Books

Stone

Rael’s father, Drase of the line of Peor, is the best stonecutter Taraf the City has ever seen. Stonecutting isn’t usually women’s work, but Rael—a head taller than her brothers, and as broad across in her shoulders as her father—finds it fits her well. Until the day her brother Tei is killed by a desert tribesman.

Tei’s death comes at a crucial juncture for Taraf the City. Beset by the tribes, as well as a rising threat from a king in the south, Rael and her fellow stoneworkers are scrambling to finish building the city wall. In the city itself, tensions are rising between the scholar-priest of the city and the Taraf, whose line has ruled the city since its founding. Shattered and mourning, Rael and her family are all forced to make choices between their desire for vengeance, their love for each other, their loyalty to their home, their duty towards God, and what their hearts tell them is right.

In this return to the world of Sunset Mantle, Alter S. Reiss continues to explore the harsh realities as well as the joys of an Iron Age culture that never was, where God’s law and family duty are paramount, yet moral certainty is as rare as water in the desert.

Sunset Mantle

With a single blow, Cete won both honor and exile from his last commander. Since then he has wandered, looking for a place to call home. The distant holdings of the Reach Antach offer shelter, but that promise has a price.

The Reach Antach is doomed.

Sunset Mantle is a heroic fantasy novel of law, loyalty, and duty.

Recalled to Service

Ao Laiei does not know what happened to the great revolutionary war hero Uroie Aei since she resurrected him, but she has long intended to find out. Finally, a clue from an unlikely information source–the confusing art of dream-diving–enables her to be present for a surprising strike against an academic aligned with the revolutionary government. Laiei quickly discovers that it is not the physical target she is concerned with, but his field of study, which may unlock the secret of what mysterious deeds the elusive Uroie Aei has been up to since his disappearance.

Recalled to Service is a fantasy novella set in a world of necromantic magic, revolutionary politics, and no simple answers.

In Sunlight and in Shadow

Bet is sworn to the service of the Last Court, a secret magical society that exists in the shadows of modern New York City—and her heart belongs to the Grand
Sorceress. But her attempts to court Vivienne end in disaster, and disillusionment drives her from the Last Court.

The Court, however, isn’t done with Bet.

In Sunlight and in Shadow is an urban fantasy romance novella by Alter S. Reiss and Naomi Libicki, writing together as Drew Sarkis.

Schemes of the Wayfarer

Seventeen years ago, Keth Caider’s parents were killed in a mysterious attack. To escape the ensuing court scandal, Keth enlisted in the army, while her school rival Theraine Carfan disappeared into the Wilds. Now, Keth is the commander of the Capital Guard, and Theraine has just returned to the Imperial Court, bringing with her magical gifts from the Wilds—and the chaos of the Wilds as well.

Schemes of the Wayfarer is a standalone fantasy novel by Naomi Libicki and Alter S. Reiss, writing together as Drew Sarkis.