Xamual Amulyn is invisible to the undead. His unique gift was discovered years ago, and now he works reluctantly as an inquisitor for the local temple, investigating undead-related incidents in the city where he lives.

Trú La Dommé, a disgraced clockmaker’s apprentice, struggles with an opium addiction. Living in the sanctuary of the temple where Xamual works, she’s been haunted by whispers in her mind ever since a stranger tattooed her back with runes.

The whispers drive Trú to kill a man she’s never met with magic she’s never wielded. On the same day, a young woman is killed, her animated corpse is found walking through Xamual’s childhood stomping grounds.

As Xamual searches for answers to both crimes and as Trú seeks to rid herself of her murderous magic, they find themselves drawn into the criminal underworld, where gangs are vying for each other’s territories and those who crave power will do whatever it takes—even turn the living undead—to gain more of it. When they discover a sinister force bent on taking control of the Island Realms, Xamual and Trú must decide how far they’re willing to go to save the city—and the people—they love.

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Cthoma’s Fated by
Jeffery a. smith

Every twenty years the red comet Cthoma lights up the night sky. Every twenty years, the emperor Shaucrim Vlaide must fear for his life.

 

Throug Slagger was meant to be the chosen one. Born under the comet, he was fated to defeat the emperor and end Shaucrim’s reign of terror before it began. Leaving his family when he was ten years old, he trained with an ancient order of monks and embarked on a quest to find ten powerful Ixafore rings, set on fulfilling the prophecy.

 

He failed.

 

For nineteen years, Throug has been trying to forget his failure at the bottom of a flagon. With one year remaining before the return of Cthoma, he is offered a chance at redemption. Thrust upon a journey the length of the empire and beyond, can he find the tenth ring, recover what has been taken from him, and face Shaucrim Vlaide under the red light of the comet, or is it already too late?

About Jeffery

Husband, father, writer, and musician.

I fell in love with fantasy after seeing the original Star Wars and then reading J.R.R. Tolkien.

 

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Future Novels

  • The Night-Pierced Bones of the Realm

    Shores of the Deluge - Book 2

    Erike is not a perfect ruler nor a tyrant. The mistakes he has made during his life come to a head on the night before the battle that should have ended the Elf War. An ally attempts to take his life, but the quick thinking, and talent, of Ash Carn save his life. Erike has to rely on the troubled Ash, who had once sworn to kill him herself, if he wants to survive. In alternating chapters, the events that led up to and the repercussions of the assassination attempt are told through the eyes of Erike and Ash respectively.

    Status: Development Edit in progress.

  • Rippling Darkness

    Shores of the Deluge - Book 3

    After a failed attempt to study at the Mage’s Tower, Sharwain is returning home. Sissick learns in a cryptic message that his long-time friend is in trouble, and he fears his friend’s ability in taboo magic has been revealed. Their lives are intertwined and changed when they travel the Endless Ocean aboard the same ship, the Unchained Zephyr. On the voyage, the ship is taken over by slavers, and the survivors are changed from passengers to cargo. They have an ally in the half-elf Rithal who has been mistaken for one of his full-blooded brethren by the slavers.

    Status: First draft complete.

  • Rival Tide

    Shores of the Deluge - Book 4

    Status: Rough draft complete.

  • Fractured Light

    Shores of the Deluge - Book 5

    Status: Outlined and a couple of chapters started.

  • Amron Denthain

    Status: Concept stage.

  • Sarail Denthain

    Status: Concept stage.

  • Wolve Denthain

    Status: Concept stage.

Currently reading: Sin and Scales by Michelle Emmanuelli*

My goal is to read 25 books this year.

My TBR

Black Bird, Blue Road by Sofiya Pasternack

The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides

The Starless Crown by James Rollins

Monstrous Nights by Genoveva Dimova

Malice by John Gwynne

A Shadow of All Night Falling by Glen Cook

Lizard Skin and Sharpened Steel by Damien Larken*

RUOK by Andy Futuro*

Havoc by Christopher Bollen

The Other Valley by Scott Alexander Howard**

Everything is Tuberculosis by John Green

*Written by self-published authors.

**Read for Otherworlds sci-fi & fantasy or Fiction book club at Author’s Note

What I’ve read in 2025:

Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis

The Ember Blade by Chris Wooding

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis

Almond by Won-Pyung Sohn

Starter Villian by John Scalzi

Exordia by Seth Dickinson**

By Blood, By Salt by J.L. Odom*

The Tainted Cup by Robert Jackson Bennett**

The Girls of the Glimmer Factory by Jennifer Coburn

Sun of Blood and Ruin by Mariely Lares**

The Husbands by Holly Gramazio**

Reading My Own Books 2025:

Shroud of Whispers (x2)

The Night-Pierced Bones of the Realm (x2)

Rippling Darkness (x1)