Truesilver: A Tale of the Chaos Walker Revolution

On May 12th, I release my new novel, Truesilver. I'm both excited and nervous.

It's the first in a brand new series, in a different sub-genre, involving a large cast of brand new characters. The last two years - I'm on a one novel per year pace - I've built on the story of D, Jess, and Rosalind, characters and plotlines that my readers and I were familiar with. Now that story is told. I'm in new territory, with all the thrills and doubts that brings.

The Chaos Walker Revolution is a dark fantasy, set in a world that may remind you of our own despite its many differences. Several nations and alliances vie with each other for global supremacy. One, most commonly referred to in the book as just "the Empire", conquered the continent of Novomond almost two hundred years before our story opens. A martial people, they ruthlessly decimated and subjugated the natives, a magical people known as the Folk. That even so many survived owed nothing to compassion or fairness. Instead, the Empire discovered that the physical byproducts of Folk magic - the liquid metal "truesilver" and the radioactive mineral "flamestone" - could fuel the emerging electronics and commercial power industries. Exploiting the Folk has made the Empire the world's pre-eminent economic as well as military force.

The story is told chiefly from the points of view of three families, one human, one LightFolk, and one DarkFolk. We'll see the Folk revolution against the Empire emerge, ebb and flow over many years through many characters in each of those families. I'm hoping these dynasties help anchor a sprawling plot, and give my readers many heroes to root for and villains to revile. Sometimes, they can be the same person.

There are other villains of course, not least of which the systemic oppression of one people by another. Inevitably, comparisons will be drawn to our own world. The original inspiration for Truesilver came from a rare remembered dream, and while Novomond is not our world and the Folk are not human, I have an all too large palette of bigotry, cynicism, and violence to draw from. Recently, truth has been stranger than fiction. It is not my intent to illuminate the many horrors of our own world, but to show an alternate one where the struggle against them takes on a different form. If this comforts or inspires you, great, but my main goal remains to tell an entertaining story.

I updated my website this weekend, including a new Events page where I will be adding the still-increasing number of book signings. I'd love to see you at one of these, and have the chance to talk more about the Chaos Walker Revolution!