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.

As a child, Ashne swore two oaths. With her adopted sister Zsaran she made a pact: one would never die without the other. To their mistress, the queen, who plucked them both out of the inhospitable marshlands, she vowed eternal loyalty. When a tiger spirit from a rival kingdom kidnaps the queen's only daughter, Ashne, now a trusted bodyguard, follows in pursuit despite knowing that her sword will be of little use against the ancient magic steadily reawakening across the land. But it is her human adversaries who prove more dangerous as she navigates the shifting political landscape in a kingdom still recovering from a decades-long war: a foreign sorcerer, an eccentric apothecary, an ambitious bandit chief — perhaps even Zsaran, who has long awaited a chance to achieve freedom for both herself and Ashne. Soon Ashne can no longer reconcile her love for her sister and her devotion to the women they have both served since childhood. Yet she must bring back the princess regardless. If not for love and duty, for her people's continued survival against the encroachment of powerful foreign conquerors, before whose ravenous ambitions the squabbles of two tribal kingdoms amount to dust.

Darkness is creeping in from the edges of the empire. A threat that has been all but lost to history is rising again. Cassia Auralius is the first female Heir of the Empire of Metus to not abdicate her right to the throne. Behind her is a line of warrior-kings and sacred laws. Before her is an uncertain future painted in blood. Opposed by her father and challenged by her brothers, Cassia must first prove herself worthy of the throne gifted by the gods. Ancient trials--trials she must not fail--will test her strength, both of her mind and her heart. The first trial--three long travel years cut off from her family and her own nobility--will soon begin. If Cassia can survive, she will be one step closer to her throne. A throne that will soon be under a threat she could never have imagined. Cassia will need allies, both common and strange to defeat this threat. If she fails in this, she will lose not only her throne, but her empire. Amazing cover by @StormRidden Copyright © 2019

❖ QUEENKILLER, KINGMAKER Book 2 ❖ A year has passed since Isla rescued Tam Mai from the dungeons, but her sister's mind is still trapped and broken. There is only one person Isla knows can help her. Meanwhile across the sea, a prince seeks justice for the murder of his mother. Their search may soon be over, but their war is yet to begin. Now they must work together to bring a new age to the realms and put a new king on the throne. But how long can their alliance hold, when one is keeping a vital secret from the other? ↝ this work contains violence, coarse language, and sexual references. content warnings also apply for ableism -- please see the opening author's note for details ↜ ↝ Wattys 2023 Ongoing Stories shortlist

❖ QUEENKILLER, KINGMAKER Book 1 ❖ Feudal Southeast-Asia filled with magic, daemons, and a royal conspiracy. This is Isla's quest for the truth, and her slow spiral into becoming her very own worst nightmare. When the gods ascended thousands of years ago, they left behind the divine gift of theurgy. Its powers still echo amongst men, but run fiercer yet in the blood of kings and queens. And one of them will stop at nothing before Isla is dead. A betrayal lures her out of refuge and into her journey home, where she must unmask her enemies before they unmask her. The theurgy that she has had to keep hidden for many years can be her greatest ally or her most lethal foil. Only her wits can guide her through the dangerous politics of the Surikh court. But amidst the plots and schemes bubbling around her, she uncovers something far more sinister than the identity of her enemies. Something that can change her entire life; indeed, entire kingdoms. ↝ this work contains violence, profanity, and sexual references ↜ ↝ Winner of Wattys 2016 HQ Love Award ↝ Winner of FANTASCI's first season Chosen One awards ↝ Winner of The Cryptic Awards 2018 ↝ Featured in Fantasy as of 18-01-2017 ↝ Wattpad Editor's Pick January 2021

"How did this make it into the hot list, again?" Where I snark on Wattpad's hotlist books Cover made by @Amanda-Mae

***Updated on Sundays*** The gods have died and the arkanists have been blamed. Ash and darkness cloak the land, the Evernight, the free folk call it. Daemons rise from the shadows and the nights are long. Alone upon the road, heading to the College at Oldtowne, Hale finds refuge within a book. That book is called, The Arkanist, and tells the story of a boy called Kaedn Fallow. *** Following his father's unanticipated suicide, Kaedn is left alone and alienated throughout the city he has grown up in, faced with isolation, poverty, and questions. He needs to find out why his father killed himself, and starts off by searching through the library, reading the books his father read shortly before his untimely death. While there, he stumbles upon one man's secret, and changes his life forever. Copyright © 2015, Jack Pagliante. All Rights Reserved. Cover Artwork: Marc Simonetti

************************************************************************************** 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.