, and a school of rogue mages could topple everything.
Powerless and on the run, he'll find help through his childhood friend, his estranged sister, a tribal exile, a violent priest, and the daughter of King Terrus, Freytilia's most hated man. This makes for a precarious alliance, but it must hold.
The Tower's pursuit spreads collateral damage, and as war approaches, it grows apparent that if the Tower isn't stopped, every country will fall.
"The Best Indie Book of 2023!" - Matteo of @matfromthebooks)
Everything went to hell in the first week.
After four years on the road, Sharla was looking forward to settling down and trying her hand at a steadier occupation. When Claws raid her town and take her lover, Renn, she knows it's time for action. She's tired of running. Now, she'll take a stand.
To do this, she'll have to follow the Claws across the tablelands. This is a land of bandits, mages, and monsters. If she wants to travel this country and rescue Renn, she'll need help. An army of Watchmen would be nice. Maybe even a drug cartel.
However, she also knows it's best to keep things small. The more allies she has, the more she risks a future knife between the ribs.
After all, this is Low Country.
When Sharla Tarroful hunted a Claw tribe and fought their chieftain, she didn't expect the consequences: a dead cartel leader and another one missing. She accidentally reshuffled the playing field, and now, everyone wants a piece of the pie. Thanks to her, Low Country can't trust its Watchmen any more than its cartels.
Rumor also has it that Marast, the leader of the final cartel, is mobilizing his men to launch a civil war. When a squad of Watchmen ask Sharla to help track him, she knows her grandfather, Low Country's Colonel, recognizes the threat.
Sharla has her reservations about helping Watchmen, but the darkest secrets of her past are only just coming to light. A new player follows her path: none other than Hari Tarroful, Sharla's mother. Drawn to her homeland like a moth to light, Hari envisions a new country. She's changed, but so has Sharla. Mother and daughter are bound for a collision course, a confrontation that will shape their futures, and those of their countrymen, forever.
Low Country has changed. Watchmen have embraced criminals, and nobody knows the difference anymore. A notorious outlaw controls his puppet ruler, and the people despair. Coin is scarce, food is low, but worst of all, a Shadow rises in the east.
This darkness grows like a plague, turning day to night, but few fear it more than Sharla. She remembers hearing of a similar Shadow from months past, one that disappeared when Dormun Redskull died. The former chieftain had bargained with mages to earn himself a territory, but Sharla robbed him of it. Now, the mages want to settle the debt.
Sharla already lost her home, her friends, and her family. Her mother chased her from Low Country, and when Sharla returns, their reunion will probably end in more bodies. Nevertheless, she can’t stay in hiding. She fought for Low Country too long to abandon it, and her mother doesn’t scare her.
Win or lose, all roads lead home. And when Sharla returns, the country she remembers will finally end.
"Recommended read for any dark fantasy reader!" - Review as found on Amazon
A bad trip off fairy ichor, or one too many drinks? Whatever the means, Irya doesn't remember traveling to Ashuk, and this is no time for a country frolic. The Northern War rages, winter brews strong, and rumors of monsters haunt Allacia.
Irya's chance for a safe trip home arrives through an untimely reunion with Shen, a man of shadowy origins who remains one of the only people she trusts, and Lerran, a millworker who appears to be his hapless lackey.
The three head north, toward a place where legends are claimed and lives are restored. But something's chasing Shen, and when every secret is revealed and every motivation laid bare, it becomes clear that it's nigh impossible to ever let bygones stay bygones.