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NEWSLETTER
October's serial fiction. Look for the entries labelled "FIC." Plus the last chapter of "The Night Watch", posted a few hours late.
The Night Watch (Empty Dagger Hand side story).
They are the elite unit of the Northern Army, and their power is growing. But what they need is more than power: they need wisdom.
Xylon is the conscience of the Home Division Patrol. Everyone says so. But when his conscience fails him, Xylon must find the courage to help his fellow patrol guards through the worst crisis that the Great Peninsula has ever faced.
Remaining installments of serializing novella. ¶ Tags: historical fantasy, soldiers, comradeship, ethics. ¶ Permalink.
( News )
My serial fiction and story announcements are also available by email and feeds. If you'd like to show your appreciation for my stories, you can share my stories, recommend my stories, comment on my stories, create a fanwork inspired by my stories, or give a prompt for a story you'd like written. For those who are interested in offering a monthly tip, I have accounts at Patreon and Ream.
They are the elite unit of the Northern Army, and their power is growing. But what they need is more than power: they need wisdom. ¶ Novella chapter: 5,976 words. ¶ Tags: historical fantasy, soldiers, comradeship, ethics. ¶ Serialized chapters and permalink.
CHAPTER THREE
Central Koretia, eighteen years after the beginning of the Marcadian rebellion.
It did not take them a month to reach their destination. It took them a year.
( Read more... )
They are the elite unit of the Northern Army, and their power is growing. But what they need is more than power: they need wisdom. ¶ Novella chapter: 2,516 words. ¶ Tags: historical fantasy, soldiers, comradeship, ethics. ¶ Serialized chapters and permalink.
CHAPTER TWO
The Central Provinces of Emor, three years after the beginning of the Marcadian rebellion.
( Read more... )
They are the elite unit of the Northern Army, and their power is growing. But what they need is more than power: they need wisdom. ¶ Novella chapter: 3,954 words. ¶ Tags: historical fantasy, soldiers, comradeship, ethics. ¶ Serialized chapters and permalink.
CHAPTER ONE
Central Koretia, seventeen years after the beginning of the Marcadian rebellion.
There were six of them left by the time they reached central Koretia.
( Read more... )
They are the elite unit of the Northern Army, and their power is growing. But what they need is more than power: they need wisdom. ¶ Novella chapter: 4,282 words. ¶ Tags: historical fantasy, soldiers, comradeship, ethics. ¶ Serialized chapters and permalink.
CHAPTER THREE
Southern Koretia, sixteen years after the beginning of the Marcadian rebellion.
They huddled at a corner of the roof afterwards, talking in low voices – as low as their voices could be, given all the shouting and screaming around them.
( Read more... )
They are the elite unit of the Northern Army, and their power is growing. But what they need is more than power: they need wisdom. ¶ Novella chapter: 3,364 words. ¶ Tags: historical fantasy, soldiers, comradeship, ethics. ¶ Serialized chapters and permalink.
CHAPTER TWO
The Dominion of Arpesh, two years after the beginning of the Marcadian rebellion.
The home camp was full of cries and screams and, most of all, laughter.
( Read more... )
September's serial fiction. Look for the entries labelled "FIC."
The Night Watch (Empty Dagger Hand side story).
They are the elite unit of the Northern Army, and their power is growing. But what they need is more than power: they need wisdom.
Xylon is the conscience of the Home Division Patrol. Everyone says so. But when his conscience fails him, Xylon must find the courage to help his fellow patrol guards through the worst crisis that the Great Peninsula has ever faced.
Serializing novella. ¶ Tags: historical fantasy, soldiers, comradeship, ethics. ¶ Permalink.
( News, including news about Manna Francis's 'Administration' series )
My serial fiction and story announcements are also available by email and feeds. If you'd like to show your appreciation for my stories, you can share my stories, recommend my stories, comment on my stories, create a fanwork inspired by my stories, or give a prompt for a story you'd like written. For those who are interested, I have accounts at Patreon and Ream.
They are the elite unit of the Northern Army, and their power is growing. But what they need is more than power: they need wisdom. ¶ Novella chapter: 5,291 words. ¶ Tags: historical fantasy, soldiers, comradeship, ethics. ¶ Serialized chapters and permalink.
CHAPTER ONE
Southern Koretia, sixteen years after the beginning of the Marcadian rebellion.
There were eight of them left by the time they broke into Koretia's palace.
( Read more... )
They are the elite unit of the Northern Army, and their power is growing. But what they need is more than power: they need wisdom. ¶ Novella chapter: 1,083 words. ¶ Tags: historical fantasy, soldiers, comradeship, ethics. ¶ Serialized chapters and permalink.
CHAPTER THREE
The Koretian borderland, nine years after the beginning of the Marcadian rebellion.
Xylon and Meleager were nearly back to the patrol quarters when Meleager uttered a sharp curse and began to run.
( Read more... )
They are the elite unit of the Northern Army, and their power is growing. But what they need is more than power: they need wisdom. ¶ Novella chapter: 3,464 words. ¶ Tags: historical fantasy, soldiers, comradeship, ethics. ¶ Serialized chapters and permalink.
CHAPTER TWO
The Dominion of Marcadia, three months after the beginning of the Marcadian rebellion.
His family's home was located on a tiny patch of land within the capital of Marcadia. From the front window of the cottage, he could watch streets thronged with children playing, women being escorted to market by male kinsmen, men going about their trades, and soldiers.
But recently, he had seen no Marcadian soldiers. All that he had seen were soldiers sent by Emor's ruler, to bar the gates of the city against Marcadia's own soldiers.
Now, as he stood by that window, Xylon wondered whether only his imagination told him that he could see the torchlight from the rebel army camp, many miles away.
( Read more... )
They are the elite unit of the Northern Army, and their power is growing. But what they need is more than power: they need wisdom. ¶ Novella chapter: 3,757 words. ¶ Tags: historical fantasy, soldiers, comradeship, ethics. ¶ Permalink.
CHAPTER ONE
The Koretian borderland, nine years after the beginning of the Marcadian rebellion.
There were eleven of them left by the time they reached the borderland.
( Read more... )
( Important changes to my story releases )
Free at my website.
Law of Vengeance (The Three Lands). For over twenty years, Lord Carle has told the heir to the Emorian throne that vengeance is only the other side of mercy, and that disobedience and treachery should never be forgiven. Finally it seems that his message has been received. Which makes it all the more unfortunate that Carle should have chosen this moment to break the law.
New installment:
Side story | Wait. How long is too long?
New omnibus:
Law of Vengeance: Novel and Side Stories.
Tempestuous Tours (Crossing Worlds: A Visitor's Guide to the Three Lands #2). A whirlwind tour of the sites in the Three Lands that are most steeped in history, culture, and the occasional pickpocket.
New installment:
( News )
My fiction and fiction announcements are also available by e-mail and feeds. If you'd like to show your appreciation for my stories, you can share my stories, recommend my stories, comment on my stories, create a fanwork inspired by my stories, or give me a prompt for a story you'd like written. For those who are interested, I have accounts at Patreon and Ream.
How long is too long? ¶ Short story: 5800 words. ¶ Tags: mythic historical fantasy, romance, royalty, soldiers. ¶ Permalink.
War is the true test of a man's spirit. Or so Brendon thought, till the eve of war.
( Read more... )
For those of you who receive my posts by email: I'm switching my newsletter service to Buttondown, which is a nicer newsletter distribution service than the one I've been using. (Among Buttondown's other clients are OTW.) I'll be importing my current subscribers' email addresses into Buttondown; I don't think you'll need to reconfirm your subscription, but if I'm wrong about this, you'll know why you're receiving a confirmation request. If you decide to unsubscribe, now or later, you can do so at any time by clicking on the "unsubscribe" link at the bottom of the newsletter. If you decide to resubscribe at a later date, you can do so through my blog or website.
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The walls of Valouse are the thickest and highest in Koretia, surpassing even those of the capital. They were heightened in 940, after the Baron of Blackpass's young son and heir was kidnapped and tormented to death upon order of the King, who was in a blood feud at the time with the Baron of Blackpass. Since the King's own heir was living in Valouse, it was considered likely that Blackpass would try to take his own vengeance by killing the King's heir in Valouse. Records in my own family, however, indicate that the Baron of Blackpass deliberately chose not to follow this path.
Nearly all the towns in Koretia have allowed their town walls to crumble since the civil war, for there has been no civil unrest since that time. Valouse, however, is located next to the border with Daxis, which was at war with Koretia in 991. For that reason, Valouse has chosen to retain its walls. The walls remain a testimony to the bloody centuries when Koretia fought battles against other lands and against its own people.
[Translator's note: The Baron of Blackpass's difficult decision is depicted in Law Links.]
Free at my website.
The Motley Crew (The Thousand Nations). When a young man named Dolan flees from the north, he faces danger on all sides. The Northern Army wants him back. The Empire of Emor wants him dead. His native homeland of Koretia may not want him at all. And his only protection is a man with motives that are mysterious and possibly deadly.
New installment:
Side story | Hope Sprang. Hope is of no use if it lies dead.
Tempestuous Tours (Crossing Worlds: A Visitor's Guide to the Three Lands #2). A whirlwind tour of the sites in the Three Lands that are most steeped in history, culture, and the occasional pickpocket.
New installments:
For those of you living in the Northern Hemisphere, a story featuring the heat of summer.
Spy Hill (Life Prison: Justice's Hammer side story).
On a hot summer's day, on a high hill surrounded by the enemy, the best battle-companion can turn out to be the truth.
Rook and Fairview have worked alongside each other for years, first as officers in the navy, then as officers on a steamship, and finally as colonels in an invading army. Members of a nation where tiny differences in rank are considered all-important, the two men defy convention by treating each other as equals.
But now their life-long bond is about to meet its greatest strain, when they are ordered to seize and defend a hill whose landscape is unknown, in the company of soldiers who may be incompetent or treacherous. Will Rook and Fairview's friendship remain by the end of the battle? Or will their lives take an unexpected detour as they struggle to survive on Spy Hill?
My fiction announcements are also available by e-mail and feeds.
Valouse is easy to reach from the Koretian capital. Two paths lead there. The longer and more picturesque path winds along the feet of the low mountains dividing Koretia from Daxis. To your east as you journey is the so-named Sea of Koretia; as I have explained earlier, that forest is best not entered without a guide.
The mountainside path to Valouse is frequently travelled, so much so that even families can feel safe walking along here. Men need only be sure they are visibly armed. Women travelling independently will not need more than one armed escort.
As you near Valouse, your path will pass under a mountain directly opposite the western gates into Valouse. This mountain is popularly known by locals as the Mountain of Surrender, for it is here, in August 976, that Tristan son of Raeburn, the last heir to the kingship of Koretia, surrendered his princedom to the Emorian occupying forces that had already conquered the capital and most of Koretia's land to the north. At the same time, Prince Tristan surrendered all future claim to the Koretian throne.
Prince Tristan was much criticized for his act at the time, but in retrospect, we can see that great good came from his decision not to fight the Emorians further. Koretia was at that time rife with corruption. The brief Emorian conquest helped to bring an end to this, for the Emorians instituted their world-renowned system of justice in Koretia. After the departure of the Emorians, this justice system continued to maintain peace in Koretia.
[Translator's note: That historic surrender is featured in The Fire Before.]
The area near Koretia's capital is made up of many pleasant towns. Pleasant, that is, if you make sure you visit them while armed.
If you would like to avoid having to duel Koretian men when you inadvertently cause them offense, your best choice is to visit the Town of Valouse. Alone among all the Koretian towns, Valouse bans duelling and other forms of private vengeance. The town's troubled history makes clear the reason for this ban.
[Translator's note: Last winter, as you may recall, I had to delay publication of Heir because of a concussion. This caused a problem with my release of "Tempestuous Tours," because I was due to release a section at that time about the Town of Valouse, and that section had major spoilers for "Heir." I ended up skipping releasing that section, as well as a couple of side tours, because my head was in no state to figure out what to do. So now I'm backtracking to some tours of southern Koretia and Daxis, before I continue with our tour of Emor.]
At the end of the corridor stand familiar high doors; these doors are plated with silver. Flanking them on both sides of the corridor are the living quarters of the High Lord and the living quarters of the senior-most council lord. The latter is likely to become High Lord in turn. These chambers switch back and forth; when a senior-most lord becomes High Lord, his chambers become those of the High Lord, and the chambers of the recently deceased High Lord become those of the new senior-most lord.
As for the Map Room, you may already have visited there; it is where receptions are held. When not in use for receptions, the Chara meets here with palace residents or else makes military plans for his empire – hence the chamber's appellation.
The best view in the palace of the black border mountains can be seen from this room's windows.
[Translator's note: The Ambassador has good reason to remember those windows. Blood Vow shows why.]
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