Dark Shores

For untold years, the Endless Seas have separated two continents: the lands of the East, now fully controlled by the Celendor Empire, and the Dark Shores of the West. Only the seafaring Maarin know the secret to traveling between the two realms, until the ambitious Celendor Senator Cassius launches a plan to steal the Maarin’s secrets and expand the Empire’s reach. Now, for the sake of friends and family taken hostage by Cassius, Maarin Teriana, pirate’s daughter and second mate of the Quincense, must work with Marcus, the young but brilliant commander of one of the Empire’s legions, to lead an invasion force across the seas, where they can win allies and influence by waging war against a despotic Dark Shores warlord, who wields forbidden magic. The two form a tenuous, uneasy alliance, with each shared threat bringing them closer together, even as Teriana secretly prays for Marcus’s campaign to fail, which would grant the Dark Shores safety. While this series opener starts slowly as it establishes the ambitious world-building, mythology, and protagonists’ parallel story lines, events escalate at a satisfying rate once Teriana and Marcus’s stories intersect. This blend of romance, epic fantasy, and military strategy by Jensen (Warrior Witch) makes for an engaging tale, setting up plenty of material for subsequent installments. Ages 13–up. Agent: Tamar Rydzinski, Context Literary Agency. [em](May) [/em]