“While the Titans reigned in the heavens above Ard, Lilith ruled from Kehena below, thirsting for the blood of the innocent to satiate her desires. The Dark Lord sent the darklings out from the Tower of Ibris to devour the people in her name. The Titans asked the great god Atua to send help. He sent his acolyte, the Alchemage.” – From the Book of Ard

After nearly two years, I am finally able to announce upcoming release of my epic dark fantasy, A Dance of Darkling and Demons. I wrote this novel years ago, which I’ll get to in a moment, but due to things outside my control, it has been delayed. Finally, thanks to the dedicated work of Ravven White and Curious Corvid Publishing, its finally ready to release.

This book is a bit of a religious exploration for me. I was going through some personal issues involving God and other religious practices. My daughter converted to Norse Pagan and it hit me rather hard. I didn’t stop her, but I prayed she would find her way back to God. I wanted to reflect my own personal beliefs in my Lord and Savior, but as a fantasy writer, I needed to put it into a story. So, I used the concept behind one of my favorite Star Trek episodes to help tell my tale. Sounds strange, but hear me out.

The episode “Who Weeps for Adonais?” where a powerful being claiming to be the Greek god Apollo appears and demands that the crew of the Enterprise disembark onto his planet to worship him. I loved the idea of gods traveling across the stars, but I wanted to make them fantasy gods, not aliens, and I didn’t want to use Olympians. Instead, I used their parents, the Titans, as the central pantheon to my story. As for the one true God, I didn’t just want to use “God” or a name that we associate with God. Instead, I found the name Atua in the Maori language, which means God. In fact, a lot of the Maori traditions inspired the mythology behind this story, particularly with the Alchemages and their journey as warriors.

It was all starting to come together. This was a story about a world where the pantheon of Titans are worshiped by the people, yet one group of individuals worships who they call “the one true God,” Atua. They are persecuted as “demons” and “heretics” because of this belief. This religious persecution is the heart of my book, A Dance of Darkling and Demons.

When darkness enveloped Ard, the people cried out across the stars for help, and the Titans answered their prayers. The banished gods bestowed the glittering gift of magic to Humans, Elves, Animalian, and Nephilim alike. But the darklings, creatures of shadow and death, poured out like oil from the Obsidian Cliffs. These creatures, all gnashing teeth and shifting gloom, sought to devour the light of magic for themselves. As armies faltered and hope dimmed to a dying ember, the Titans themselves knelt in supplication before the great god Atua for help. He opened his hands and sent his most powerful weapon—the Alchemage.

These shadow hunters wielded not just magic, but the ether itself through alchemy, forging spells in crucibles of will and turning base elements into devastating power. But their victories were pyrrhic, paid for by their own souls. The very people they saved recoiled from them, branding them heretics and demons for turning away from the Titans. For a thousand years, this war of attrition ground on, a slow bleed against the world’s edge.

Canaan Treyhawke bled at the front lines beneath the Obsidian Mountains and lost his leg to war, but he fought on. He walks the grime-slicked streets of Perdition’s Point, a shadow hunter protecting a city that whispers “heretic” as he passes by. Canaan fights for his sister’s smile and the quiet safety of the woman he loves, and for a city that curses his name even as he strives to protect it. And now, he finds himself in the heart of a conspiracy that threatens to unravel the very fabric of Ard.

A shadow tamer—a mortal man twisted by his allegiance to the sinister Tower of Ibris—was on the hunt for the Progenitor. With this chaos tightening around him like a noose, Canaan must journey from the gilded spires of Signus Prime to the rain-slicked streets of the capital city of Adolphus. He must unmask the shadow tamer and sever this new threat before the darkness consumes everything.

The other thing I want to mention is the title, A Dance of Darkling and Demons. I know it sounds a little strange but to be honest, it’s exactly what I wanted. I thought an alliteration, the repetition of words, flowed so beautifully. The cover itself shows the deep religious undertones of the story, showing stained glass panels representing the four races of Ard—humans, elves, animalia, and the Nephilim. The center shows the dark goddess, Lilith, being captured and sent to the depths of Kehena by the Eye of Kronos. It shows the heart of the book in this vibrant cover. Plus, the interior art by Dennis Saputra really captures the essence of the Darkling monsters.

I want to once again thank Ravven White and Curious Corvid Publishing for bringing my book across the finish line to publication. A Dance of Darkling and Demons will release on November 3.