It’s been a whole 5 years since I released the last book in my Light and Shadow Chronicles series – Origin of Shadow.
Things have been crazy since then – a divorce, 2 house moves, two mental breakdowns, a new job, an engagement, five cats (!) and all on top of a global pandemic and increasing economic doom…
But, though I haven’t published a new book, I have been working away on The Sins of Silas for all this time. Silas is the first POV character we will see from The Brotherhood of Shadow.
Writing a book from the ‘enemy’ POV has been a completely new experience for me and I have probably enjoyed writing this one the most of all the books in the series. It features a completely new set of characters and all from the point of view of the Brotherhood of Shadow, who have traditionally been the ‘bad guys’ to date.
Not only is the perspective different in this novel, but it takes place in Meraxor and its capital city, Belkeep. Belkeep has significantly different culture, terrain, customs and societal norms to the cities of the Children of Light. I have had immense fun with the world-building and have written this blog post on
Meraxor and its citizens.
The main characters of the previous books in the series (Chaos and Soren) have been prestigious, wealthy and incredibly talented soldiers blessed with immortality and with an important role in the ongoing war.
Silas Wilder, however, is nothing like Chaos or Soren. Though he is the son of Brotherhood of Shadow leader Vincent Wilder, he is belittled, ostracized and refused an elixir of eternal youth. Though he remains bitter about this, he focuses his time and attention upon other things, mainly, the pursuit of
pleasure. He is wild, reckless, fun-loving and bordering on insanity (he has been extremely fun to write!).
My publishers, Next Chapter Publishing, have just given everything the go-ahead. The editing is complete. The layout designed. And stunning new cover art drawn up. Now, it’s just a matter of time before it can go ahead. So, here is the first glance at the new cover:
I am utterly delighted with the way the original shield (designed by Irina French) is still incorporated into the covers – and will be for every book in the series. For more on the meaning of the shield, read this blog post. Here is the new cover alongside the others in the series:
So stay tuned for more information on the release!
In the meantime, check out the related links below:
***Michael J Elliot has worked his literary magic again with Choice Cuts-A Bite From The Dark Realm. Join me in this post while we learn a bit more about him and his works.
Immersive fantasy fiction 