The arrival of the Hero was worse than anyone could have imagined.
To take her place as a full warrior of her tribe, Tani must travel across the vast grasslands of the Chorhan Expanse. But she has her sights set higher than a mere ritual journey: she wants to uncover a solution to the impending war that threatens her people. Her world has never been peaceful, torn between the many cultures that meet on the Chorhan Expanse, but the greatest threat is an expansionist army of monstrous non-humans who call themselves the mansthein.
Legends tell of monsters who will attempt to conquer the world, but are the mansthein those monsters? Tani believes that peace may be possible, but there are others on both sides who believe in the legends with zealous devotion. All around her, warriors have their eyes on a glorious victory with no concern for the piles of bodies they'll create on the way.
Tani will be joined by a killer pretending to be a healer, a mansthein commander struggling with his orders, a thief who pawned her heart of gold, and a strategist exiled from a foreign land.
But none of them are the Hero. It doesn't matter how many shades of gray might exist, some people see only in black and white. And the terrifying truth is that the stories they tell might not be just legends.
Review
"This was incredibly addicting. The story draws from familiar tropes, but subverts them in deeply satisfying and unpredictable ways. Between compelling characters, flashy action scenes, and deep mysteries, I found myself devouring each and every page."-Andrew Rowe, author of Arcane Ascension "The Brightest Shadow blends epic fantasy and wuxia to brilliant effect. It's simultaneously a love letter and a challenge to the fantasy genre, and you don't want to miss it."-John Bierce, author of the Mage Errant series "The Brightest Shadow incorporated the best of classic wuxia elements into an intriguing fantasy read that subverts the tropes of heroes and legends."-TS Chan, Novel Notions
Description:
The arrival of the Hero was worse than anyone could have imagined.
To take her place as a full warrior of her tribe, Tani must travel across the vast grasslands of the Chorhan Expanse. But she has her sights set higher than a mere ritual journey: she wants to uncover a solution to the impending war that threatens her people. Her world has never been peaceful, torn between the many cultures that meet on the Chorhan Expanse, but the greatest threat is an expansionist army of monstrous non-humans who call themselves the mansthein.
Legends tell of monsters who will attempt to conquer the world, but are the mansthein those monsters? Tani believes that peace may be possible, but there are others on both sides who believe in the legends with zealous devotion. All around her, warriors have their eyes on a glorious victory with no concern for the piles of bodies they'll create on the way.
Tani will be joined by a killer pretending to be a healer, a mansthein commander struggling with his orders, a thief who pawned her heart of gold, and a strategist exiled from a foreign land.
But none of them are the Hero. It doesn't matter how many shades of gray might exist, some people see only in black and white. And the terrifying truth is that the stories they tell might not be just legends.
Review
"This was incredibly addicting. The story draws from familiar tropes, but subverts them in deeply satisfying and unpredictable ways. Between compelling characters, flashy action scenes, and deep mysteries, I found myself devouring each and every page." -Andrew Rowe, author of Arcane Ascension
"The Brightest Shadow blends epic fantasy and wuxia to brilliant effect. It's simultaneously a love letter and a challenge to the fantasy genre, and you don't want to miss it." -John Bierce, author of the Mage Errant series
"The Brightest Shadow incorporated the best of classic wuxia elements into an intriguing fantasy read that subverts the tropes of heroes and legends." -TS Chan, Novel Notions