Tanya Huff – författare

The Bards of Shkoder hold the country together. They, and the elemental spirits they Sing—earth, air, fire, and water—bring the news of the sea to the mountains, news of the mountains to the plains. They give their people, from peasant to king, a song in common.

Annice is a rare talent, able to Sing all four quarters, but her brother, the newly enthroned King Theron, sees her request to study at the Bardic Hall as a betrayal. To his surprise, Annice accepts his conditions, renouncing her royal blood and swearing to remain childless so as not to jeopardize the line of succession. She walks away from political responsibilities, royal privilege and her family.

Ten years later, Annice has become the Princess Bard and her real life is about to become the exact opposite of the overwrought ballad her fellow students at the Bardic Hall wrote about her. Now, she’s on the run from the Royal Guards with the Duc of Ohrid, the father of her unborn child, both of them guilty of treason—one of them unjustly accused. To save the Duc’s life, they’ll have to cross the country, manage to keep from strangling each other, and defeat an enemy too damaged for even a Bard’s song to reach.

Trained to kill from childhood, siblings Bannon and Vree have only known life as assassins in the Imperial Army. The army is both their mother and father, their lives subject to the whims of the Crown.

When their latest target steals Bannon’s body for his own, Vree saves her brother by dragging his spirit in to share hers. But two assassins in one body is one assassin too many. To save both their lives, they must abandon the only life they’ve known, risking Imperial ire and possible execution, to regain Bannon’s body. It isn’t until after they capture Gyhard, the body thief, that they realize they can’t force him to do anything while he holds Bannon’s body hostage.

But Gyhard is willing to trade Bannon’s body for their assistance. All they have to do—while being hunted for desertion and dealing with an unknown power able to Sing the dead out of the grave—is betray the oaths they’ve lived by and help Gyhard secure the body of an Imperial Prince.

Having offered sanctuary to the soul of the man who stole her brother’s body, Vree heads north to Shkoder with two kigh struggling to co-exist in a single body. Although the odds aren’t in their favour, there’s a chance, a small chance, the Bards can find Gyhard a body of his own without anyone else having to die. But Vree was an assassin trained to kill on command, Gyhard has chosen to kill again and again on a quest for immortality, and the Bards aren’t certain which of them is the more dangerous. No one, from the guard on the Citadel gate to the King himself, wants them anywhere near the single Healer who can Sing the Fifth Kigh.

No one except Magda, the Healer, whose heritage has taught her that things are not always as they seem.

In the end, Bardic suspicion becomes the least of Vree’s problems. The dead walk in the mountains of Shkoder, kigh confined in rotting corpses, and Gyhard’s past returned to haunt them. Hunted by the Bards and the Healer’s family, Vree, Gyhard and Magda head for the mountains to try and Sing Gyhard’s past to rest. To make matters worse, Vree’s brother has yet to forgive her for saving Gyhard’s life and is determined to bring Gyhard—and therefore Vree—back to the Empire to pay the price for treason.

Benedikt Sings the most powerful water in the kingdom, but water is the only Quarter Benedikt can sing, which isolates him from the Bardic Captain and his fellow Bards. When the Queen of Shkoder outfits a voyage to discover the lands across the sea against the Bardic Captain’s objections, Benedikt is the only Bard willing to brave the Captain’s wrath and volunteer.

In uncharted waters, a storm strikes and the kigh of the deep seas rise. All of Benedikt’s skill is unable to save ship or crew. Shipwrecked in an unfamiliar country and unable to send word to Shkoder of the ship’s fate, Benedikt must play the part he’s been given: a pawn in the game of politics and religion between brother and sister—who both intend to use his Song to their advantage.

As the Queen waits for word, the kigh of the deep seas rise again....

Now available in a new audiobook edition, the first novel published by Tanya Huff—author of the acclaimed Blood Books series—is a tale of magic and betrayal in a realm where once-powerful magic is fading … and a girl whose gifts may be the key to overcoming an evil not known in an eternity …

In a far-ago age, wizards ruled the world with a power so dark even the Elder races feared them. But when their power caused them to unleash dragons from the depths of the earth itself, they were undone by their own hand, thus freeing the world.

Or so it was thought. For now, after many years of hard-won peace, the human kingdom of Ardhan is under threat from the dread king of Melac. Yet the real danger is the king’s counselor, Kraydak—a wizard who survived the slaughter of his kind and has waited until now to rise to power once again. But the world will not be as easy to vanquish this time.

For the royal family of Ardhan is no longer merely made of men. They have blended their destiny with the immortals who dwell in the Sacred Grove—a place untouched by darkness or death. And it will fall to the youngest of that enchanted bloodline to stand against the coming. Her name is Crystal. And she is the one thing in the world Kraydak fears.

Tanya Huff—acclaimed author of the Blood Books series—continues her high fantasy duology that began with Child of the Grove, in which she explores just what happens when a hero completes their quest, but must go on living in the world they have saved …

Crystal was born of a bloodline both mortal and magical, raised to one day become a wizard and to defeat a long-hidden evil that threatened the realm of Ardhan. Through many dangerous adventures and lethal deceptions, she was finally victorious. And peace was at hand.

Yet it was not so for Crystal.

As the last living wizard, she soon found herself living a life without meaning. For while the people of Ardhan prospered in the world she had delivered, Crystal—with her still-growing powers—could find little solace. She was alone.

Then, by chance, she saved a mortal life with her gift, reigniting her bonds with humanity and inspiring her to undertake a new quest—to find a long-hidden treasure unlike any other. A hidden cache of magical forces that only she can control or destroy.

But the prize she seeks just might do the same to her …

When Auntie Catherine warns the family of an approaching asteroid, the Gales scramble to keep humans from going the way of the dinosaurs. Fortunately, they’re wielding a guitar and a dragon.

The Gale family can change the world with the charms they cast, which has caused some supernaturally complicated family shenanigans in the past. So when NASA and Doomsday Dan confirm Auntie Catherine’s dire prediction, Charlotte “Charlie” Gale turns to the family for help.

But Allie is unavailable because the universe seems determined to have her produce the seventh son of a seventh son of a seventh son of a Gale. And the Aunties can’t help because they’re tied to the earth—although they are happy to provide their delicious, trademark pies. And in the end, all Charlie has is a guitar … and Jack. The Dragon Prince, and a Sorcerer.

But Charlie might like Jack just a little too much, and Jack might like Charlie a little too much in return. Actually, between Allie’s hormones, the Aunties trying to force her and Jack into ritual, the Courts having way too much fun at the end of days, and Jack’s sudden desire to sacrifice himself for the good of the many, Charlie’s fairly certain that the asteroid is the least of her problems.

The Gales are going to need more than pie to save the world from an incoming asteroid. But together there isn’t anything they can’t deal with—except possibly each other.