Haven
Description:
The great powers of the Saalshen Bacosh are falling. The feudal army of the Regent Balthaar Arosh marches victorious across Rhodaan and Enora, determined to restore the old human ways that were abolished by the serrin of Saalshen two centuries before. The Army of Lenayin marches in their wake, in shame. The greater battle was won, yet Lenayin’s part in it was defeat, their king slain, their warriors sent running from the field. Sashandra Lenayin marches with her people, yet she sees the carnage the Regent’s armies are inflicting upon her former allies, and like most Lenays, she feels dishonoured. Sasha leads three quarters of the Army of Lenayin to defect, and fight for Saalshen, leaving her brothers Koenyg and Myklas with the Verenthane hardliners to fight for the Regent. All forces now converge on the city of Jahnd, an Enoran word meaning ‘Haven’. A city of humanity’s refugees in Saalshen, its serrin hosts have allowed it to build into a major power over the centuries, humankind’s only outpost in Saalshen. But the Saalshen Bacosh’s third province, the mountainous land of Ilduur, refuses to come to the aid of its neighbours, and without it, victory is impossible. Sasha must lead a delegation to the Ilduuri capital, to combat the xenophobic Ilduuri regime’s retreat into isolation, and convince the Ilduuri army to defy their own leaders, and rise up in rebellion to fight a foreign war that most Ilduuris do not want. To save Saalshen and all that she loves about Lenayin, Sasha must become a true Lenay warlord, feared and hated by her enemies, uncompromising and all conquering. But will her own people now inflict upon her one of her worst nightmares, by insisting that she, and not her brother Damon, should assume the Lenay throne and lead her people in the greatest battle that the land of Rhodia has ever seen?The heart-stopping conclusion to the Trial of Blood & Steel quartet.
The Army of Regent Arrosh advances on the forces loyal to Saalshen, homeland of the serrin people, as the serrin's friends are in full retreat. Their only hope is to reach the city of Jahnd -- the serrin word for haven -- across the Ipshal River.
The Army of Lenayin marches with the Regent, but Sasha, sister of newly crowned King Koenyg, can no longer stomach the awful cause for which her people fight. As tensions build between Sasha and her brothers, her sister Sofy -- wedded to the Regent -- travels to the city of Tracato to attempt to negotiate a peaceful transition of its rich heritage to her husband's rule. But there are forces beneath the Regent's banner that wish to see all serrin and serrin-influenced civilisation destroyed for good.
While the serrin people fight for survival, families must be betrayed, enemies reconciled, nations persuaded and great armies fought, as Sasha's tale reaches its dramatic conclusion.
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Review
Reviews for Haven
'This book is the final book of four, so no, I don't recommend reading it without reading the other three. But all the books have done their utmost to entertain me without resorting to mindless fantasy tropes, and succeeded each and every time to the point that I look forward to the day - not too far from now, I imagine - that I get to go back and reread them.' FantasyBookReview
'Taken all together, A Trial of Blood and Steel is an amazing fantasy series...' Tor.com
Reviews for Sasha
'Should please fans of, say, George RR Martin's 'Song of Ice and Fire' novels.' Booklist
'...the book crackles with intriguing characters, witty banter, realistic battles, leaving readers optimistic about the planned sequels.' Publishers Weekly
'If you're looking for a solid fantasy series that's low on magic and high on morally ambiguous characters and complex politics in the vein of George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire (to which Joel Shepherd's series has been compared by many reviewers), look no further.' Tor.com
' Shepherd has created a court fantasy similar to George R. R. Martin's 'A Song of Ice and Fire'....a good epic fantasy that focuses more on the epic than the fantasy. SASHA ** is excellent reading for fans of character driven stories. I recommend it." Grasping for the Wind
'The whole book had me barely able to put it down, and my perpetual human need for sleep continually stood in the way of decent reading time. The vague allusions toward what will come in the sequel PETRODOR has me eager to read more. This is definitely a book you will want to pick up... downright and thoroughly enjoyable.' Fantasy Book Review
'SASHA is just my kind of book: complex, action-packed, realistic and unpredictable... I enjoyed SASHA as much as any book I've read recently and was disappointed when I finished it. Volume two can't come soon enough.' Contra Costa Times and San Jose Mercury News
'SASHA is an excellent opening to 'A Trial of Blood & Steel'. The interweaving of war, politics, religion, geography, family and a non-human race are skillfully done. Anyone who likes his or her fantasy to be as intellectually complex as it is entertaining would do well to pick up this book.' SF Signal
About the Author
Joel Shepherd was born in Adelaide, South Australia, in 1974. He has studied Film and Television, International Relations, has interned on Capitol Hill in Washington, and traveled widely in Asia. His first trilogy, the science fiction Cassandra Kresnov series, consists of Crossover, Breakaway, Killswitch, 23 Years on Fire, Operation Shield , and Originator. Visit him at joelshepherd.com.