The Fallen
For hundreds of years, the Blaukenev clan
has wandered across Tilzam, from one end to the other and back. Each wagon
carries history, love, laughter, pain, sorrow, and secrets. Their greatest
secret of all may be Chavali, the clan Seer.
Spirits claim/use/save/damn her.
With her gift/curse, nothing
surprises her anymore, no one keeps secrets from her. She, on the other hand,
has more than enough secrets to keep. Secrets of her own, secrets of her clan,
secrets of the world, secrets she even keeps from herself.
There are always people who want
secrets.
Some will do anything to get what
they want.
The Fallen is the foundation of the
story of The Greatest Sin, of a world adrift from its God that desperately
wants Her back. Chavali's comfortable, predictable life will be ripped apart
and burnt to ashes as she's forced into the middle of that struggle. Change,
she hates it passionately. It hates her right back.
Reviews for The Fallen:
"As every reader
knows there are certain books we don't want to end, and when we finally do
close the book, we seem to grieve it. Well, The Greatest Sin, is definitely one
of those books. The author did a great job pulling me into the story
immediately, and then keeping me there. The story moves along at a good pace,
allowing the reader to connect with the characters, while keeping the action
flowing. The main character, Chavali, is mystical, strong, and caring, making
her very likable. I found this book to have everything a great fantasy needs,
from humor to action. I can't wait to read the next book in this series. Do
yourself a favor and read it." - Kim S.
"The other reviewers are right. The Fallen
is an excellent fantasy read! As I was reading through it, I could almost
picture this Lord of the Rings type of hobbit village meets gypsies. And
reading The Fallen was like stepping into this fantasy world of theirs and
getting a behind the scenes peek at their lives. You'll want to read The Fallen
when you have a lot of time on your hands, it's not a short read! Also, I would
describe this book as an EPIC fantasy! The authors have created such a world
that it would be a shame to not continue this series." - Carrie January
Excerpt from The
Fallen:
“Come in.” They
did not speak the clan tongue in front of Outsiders, not without dire need,
lest someone overhear enough to translate it and learn it. Instead, they spoke
Shappan, the dominant language of Tilzam. Nearly everyone knew it, regardless
of country or native tongue. Along with the words, spoken in the light accent of
the clan, she lifted a hand to gesture to the stool opposite herself. “You are
welcome here.”
He was timid as
a mouse and small like one, too. Keino could probably lift this man over his
head with one hand, or break him in half over his knee. Chavali watched him
take small steps and dart his eyes all around. “Um, you’re the Seer?” His
Shappan was obviously better than her own, she could tell even with so few
words spoken.
“Yes. No one
can see into the tent, it is safe, you are safe here. Sit, be calm.” Coaxing a
scared little man onto the seat was not her preferred way to spend her time,
and she stifled a sigh and a roll of her eyes. “If you do not sit, I cannot
help, yes?”
“Oh, right. Of
course.” He moved quickly, practically jumped onto the stool while shooting
terrified looks all around the tent. “I’ve just never done anything like this
before, and, um, I’m worried about…”
Holding out her
hand, she kept her tone calm and patient. “Give me your hand. I cannot help if
I have no connection to you.”
His audible gulp made her
want to roll her eyes again, but he tentatively offered her his hand. As she
seized it, the spirits rushed him, eager as always for new people to interact
with. DearCreatorIhopeyoucanhelpmeI’mdoomedthisissocrazy
“Calm,” she
told him, shutting her eyes to make it easier to focus on this pile of crap.
“If you do not calm down, I see nothing, just a bouncing jumble of nervous.
Deep breath in through your mouth, out through your nose. Come, do this a few
times.”
His thoughts began to settle
as he followed her orders. It became less a rushed mush and more actual
coherent ideas. Amy is going to kill me for
this. I shouldn’t be doubting her, but I am, and I need to fix that. She’s a
sweet girl, this is all my fault.
“I see a name.
A-something, Anna? No, Amy. Does this name mean something to you?”
As expected, he
gasped a little. How
does she know that? Is this the real thing? If she knows that, she must know if
she’s seeing Marcus or not. “Yes, that’s my wife.”
“You worry
about her, you think she is meeting someone else?”
“Yes!” His mind
flooded with images of Amy, who he loved, deeply, but also with images of a man
much more virile than himself. That other man wore armor and used a blade for
his work. A city guard, perhaps, or a soldier.
“There is another name, with
a…’c’. But not at the front, maybe in the end? No, no, the middle. Arcu,
Marcus. Yes, Marcus. He wields authority.”
“Yes, he’s in the Order of the
Strong Arm, one of their knights. I need to know.” He already knew, of course.
That was the beauty of what Chavali did. All the answers were in his mind
already, he just needed someone else to say it out loud because he couldn’t,
the poor fool. People really were the same no matter where she went.
Still, it
wasn’t good to just say things like this aloud with no feeling or props, or
anything to give her an air of more authority than just pulling things out of
the air. Her free hand dipped into the pouch tied to the thin belt around her
waist (it also held a small blade in a sheath at the small of her back), pulled
out five objects at random and tossed them on the table. Keeping hold of his
hand, she peered down at the bones, finding it amusing that all five were
actually bones. The pouch also had crystals, stones, and even bits of shell and
wood, all minimally shaped and etched with ink-stained runes by her own hand.
It wasn’t that
the bones were only props - they had meaning for Chavali. It was that they
weren’t tools for divining. In this context, she used them as prompts, as ideas
for how to word things. “Mmm.” Starting with the one closest to him, because
she didn’t like having them out of her control for any longer than necessary,
she picked up a chicken wing bone, displayed it, then deposited it back into
her pouch. “Pain of the soul, for you.” The next was a finger bone, from Seer
Marika’s dead body. “Betrayal. Face down, the betrayer is a woman.” A bone from
the paw of a dog was next. She liked that dog enough to preserve a part of him.
“Love, but face down, so actually just lust.”
This was all so
stupid and predictable. His mind raced as her words confirmed everything he
feared. The next, a horse’s tooth, was an amusing addition. “Secrets. Many secrets.”
The last one almost always turned up when she did this. It was a chunk of
unidentified bone, picked up some time ago just because of its odd shape.
“Fear. There is much fear through all of this.”
She needed nothing more from
this man to make her pronouncement, and she didn’t care in the slightest if it
turned out to be true or not. They would be gone tomorrow morning, and likely
wouldn’t return for several years, if ever. Letting go of his hand, she gave
him a mildly sympathetic look. “The bones have spoken. She has betrayed you,
and you must deal with that in your own way. The bones, I think, suggest you
confront it head-on, but this Marcus may not be wise to cross.”
He nodded, resigned. “Thank you.”
“It is not a thing I wish to
be thanked for. Good fortune to you.” She watched him get up and leave, and
snorted at him as soon as the tent flap was shut again. Idiot. He was, of
course, the first of today’s parade of idiots and twits, each of them with a
story as uninteresting as the next, a story Chavali had heard dozens of times
before.
Harbinger
Adjusting to her new life as a soul-bound agent of the Fallen has Chavali pushing herself harder than ever before. Between learning to fight, dealing with idiots, and climbing stairs - lots of stairs - she has little time to waste on thoughts of the future. Or the past.
When another agent fails to report in, Chavali is sent on the mission to discover her fate. Ready or not, she saddles up for a new adventure with new dangers.
The search takes her to Ket, a coastal city slathered in mystery. There, she faces ghosts from her past and demons of her future as she seeks answers. All she seems to find are more questions.
Plague, murder, lies, espionage...this city harbors much more than meets the eye, and maybe too much to handle.
Excerpt from
Harbinger:
Eldrack sat
behind his desk, closing a folder and setting it aside. With lines in his face,
comfortably worn clothing, and gray in his hair, he looked like what he was: a
clerk of advanced years with adventures well behind him. His office suited him
with small potted plants, books on shelves behind him, and worn, comfortable
furniture. “Ah, Chavali.” He smiled at her and gestured to the chair across
from him, then saw Harris. His smile didn't falter and he showed no surprise at
seeing the man. He gestured for Harris to sit in the chair beside hers. Lacing
his hands together on his desk, he looked at her expectantly.
“The mission went
smoothly.” Digging in her pack, she pulled out the wooden box with the roses
and slid it across the desk to him. “This man and his companions were bandits.
They tried to rob and kill us. He survived. I did not think it wise to turn him
loose. He has an interesting and useful skill set, as well as a base of
knowledge in certain unusual areas, and I thought perhaps he might be a
valuable asset for us.”
Eldrack opened
the lid of the box as she spoke, then shut it without touching the roses. His
eyes flicked over Harris. “I see. What do you think of him otherwise?”
Chavali shrugged.
“He has issues with authority not derived from fear and strength, but also a
quick enough wit and knows better than to stab the hand that feeds him. He can
be counted on to hold secrets close so long as he is treated fairly and fed
well.”
Harris stared at
her. “Uh, thank you?”
Eldrack's smile
grew broader, and suggested he stifled down amusement. “I'll take that to mean
you feel her assessment is fair. I trust your judgment, Chavali. You can leave
him here.”
Taking that as a
dismissal, Chavali stood and nodded to him. She had nothing else to say and
left the room, shutting the door behind herself. At the doorway to the stairs,
she paused and looked up, then down. On the one hand, she could use a good
meal. On the other, she wanted a bath and to go see her clan.
“Chavali! Welcome
back.” Eliot came down the stairs in fresh, clean clothes. “We should spar.”
Her shoulders
slumped. “Not now. I returned only minutes ago. Tomorrow.”
“Bah.” The short,
slim man cuffed the air in front of her with a rough hand. “Do you expect your
enemies to sit down and wait while you fill your belly and take a nap? Tired
and cranky is the best time to practice what you already know.” He ignored the
withering glare she gave him and grabbed her hand. “It's good for the digestion
you'll do later, when you get a chance to eat.”
His thoughts
informed her that if she didn't cooperate, he'd follow her around until she
gave in. “Fine, fine,” she snapped. He only wanted to help her protect herself.
“At least go to my floor, so I have a short walk to my room when we are done.”
So much for seeing the children today. She yanked her hand away and climbed the
stairs to the tenth floor with him. “How long have you been lurking, waiting to
ambush me?”
Eliot gave her
his sly little smirk, the one that spoke of mischief. “One of the things I like
the best about you is your ego.”
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About the Author:
Lee French lives in Olympia, WA with two kids, two bicycles, and too much stuff. She is an avid gamer and active member of the Myth-Weavers online RPG community, where she is known for her fondness for Angry Ninja Squirrels of Doom. In addition to spending much time there, she also trains year-round for the one-week of glorious madness that is RAGBRAI, has a nice flower garden with absolutely no lawn gnomes, and tries in vain every year to grow vegetables that don't get devoured by neighborhood wildlife.
