by J. L. Doty
Vergis Caladan—an alias used by Tulellcoe
Alcoa—Marchlord of the western reaches that border on Penda
Eglahan—Marchlord of Yestmark, sworn to Elhiyne
Packwill—a scout, sworn to Eglahan of Yestmark
Annen—bastard son of Eglahan
Abileen—a sergeant of men
Dannasul—a childhood friend of Morgin and JohnEngine
Durado—an old man who maintains the waystation at Kallun’s Gorge
Samull—Durado’s son
Gorguh—Elhiyne stable master
Erlin—Elhiyne stable boy
Valken Surriot—a twoname who fought with Eglahan at the battle of Yestmark
Seurrak Aldwith—an alias used by the Surriot
Cortien Balenda—a twoname who fought with Eglahan at the battle of Yestmark
Thenda Sa—an alias used by the Balenda
Hwatok Tulalane—a twoname advisor to Olivia (deceased)
France—a common swordsman
Rindal—an alias frequently used by France
Personae Aud
Aiergain—Queen of the free port city, aka the Queen of Thieves
Pandorin—a lieutenant in Aiergain’s guard
Sacress—Aiergain’s physician
Terrikle—a manservant provided to Morgin
Personae Penda
BlakeDown—Head of Clan Penda
Theandrin—BlakeDown’s wife and first lady of Penda
Doagla—an alias used by BlakeDown when he meets Valso at Tharsk
ErrinCastle—Blakedown’s oldest son and heir to the leadership of Penda
Anja—a very young girl of minor status
Tarare—a nobleman known to be a mouthpiece for BlakeDown
Chrisainne—born Vodah, married minor Penda lord, seduces BlakeDown for Valso
Perrinsall—ErrinCastle’s cousin, and trusted to keep a calm head
Lewendis—distant relative of BlakeDown’s and a bit of a hothead
Erlander—a sergeant of men
Personae Inetka
Wylow—Head of Clan Inetka
Carmet—Wylow’s wife
SandoFall—Wylow’s oldest son and heir to the leadership of Inetka
Edtoall—a minor Inetka lord and father of Rhianne
Matill—Edtoall’s wife and mother of Rhianne
Personae Tosk
PaulStaff—Head of Clan Tosk
Torthan—heir to the House of Tosk
Silaya—a very young noblewoman
Personae Benesh’ere
Angerah—ruler of the Black Council
Merella—Angerah’s wife
Jerst—WarMaster of the Benesh’ere tribe
Blesset—Jerst’s daughter
Jack the Lesser—a bowman and scout
Harriok—Jerst’s oldest son
Branaugh—Harriok’s wife
LillianToc—Jerst’s youngest son
Jack the Greater—Jack the Lesser’s twin brother
Delaga—a common swordsman
Fantose—a common pikeman
Chagarin—the Master Smith
Baldrak—a smith
Felina—Baldrak’s daughter
Surnarra—a smith
Yim—an impressionable young girl
Tamlea—a young girl
Tallik—a young bully
Satcha—the cook for Jerst’s extended household
Personae Celestial
Augis—a mythical goddess, guardian of all that once was
Attun—a mythical god, guardian of all that is now
Unnamed King—knows all names but his own
Erithnae—god-queen and consort to the Unnamed King
Aethon—the last Shahotma King
Personae Angelicus
Metadan—an archangel, commander of the first legion, and The Fallen One
Ellowyn—an archangel, commander of the second legion
Laelith—a faerie
Cynaban—Metadan’s senior lieutenant
Personae Common
Raffin—a merchant, also known as Fatpurse
Mathal—a fruit vendor
Ott—a peasant
Gulk—Ott’s wife
Ikth—Ott and Gulk’s son
Darma—captain of the Far Wind
Bakart—first mate of the Far Wind
Braunye—a peasant girl sold to Rhianne in exchange for healing her father’s cow
Chiren Tesha—guardmaster of a merchant caravan out of Anistigh
Katha—leader of the scouts reporting to Chiren Tesha
Jokath—a common thief that preys on travellers on the Gods Road
Mistress Syllith—Rhianne’s alias in Norlakton
Personae Nether
Beayaegoath—the Dark God and ruler of the ninth hell of the netherworld
Bayellgae—the venomousss demon flying sssnake
ElkenSkul—the demon namegiver
Mortiss—Morgin’s unusual horse, also known as the DeathWalker
Soann’Daeth’Daeye—a shadowwraith that Morddon meets outside Kathbeyanne
Shebasha—a great sand cat whose soul is haunted by a demon
Personae Ancient
Morddon—a bitter and angry Benesh’ere warrior, and Morgin’s alter ego
AnneRhianne—a Benesh’ere princess and Rhianne’s alter ego
WindHollow—a young Benesh’ere boy and AnneRhianne’s nephew
Gilguard—warmaster of the Benesh’ere
Sarker—a Benesh’ere scout
Takit—a Benesh’ere scout
Bendaw—a Benesh’ere scout
Binth—the pipist, Morddon’s father
Eisla—the SteelMistress, last of the SteelMasters, and Morddon’s mother
Jander—a Benesh’ere warrior, one of Gilguard’s senior lieutenants
Magwa—the jackal queen, aka the bitch queen, and queen of the jackal court
TarnThane—the griffin lord
SheelThane—the griffin queen
AuelThane—a griffin warrior
TearThane—a griffin warrior
WolfDane—the hellhound king
KarlDane—a hellhound lord
Perrik—a nobleman with a flawed blade
Personae Kingdom of Dreams
Sabian—the castle and seat of power of the Unnamed King
Kinardin—Lord Chamberlain of Sabian
Rhiannead—a young witch, betrothed to the Unnamed King
Rafaellen—the captain of Rhiannead’s escort
Tasmian—a young lieutenant of the Unnamed King
Acknowledgements
I’d like to thank Karen for fixing all my dotted t’s and crossed i’s, and for both supporting my dream and being my most valuable critic, Kelley Eskridge for helping me turn an ok manuscript into something I can be really proud of, and Steve Himes, and the whole team at Telemachus, for getting a quality product out the door.
Other Books by J. L. Doty
A Choice of Treasons (hard science fiction)
To save himself he first had to save two empires . . . but when he tried, his found his options limited to a choice of treasons.
As a lifer in the Imperial Navy, York Ballin’s only hope at an honorable discharge is the grave. Matters only get worse when he finds himself deep behind enemy lines on a commandeered imperial cruiser without a trained crew, commanded by an incompetent nobleman, with the empress and 200 civilians as passengers, and everyone hell-bent on turning them into a cloud of radioactive vapor.
The Thirteenth Man (hard science fiction)
Beware the curse of the thirteenth man, for should he not fall, all may fall before him.
Charlie Cass returns from five years in a squalid POW camp to find the nine Dukes and the King conspiring against each other, and plotting with Charlie’s old enemies. As interstellar war looms, he’s forced to assume the mantle of the thirteenth Duke de Lunis, who, according to legend, is destined to fall beneath the headsman’s ax. But if he can survive the headsman, all may fall b
efore him.
Child of the Sword, Book 1 of The Gods Within (epic fantasy)
When gods and wizards go to war . . . it’s best to just find a good shadow and hide.
Rat is no ordinary thief. A filthy and malnourished, feral child; he survives on what he can steal. But he creates his own shadows and hides within them, though he’s completely unaware of his use of magic. When a clan of powerful wizards see his shadowmagic they adopt him, because they want such magic in the clan. Perhaps that’s a good thing for Rat, as long as they don’t kill him in the process.
The SteelMaster of Indwallin, Book 2 of The Gods Within (epic fantasy)
Can one ever rule both the steel within, and the shadows without?
When Morgin’s sword goes berserk and wants to butcher everyone at the annual meeting of the Lesser Council, he’s barely able to control its rabid bloodlust. But the Lesser Council declares him an outlaw for bringing such a dangerous talisman onto the Mortal Plane. So with a price on his head he goes on the run, a wizard without power always just one step ahead of the next bounty hunter.
The Heart of the Sands, Book 3 of The Gods Within (epic fantasy)
Only when the steel no longer rules can the shadows within be mastered.
Now a Benesh’ere slave, every whiteface in the tribe hungers for Morgin’s death. But he is Harriok’s property, and while Harriok remains in a coma, a victim of the venom of the sand cat’s sixth claw, the warriors wait and bide their time. As Morgin accompanies them on the March, an affinity for steel is slowly awakening within him, and he truly fears the truths his growing knowledge may reveal.
When Dead Ain’t Dead Enough, Book 1 of The Dead Among Us (contemporary fantasy)
The dead should ever rest in peace, but when dead ain’t dead enough, the living should fear for their mortal souls.
Paul Conklin is a rather ordinary, thirtyish fellow, sharing his ordinary, present-day San Francisco apartment with the ghosts of his dead wife and daughter. Suzanna’s cooking for him again, and Cloe’s bouncing around the apartment in her school uniform, and things are almost back to normal. But a piece of Paul realizes he’s really bug-fuck nuts, or at least that’s what he thinks. He has no idea that a Primus caste demon from the Netherworld covets his soul, and that he’s going to have to take a crash course in killing big, bad hoodoo demons, or lose his soul for all eternity.
Still Not Dead Enough, Book 2 of The Dead Among Us (contemporary fantasy)
When the dead refuse to rest in peace, perhaps they just need a helping hand.
Now that it’s clear Paul isn’t a demon, he hopes he’ll no longer be a target, but he quickly learns otherwise. The Russians want him dead on general principal. The Sidhe have no souls, so they’re not really alive, and Paul may have added power over them, which they don’t like. And the Summer Knight, Anogh, is pulling strings in the background, manipulating everything concerning Paul and Katherine.
Note: sample chapters for all of these books are available on the author’s web site at www.jldoty.com .
About the Author
Jim was born in Seattle, but he’s lived most of his life in California, though he did live on the east coast and in Europe for a while. From a very early age he made up stories in his head, but he never considered writing. In his family you went to college, got a degree in something useful and got a real job. So he got a Ph.D. in optical engineering, and went to work as a research scientist. But he was still making up those stories in his head, so he wrote the first draft of A Choice of Treasons, and as he says, “It was 250,000 words of pure, unmitigated crap.” He openly admits it was terrible: poorly written, poorly plotted, shallow characters that no reader could come to care about. It was the hardest decision he ever made, but he literally threw it away and turned to other projects. He spent more than a year writing the first draft of Child of the Sword. Then he went back to A Choice of Treasons and started again, from scratch, a complete rewrite from the get-go. He worked on it for several years before releasing it, and also spent some years putting Child of the Sword through a number of rewrites to insure quality.
Science has always been a passion of Jim’s, but writing is an addiction. He’s finished eight books now, and is working on a prequel to A Choice of Treasons, and the third book in The Dead Among Us.
Jim has a big pet peeve regarding lasers as weapons in science fiction. He spent decades working in the laser and electro-optics industry, even did some research on laser weapons in the 80’s. And when writers use a laser as a weapon in a story, they invariably get it wrong, usually by violating some basic law of physics.
Jim intends to keep on writing and producing more stories, but no laser weapons.
Visit the author’s website at http://www.jldoty.com
Contact the author at [email protected]
Follow the author on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/@JL_Doty