The Child of Silence
You've never met a hero like this before. Born severely disabled, Aiata dal'Pelferta has spent her life despised by her own people simply for who she is. Worse still, she is the youngest daughter of the Empress, making her an Imperial embarrassment. Unable to talk, move or let anyone know she is a thinking, feeling person, she spends her days observing - and learning - from those around her. Everything changes when she finally discovers a way to communicate and is plunged into the dangers of the Imperial court. With the magic of Songthrust, Aiata’s people can force others to their will, however they are ill-prepared for a popular revolt within their own borders – a revolt that Aiata is dragged into. Abused by her family and surrounded by danger, Aiata will learn that her intellect – not her magic – is her greatest asset, as she fights to save her home from the ravages of civil war. Yet while all eyes are on the war at home, a far greater threat looms in the dark of the night sky.
Lorelei the Slayer
Beneath the colossal skeleton of a slain Great Beast, Lorelei lives a quiet life in a theocratic community, where curiosity is a crime and girls are taught to serve, obey, and marry young. Reluctantly she conforms, but in her private moments dreams of having more – of studying the natural world, of learning from ancient texts, and of enjoying a life lived on her own terms, free from the oppression of powerful men.
To dress how you wish, to learn how to read, to even tie back your hair – all these things and more are forbidden to women in Lorelei’s world, the rules mercilessly enforced by the local Alderman. Break one rule and you’ll be whipped. Break too many and you’ll be taken by the Beasts…or so the Alderman claims. One Great Beast in particular – the Malpin – craves the flesh of sinful girls and if you don’t behave yourself, it will come and take you in the night. It’s a tale Lorelei has been told her entire life, and one that seems conveniently concocted to keep rebellious girls in line.
When royal paladins arrive from the capital, seeking young women for their harems, Lorelei's existence of quiet rebellion is thrown into jeopardy. If these noblemen have their way, she and the other young women of Little Astor will be forced into lives of servitude and childbearing with no hope of escape.
And so Lorelei must decide: submit to the role society has chosen for her sex, or resist and risk the consequences. But how is she supposed to resist, when she has no idea what resistance looks like?
Armed only with her mind, a ribbon she is forbidden to wear, and the knowledge of the natural world she has secretly taught herself, Lorelei must find a way to fight back and damn the consequences, whatever they may be.
Except, what if that old threat – to be taken by the Beasts – isn’t just empty talk? What if there is more to the Alderman’s grip on power than meets the eye? Just how far are the powerful men of the kingdom willing to go to keep the womenfolk under their heel?
And how can Lorelei win against a system of oppression that has existed for centuries, a system shrouded in secrecy, a system intended to keep an entire population as ignorant and afraid as possible?
First, she will need a sword.
Empire Under a Dying Sun
What use is magic, when your sun is dying?
Empress Anyosa and her loyal general Sethes are ill-prepared to respond when, without warning, the sun changes colour and fire-like devastation starts to rain from the heavens. Anyosa is a young ruler struggling to assert her authority against a rebellious royal court, while Sethes is an old warhorse beset by personal demons. Three holy relics hold the key to protecting their people from the coming devastation, but the Empire only has one, and so Sethes and Anyosa must decide how far they are willing to go to obtain the other two. As Sethes wages an unprovoked war against the Shalisun Sultanate to steal one, Anyosa strives to hold her people together as the calamity takes its toll. And all the while, the possessor of the third relic, the Kingdom of Asdor, looks on hungrily at the Empire of Kelamenai...
And yet the question remains: politics, war, honour... what are their worth, when the world is ending around you?