Re: Who has a book?
Christmas is over, my life has settled into a (slightly) less exhausting mode, and I find that enough of my neurons are actually firing that it is possible for me to take a stab at describing my book more fully, as I promised several messages above.
THE HIDDEN STARS -- Book One of THE RUNE OF UNMAKING, by Madeline Howard (AKA Kelpie)
Siluren uiledani amffuriandem -- All things are changing under the moon.
The world is in flux. More than a century has passed since a disastrous conflict between the wizards of Alluinn and the mages of Otoi ended in their mutual destruction -- more than a century since their tremendous clash of magical forces sent a pulse of energy through the entire world of matter, ripped the moon out of its path and altered its course in the sky, and ushered in this present age of change and mutation. New species have appeared; many others have become extinct. The very contours of the land have altered. Ancient spells are fraying, and ancient evils, long banished, are beginning to return.
Though the vast realm of Otoi fell into irredeemable ruin, a thousand of her magicians slain in a single hour, the price of "victory" was almost unimaginably high for the surviving northern wizards and their allies, the Pendawer kings and princes. The great cities of Alluinn were levelled, her palaces, her pageantry, her ancientry and pride all reduced to dust, the bustling capital of a mighty empire become an immense graveyard.
Now rival houses on Phaorax and Thaerie lay claim to what remains of the Empire, and the world is at war once more. As the story begins, this war has already raged on for decades; for some of the characters it has lasted their entire lifetimes, scarring them physically and mentally.
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Few, if any, guessed what was ahead when the Princess Ouriana first ascended the throne of Phaorax. Her reign of dark sorcery, based on remnants of blackest Otowan magics, was well begun before even the shadow of a threat touched the minds of the remaining wizards in their stronghold on the island of Leal. Proclaiming herself the Divine Incarnatino of the Devouring Moon, she appointed twelve priests to perform her rites. Twelve priests dressed in scarlet -- they were men to begin with, but magic twisted them, making them monstrous. Now they are known as the Furiadhin: the furies, the Mutated Ones. From Ouriana's great temple at Apharos the smoke of sacrifice rises to the heavens, and the first fruits and the pick of every herd are (forcibly) offered in her name.
But even this is not enough for Ouriana; she means to rule over the entire world as Empress and Goddess. Opposing this ambition are: the white wizards on Leal; the last heirs of the Pendawer house, now residing on Thaerie; and various minor Pendawer kinsmen who rule the handful of tiny kingdoms, principalities, and duchies that are all that remain of the Empire.
As the war drags on, the armies of Thaerie, Malindor, Rhuaddlyn, Rheithun, and Erios suffer one defeat after another; again and again they are forced to give ground. Even the wizards are no match for Ouriana and her warrior-priests, for they are continually hampered by the memory of their own too costly victory in the war against Otoi, all too aware that their most powerful magics could slay thousands of innocents in the very attempt to save them. Forced to take a less militant role than they might, to act mainly as healers, seers, and advisers, the wizards have seen one kingdom after another fall to Ouriana's armies, and their populations enslaved.
After so many defeats, all that keeps the Pendawers and the allied nations going is an obscure prophecy: that out of Ouriana's own house and bloodline will come one capable of overthrowing her rule and restoring peace.
Nineteen years ago, a princess was born whom many (Ouriana included) believed was the child of the prophecy. But the infant was lost and has been assumed dead for almost all of that time. When word reaches the wizards on Leal that the girl is still alive and growing into her power in a far country, it is nevertheless evident that she remains completely ignorant of her birth and of the great task she was born to perform -- nor will she know of any reason to throw in her lot with Thaerie and Leal, or, for that matter, to embroil herself in the conflict on any level.
An embassy sets out to find the Princess Winloki, bring her home, convince her of the rightness of their cause, and enlist her aid. That party is necessarily small and secretive, since alerting Ouriana to their mission -- not to mention to the continued existence of her young rival -- would obviously be fatal.
Chosen for what is certain to prove a long and perilous journey are: the young healer Sinderian, who (though determined and courageous) has seen so much suffering and sacrifice that she is secretly undergoing a severe crisis of faith; her father, Faolein, wise in the ways of magic and of the great world, but clumsy and uncertain when it comes to personal relationships in general and fatherhood in particular; and the half-Faey Prince Ruan, rejected by his kinsmen of the Ni-Fea Faey, yet perpetually an outsider among Humankind. THE HIDDEN STARS is, most of all, the story of their quest, as well as their struggles to survive in an increasingly dangerous world.
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(I hope this is not a great deal more than anyone actually wanted to KNOW about my book ...)
