The Reluctant Guardian - Homeward

Young Jan is stunned when his father, Cadell, the “zupan” and leader of the region’s villages, is offered the vassal lordship of the local keep. His father is about as far from nobility as anyone could be. For some reason, the nobles of the house of Äntes, the rulers of Jan’s province, have been unable to keep a vassal there for twenty years—as those appointed have fled the place in the night—and the Äntes may have grown desperate enough to throw the position at Jan’s father.

The last place Jan wants to live is a decrepit, dark little fortress above a village of superstitious peasants.  But when his father accepts the position, Jan finds himself swept off to the abandoned keep above the village of Chemestúk. The situation there is darker and more serious than he, his mother, or his father bargained for.  

The local peasants won’t go near the keep; something terrible happened up there twenty years ago.  Soon enough, Jan and his mother begin to learn why no vassal has ever remained in that place for more than a moon. And the darkness upon the keep is greater than mere superstition.

About "Tales from the world of the Noble Dead Saga"...

No knowledge of the Noble Dead Saga or other related works by us is necessary to read and enjoy any of these stories. Any reader new to this world can step right into it through any one of these short works.

Tales are organized into “collections” where all stories therein share a theme and/or premise. Most tales are not sequential and can be read in any order. When one or more link together, subsequent stories will mention “sequel to…” on their covers to guide you.
These short works can be your first adventure into our world or something to tide you over in the wait for the next of our novels to be released.

—Barb & J.C.

After fleeing from the small port town of Miiska -- and the threat of a vampire hunter’s blade -- Ratboy finds himself alone in the king’s city of Bela, having left his two companions, Rashed and Teesha behind. Lost and lonely at first, he soon realizes that he has a chance to reinvent himself, to take on a new name and a new identity.  Then... he sees a young woman with bright blue eyes, and he falls in love for the first time.

Unfortunately, he can’t quite see that she’s a gold-digging prostitute.  But love is blind.  He’s determined to make her his own, make her immortal, give her anything she wants, and make her happy.  However, keeping her happy soon proves a daunting task, one that will require desperate measures and all his cunning.

About "Tales from the world of the Noble Dead Saga"...

No knowledge of the Noble Dead Saga or other related works by us is necessary to read and enjoy any of these stories. Any reader new to this world can step right into it through any one of these short works.

Tales are organized into “collections” where all stories therein share a theme and/or premise. Most tales are not sequential and can be read in any order. When one or more link together, subsequent stories will mention “sequel to…” on their covers to guide you.

These short works can be your first adventure into our world or something to tide you over in the wait for the next of our novels to be released.

—Barb & J.C.

Rashed, one of the Noble Dead and a vampire, has killed his maker and master, Lord Corische. Fleeing his master's keep in Stravina, he takes with him Teesha, Ratboy, and his brother, Parko. At first, all four relish freedom in their separate ways, but they soon learn that freedom has its dangers for their kind.

Without a master, Parko quickly loses himself to the Feral Path, that seductive sensuality of being unrestrained in the hunt and the kill. Ratboy feels this call as well but is caught between this desire and his need for companionship and safety. Teesha, reeling much more than she expected at being "homeless," wants only a new place in the world of their own making.

Rashed is tangled in all of this by his sense of responsibility for his companions. Most of all, he's determined that Teesha never feel lost again. He'll do anything to create a home for her -- anything.

Ratboy continues to struggle against his longing to be free of self-restraint, to hunt and kill at will. Sometimes he succeeds against his baser instincts, and sometimes he doesn't. Then one night, when he loses the battle, his actions threaten everything that Rashed has managed to achieve -- including Teesha's safety.

About "Tales from the world of the Noble Dead Saga"...

No knowledge of the Noble Dead Saga or other related works by us is necessary to read and enjoy any of these stories. Any reader new to this world can step right into it through any one of these short works.

Tales are organized into “collections” where all stories therein share a theme and/or premise. Most tales are not sequential and can be read in any order. When one or more link together, subsequent stories will mention “sequel to…” on their covers to guide you.
These short works can be your first adventure into our world or something to tide you over in the wait for the next of our novels to be released.

—Barb & J.C.

In his youth, Loni never felt that he fit in anywhere, even among his family or his people, the Lhoin’na, or the elves of the central continent. As he dwells on tales told to him by a doting grandmother, he begins to believe he might have been born in the wrong time.

One scant tale of a past age hints that the legendary Sorhkafâré led some of Loni’s people to the east at the end of the great mythical war. Loni dreams of those forgotten Departed ones, wondering if their descendants still exist. The answer may be more and less than he hoped in his quest to find where he belongs. [Short story, ~14k words.]

About "Tales from the world of the Noble Dead Saga"...

No knowledge of the Noble Dead Saga or other related works by us is necessary to read and enjoy any of these stories. Any reader new to this world can step right into it through any one of these short works.

Tales are organized into “collections” where all stories therein share a theme and/or premise. Most tales are not sequential and can be read in any order. When one or more link together, subsequent stories will mention “sequel to…” on their covers to guide you.
These short works can be your first adventure into our world or something to tide you over in the wait for the next of our novels to be released.

—Barb & J.C.

Karras, who humans mistakenly call “Carrow,” is not a typical Rughìr’thai’âch, “Earth-Born,” or dwarf. In fact, in serving his family’s shipping and trading business, he has taken on too many human ways in place of those of his people. No wonder that in “bartering” for marriage with the fiery and dour Skirra—“Sliver”—of the fallen family of Yêarclág, he has bungled the deal for years. Dismissed once more to salve his heart’s wounds, those wounds get salted with unwanted assistance from a blustery clan-kin—Fiáh’our, or the great “Hammer-Stag.”

The old honored warrior has his own notion of what Karras needs. To Fiáh’our, honorable barter for love and marriage is akin to one battle after another. And only the way of their people’s warriors can see Karras to victory… over himself, first of all.

May their people’s eternal ancestors, the Bäynæ, watch over them—especially to keep them from each other’s throats.

About "Tales from the world of the Noble Dead Saga"...

No knowledge of the Noble Dead Saga or other related works by us is necessary to read and enjoy any of these stories. Any reader new to this world can step right into it through any one of these short works.

Tales are organized into “collections” where all stories therein share a theme and/or premise. Most tales are not sequential and can be read in any order. When one or more link together, subsequent stories will mention “sequel to…” on their covers to guide you.

These short works can be your first adventure into our world or something to tide you over in the wait for the next of our novels to be released.

—Barb & J.C.

The honored dwarven thänæ, Fiáh’our, is convinced that he is honorbound to take young Karras as an “apprentice” and force the wayward young clan-kin to learn the ways of their people’s warriors. Poor Fiáh’our has no idea what he is in for.

Karras only intention is no more than necessary to fulfill this unwilling apprenticeship arranged by his father. Worse, in being from a family of seatraders, a way of life baffling to most “Earth-Born” or dwarves—Karras is pitifully unsuited to be a warrior. His training rapidly turns futile, but Fiáh’our is determined. Karras also suffers from unrequited love, which interferes with his concentration. Repeatedly asking Skirra, of the fallen family of Yêarclág, to marry him, she has refused him perhaps for the last time.

Fiáh’our has an inkling about why Skirra rejected Karras, but the thänæ believes he can make his new apprentice worthy of her. For that, he has a notion that might even give Karras a little hope. That is, if Karras can survive his first battle.

Out on the northern frontier, where Fiáh’our goes each summer for good service, a threat to the villages there has returned with greater force. The longer Fiáh'our delays in failed training with Karras, the greater his guilt for not defending those in need. Between these two duties, the risk for Fiáh’our—and Karras—may reach a breaking point that could cost one or both of their lives. [Sequel to Bones of the Earth, I: Karras the Kitten; Novella, 40k+ words]

About "Tales from the world of the Noble Dead Saga"...

No knowledge of the Noble Dead Saga or other related works by us is necessary to read and enjoy any of these stories. Any reader new to this world can step right into it through any one of these short works.

Tales are organized into “collections” where all stories therein share a theme and/or premise. Most tales are not sequential and can be read in any order. When one or more link together, subsequent stories will mention “sequel to…” on their covers to guide you.

These short works can be your first adventure into our world or something to tide you over in the wait for the next of our novels to be released.

—Barb & J.C.

Lord Stefan Korbori is trapped inside his own manor, kept there by the curse of an undead sorcerer. In endlessly wandering the same rooms and passages for several years, he has begun sinking into madness. Although abandoned or forgotten by other nobles of his class, he still has the love of his young mistress to anchor him against the darkness.

Elena would do anything to help her lord. When three sages from the Bela Annex of the Guild of Sagecraft pass through her village of Pudúrlatsat, she sees a glint of hope. As scholars, they might have knowledge of sorcery—or rather how to counter it. A plan begins to form out of the past and how her lord first became imprisoned by the curse.

Elena sees one chance for Stefan that even he would never allow—that might not work—if he learned of it.

About "Tales from the world of the Noble Dead Saga"...

No knowledge of the Noble Dead Saga or other related works by us is necessary to read and enjoy any of these stories. Any reader new to this world can step right into it through any one of these short works.

Tales are organized into “collections” where all stories therein share a theme and/or premise. Most tales are not sequential and can be read in any order. When one or more link together, subsequent stories will mention “sequel to…” on their covers to guide you.
These short works can be your first adventure into our world or something to tide you over in the wait for the next of our novels to be released.

—Barb & J.C.

New York Times bestselling author Robin Hobb—“one of the most important writers in 21st-century fantasy” (Contra Costa Times)—continues her enthralling fantasy saga of dragons and their keepers

City of Dragons
Volume Three of the Rain Wilds Chronicles

Once, dragons ruled the Rain Wilds, tended by privileged human servants known as Elderlings. But a series of cataclysmic eruptions nearly drove these magnificent creatures to extinction. Born weak and deformed, the last of their kind had one hope for survival: to return to their ancient city of Kelsingra. Accompanied by a disparate crew of untested young keepers, the dragons embarked on a harsh journey into the unknown along the toxic Rain Wild River. Battling starvation, a hostile climate, and treacherous enemies, dragons and humans began to forge magical connections, bonds that have wrought astonishing transformations for them all. And though Kelsingra is finally near, their odyssey has only begun.

Because of the swollen waters of the Rain Wild River, the lost city can be reached only by flight—a test of endurance and skill beyond the stunted dragons’ strength. Venturing across the swift-running river in tiny boats, the dragon scholar Alise and a handful of keepers discover a world far different from anything they have ever known or imagined. Immense, ornate structures of black stone veined with silver and lifelike stone statues line the silent, eerily empty streets. Yet what are the whispers they hear, the shadows of voices and bursts of light that flutter and are gone? And why do they feel as if eyes are watching them?

The dragons must plumb the depths of their ancestral memories to help them take flight and unlock the secrets buried in Kelsingra. But enemies driven by greed and dark desires are approaching. Time is running out, not only for the dragons but for their human keepers as well.