This is the sequel to The Jack of Souls. As of today, March 12, 2017, it is95% complete. S

************************************************************************************** An outcast rogue must break a curse put on his fate, or die on his nineteenth birthday. To survive, he'll need the sword of a maiden, the aid of an immortal, and the power of forbidden magic that could cost him the only girl he ever loved. ************************************************************************************ *** THE JACK OF SOULS won a Silver IPPY this year! *** THE JACK OF SOULS won 1st place in the PNWA Competition in Fantasy! * *** THE JACK OF SOULS won 1st place in the Southwest Writers competition! * *** A "Featured Book" on Wattpad! * *** Now a "Staff Pick" on Kickstarter! * *** Available on Amazon in paper, hardback, and ebook ! * *** My contract with Kindle Select won't allow me to post more than 3 chapters here, but... *** Sign up for my newsletter on stephenmerlino.com for alerts when it's free on Amazon! * MY INSPIRATION I wrote this out of pure love of trickster rogues; I love the wit over brawn motif -- Odysseus over Achilles, Raven over Eagle -- so I like to play with it in my stories. In JOS I set the rogue and con-artist Harric against a foil of warriors in a land threatened by magic and civil war. Whenever possible I turn familiar tropes on their heads: instead of a handsome young Lancelot, I cast a broken-down ex-champion addicted to pain-killing herbs; instead of a dashing Squire Brian, the old knight reluctantly takes an ambitious young woman as squire. Similarly, I re-imagine the standard medieval milieu by infusing aspects of two of my favorite historical periods, Elizabethan England, and The American Frontier. Both eras boast a kind of nationalistic arrogance that borders on hubris, and a magnificent spirit of resourcefulness and re-invention that is fun to play with. SERIES The Jack of Souls is first in a series. I am posting parts of the sequel here now (The Knave of Souls), to help me refine the story.

Ten years have passed since darkness cloaked the Whispering Woods. Madness awaits all who enter. Tamberlain. A small trading town on the border of the woods scrapes by with what they can from farming the eastern fields and fishing Lac Dualdon. A place four companions-once bound by adventure, magic and gold-call home. Otis Stonesinger is a Dwarf healer and military strategist. Haygen takes pride in his mother's human side, but has learned to embrace his barbaric Orc heritage. The Faeling, Wesley Whiteknuckle is an orphan raised in a world of Assassination and Thievery. Finally, Kayla, a mystical Elf, is trained in the magic arts. Spread far across the land of Lyborna for a much-needed rest, a tragedy brings the four friends back to Tamberlain only to be thrust into a war they never saw coming. What brings this new evil to the land? The Whispering Woods hold the answers. Book #1 of the Companions series. [Completed]

Several millennia ago a war raged between the factions of dragonkind. With their world ravaged, the Kaldean Alliance forged the Amulet of Draconic Control and the Tethering Stone, and banished their foes to other realms, saving Kalda from utter destruction. Fearing the power of the Amulet, the survivors secreted it away. But now knowledge of the Amulet has resurfaced-and in the wrong hands, war could erupt anew. Long ago, men harnessed the Channels of Power, creating tevisrals-devices capable of manifesting magic. But men weren't the only ones to accomplish such feats. Dragons crafted the most sophisticated tevisrals. These shaped the world, defining civilization of man and elf alike. Over the centuries, the people of Kalda have fallen into a dark age, where elves are estranged from men and dragons have retreated into legend. Tevisrals are scarce and men are willing to trade everything for them. But there are some who wish to bury the past, and in their lands, possessing tevisrals is tantamount to treason. Still, daring men scour the world in search of Kalda's past. One such man, the scholar Krindal, seeks an ancient order known as the Keepers of Truth and Might. He yearns for their knowledge, long feared lost. Prince Kaescis Midivar also searches for these Keepers. The assassination of his uncle, the emperor of Mindolarn, killed his hopes of peace with his empire's enemies. His empire's survival hinges upon unearthing the Keepers' secrets. An aging warrior, Cornar Dol'shir, longs to be home with his wife. But his retirement must wait, as his band of adventurers is recruited to help find the Keepers' hidden temple on the Isle of Klindala. Haunted by his tragic past, Iltar, the Son of Adrin, does not join in the search for the Keepers. Instead, he seeks to unravel the mysteries held within a volume of prophecy foretelling the advent of the Unspoken One and the return of the Crimson Eye.

Religion rules Constantine's world...and she has been condemned as the Spawn of the Devil. She is a Champion, a human being blessed with superhuman abilities by the deities of her world. However, her patron happens to be the Lord of War and Strategy - and women were never supposed to be Champions of War. In order to survive in a world that would rip her apart, she disguises as a boy, training to fulfil her supposed destiny. But fate has other things in store for her. An ancient evil is rising - and only Constantine may have the power needed to fight it. Along with a brash warrior and a too-perceptive scholar, Constantine begins to unravel secrets of a prophecy foretelling the end of the world. Now, she must learn how to fight evil with nothing but a magical knife as well as powers she knows next-to-nothing of. The real problem though? She may have been the one to call the great evil in the first place. ************ Now a Wattpad Featured story! Highest ranking: #1 in Fantasy Cover by @seventhstar Previous cover by @TrafficCop Original cover sketch by @MissBookNut, colours by @AFlyingPug

Harriet has always been the type of girl who would rather ride horses than stitch embroidery, practice her sword-fighting than practice her curtsies, and she'd rather dream about being the first female knight in all of history instead of a docile wife on some nobleman's arm. When a war between the allies of Ecrivenia and the kingdom of Carigan starts to brew, Harriet begins to wonder if it might just be her chance to become the knight she's always wished to be. Taking a chance, Harriet enlists in the King's Army, disguising herself as the red-headed, slight-figured, and quick-witted boy, Harry. However, when she is put under the charge of the handsome and strict King of Marenta, Leopold, she realizes her troubles are just beginning. Not only will she have to keep the other men from noticing she is a woman, but she will also have to put up with the scrutiny of King Leopold, the best friend of her brother-in-law. Throw in grueling training sessions, whispers of treason, and the enemy's secret weapon, Harriet suddenly finds herself thrust into the reality of being a knight in a war that might not be able to be won. ------ This is a sister novel to the first draft of Glass Slippers. The gorgeous cover is made by the amazing @solidarity_! Make sure to check her work out if you get the chance!

"Mooooorrrrrrrreeeeeeee, this book is like air, i need it!" @noromance101 "These chapters are written BEAUTIFULLY! You are, without a doubt, my favorite writer on this site. " @nagykt "Reading this feeds my soul." @Yrthraethra Sixteen-year-old Mirra can see people's memories. She is a Shadow Weaver, one of the outlawed, glitter-eyed race feared in her land and forced into brutal slavery as children. She and her brother Kel have escaped their fate by hiding near the frozen mountains. But when bounty hunters snatch Kel, Mirra injured and unable to track long distances will lose him unless she gives herself up to his captors. As as a Shadow Weaver who's survived childhood and whose golden-flecked irises have faded, concealing her talent, Mirra's own value is priceless on the black-market. Taken to a lawless town in the northern territories, Mirra convinces her captors to sell her to a mysterious young man destined for the same province as the officer who has bought her brother. The young man is the Kingdom's missing Prince, feared dead after his escort was attacked on an expedition. He has been in hiding, waiting for a Shadow Weaver whose skill he can use to discover who ordered his assassination. But before he will risk breaking his father's law and taking Mirra to the royal court, he must test her talent and her ability to hide it. If Mirra fails, her hopes of seeing her brother again will be cut by the noose around her neck. HIGHEST RANKING #1 in Fantasy on Wattpad. #1 Amazon Sword & Sorcery This book was taken down in DEC 2017 due to publishing restrictions. It is now possible to put it back up on wattpad. From March onwards 2 chapters will be posted per week until the completed book is available.

Enter a dangerous, magical realm on the brink of rebellion, where the loyalty of the Guardians means power... or death. What happens when one Guardian turns her back on the Heir? Can Solangia survive? Or will it be pulled apart by scheming nobles and desperate rebels? Among traitors, thieves, assassins and mages, Morane must choose whether she will live up to her title as the Royal Thief or join the revolution-- and quickly, for she is not the only one making plans. Time is running out until the rebels strike, until the Heir rises, until her loyalty is tested. Who will survive, and who will fall? In this breathtaking adventure of high fantasy every path is fraught with danger, and no one is as they seem.

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The #1 Bestseller! From #1 Bestselling author Morgan Rice comes a sweeping new epic fantasy series: RISE OF THE DRAGONS (KINGS AND SORCERERS—Book 1). Kyra, 15, dreams of becoming a famed warrior, like her father, even though she is the only girl in a fort of boys. As she struggles to understand her special skills, her mysterious inner power, she realizes she is different than the others. But a secret is being kept from her about her birth and the prophecy surrounding her, leaving her to wonder who she really is. When Kyra comes of age and the local lord comes to take her away, her father wants to wed her off to save her. Kyra, though, refuses, and she journeys out on her own, into a dangerous wood, where she encounters a wounded dragon—and ignites a series of events that will change the kingdom forever. 15 year old Alec, meanwhile, sacrifices for his brother, taking his place in the draft, and is carted off to The Flames, a wall of flames a hundred feet high that wards off the army of Trolls to the east. On the far side of the kingdom, Merk, a mercenary striving to leave behind his dark past, quests through the wood to become a Watcher of the Towers and help guard the Sword of Fire, the magical source of the kingdom’s power. But the Trolls want the Sword, too—and they prepare for a massive invasion that could destroy the kingdoms forever. With its strong atmosphere and complex characters, RISE OF THE DRAGONS is a sweeping saga of knights and warriors, of kings and lords, of honor and valor, of magic, destiny, monsters and dragons. It is a story of love and broken hearts, of deception, of ambition and betrayal. It is fantasy at its finest, inviting us into a world that will live with us forever, one that will appeal to all ages and genders. Book #2 in KINGS AND SORCERERS is now available!