“Good strong stuff with the right light touch.” (Terry Pratchett)
“This is an even stronger book than the first… Absorbing, the kind of book one reads in gulps and cannot put down.” (Andre Norton)
Segnbora is the estranged heir of a minor noble House of Darthen, and (she thinks) a failure. Years of study toward the one thing she wants in the world–the focus and mastery of the blue Fire of Power lying dormant within her — have proven worthless. Now Segnbora wanders the Middle Kingdoms, a hired sword with no home and no loyalties, until the night in a dark city alley when she stumbles across a small man about to lose a swordfight, and takes his part.
Segnbora finds herself swept up into this man’s little following and discovers she’s become attached to yet another lost cause. The man is Freelorn — outlaw prince and exiled heir to the throne of Arlen. But also with Freelorn is his lover Herewiss, the only man in centuries to possess the Fire… and someone in whom the Goddess Herself seems to have taken an uncomfortable interest.
If Segnbora thinks this means her luck has taken a turn for the better, she soon finds out otherwise. A night at the Morrowfane, the ancient and mystical storehouse of the Power in the Kingdoms, leaves her with the alien souls of countless Dragons trapped in her mind and fighting her for control. And all the while Freelorn and his people move ever closer to their ultimate purpose: confrontation with the dark forces, both sorcerous and political, that deprived Freelorn of his throne. Segnbora must choose whether to forsake her own quest for power to aid the comrades for whom she’s coming to feel more than just friendship — or abandon Freelorn and Herewiss in favor of finally facing her darkest secrets, though she fears she’ll die trying.
The Door Into Shadow continues the gripping narrative begun in the award-nominated and critically praised The Door Into Fire, and is now available from Amazon–with its new cover exclusive to that platform– or, for 15% less, from the author’s own ebook store, Ebooks Direct. Use the widgets in the margins to make your choice!
Reader advisory: This novel contains adult / mature themes and situations set in a sexually diverse and inclusive culture.