Under the Burning Tower - Volume 1 - The Dark Tide's Advance

Deep in the heart of the Khavasak, the dread tower stirs. Saklugz, the Dark God, is moved by strange celestial events to initiate a new campaign of conquest, seeking to yoke the few remaining free kingdoms to the chains of his continent-spanning empire.

Zaluk the Unyielding, former champion of the Dissak arena, suddenly finds himself free from a lifetime of slavery as the survivors of the once mighty Vigdril Confederation launch a desperate raid against the Ukni military caravan hauling him back to the capital. He is torn between the blind drive for vengeance of Ofryr, the Vigdril chieftain, and the boundless compassion of Shini, a timid fellow slave spurred to an act of staggering courage.

In Tyung, capital of proud and ancient Nezhu, Princess Zhe is forced to struggle for her birthright against the treachery of her brother Suel even as a fleet of Ukni ships ride towards her homeland with an appallingly powerful creature in tow.

The city-states of the Navarid Isles wake up from centuries of internecine strife to find an Ukni host arrayed on their threshold. Soledis, a cavalry commander and assemblyman from the city of Boronea, struggles to shore up a united defense against the invaders.

Veskra and Takus, two infantrymen with the Ukni Navarid expedition, desert the Dark God's army in an ill-conceived plan to aid the people of Naviras. In the process, they encounter Hakudhi, a strange man who claims to be a Shugatyad, a once mighty school of mages fallen into dormancy.

Within the Khavasak, Alzai, a promising young student of the Yolkhav, discovers that the Dark God's reluctant tolerance for the Sheniv, his merchant community, has reached its end. As his own city rises against him, he is forced to embark upon a desperate flight with only his teacher, Karasha, at his side.

Far to the north, a woman crashes through the frigid waters of the Bay of Nuros. Though Theatina cannot remember anything of who she'd been before the fall, she knows that the mission she's been charged with is urgent beyond measure.

"Under the Burning Tower: The Dark Tide's Advance" is my first foray into the worlds of epic fantasy and the full length novel, and is the result of nearly five years worth of labor. In the process, there were many setbacks and difficulties, including a complete rewrite from scratch of a 250k word early manuscript, as I learned about the writing process, but I feel that these labors have taught me many things that my formal education could not about what it means to be a writer. It is my sincere hope that readers will find the experience of reading this book as fulfilling as I found the experience of writing it.