Showing results by author "Rachel Neumeier" in All Categories

No plan ever survives contact with the enemy. Especially when you can't be certain which side is your enemy. Nalyn Ila did her best to lay plans for every imaginable contingency. But some contingencies were not imaginable. Now Ila has no choice but to change her plans as fast as she can, trying to stay one step ahead of disaster. Without Syova's help, everything she has tried to achieve will certainly fail.

Sevastien one zero two four, S line third modification, has survived the destruction of his own ship and an enemy station. But he was rescued by the wrong side -- by Nalyn Ila, captain of the Elysian destroyer Invictus. Now he's facing a difficult problem: How to persuade Captain Ila and her people that he is not an enemy combatant. That if there was an act of war, it was committed by her people, not his own. Sevastien is almost certain he was an innocent bystander of disaster ... unless his own people set him up, aiming to get him aboard Invictus for reasons he can't yet understand.

It's a long way from the northern mountains back to the summer lands -- and all the challenges Aras left behind are waiting. Worse, no matter how Aras handles those problems, the summer king's judgment of his actions is certain to be harsh. Released from every vow he ever swore to Aras, Ryo could remain among his own people. But he can't abandon Aras to confront his king alone -- especially as the struggle they endured in the land of the shades still haunts them both. But, as they journey south, Ryo realizes that Aras may be losing control of his sorcery.

For a year, Tano has known his people would need to return to the starlit country—and that his friend Raga would be among those who crossed the mountains into that lovely and mysterious land. Where Raga goes, Tano will certainly go as well. He looks forward to the journey—mostly. He's almost certain every Ugaro who accompanies the expedition can be trusted, and he's almost certain the Lau who come along won't cause too much trouble. Most of all, Tano knows the gentle people of the starlit land offer no threat at all. Everyone knows the Tarashana are harmless ...

Raised a warrior in the harsh winter country, Ryo inGara has always been willing to die for his family and his tribe. When war erupts against the summer country, the prospect of death in battle seems imminent. But when his warleader leaves Ryo as a sacrifice—a tuyo—to die at the hands of their enemies, he faces a fate he never imagined.

A year and a half ago, Ryo and Aras defeated their enemy, ending the conflict between the winter country and the summer lands. But with all his important secrets revealed in that struggle, Lord Aras now faces a new challenge in dealing with his own countrymen.

A crown forged piece by piece, moment by moment. Prince Sekaran is nine years old when he meets his cousin Aras for the first time. Twenty when Aras is given a scepter. Thirty-five when he becomes heir and discovers the truth about his cousin … A novel-length series of linked stories and vignettes, each revealing the moments that define Sekaran’s life: first encounters, unexpected revelations, and the ties of blood, friendship, and loyalty that bind him to his cousin, his broader family, and the summer country itself.

A gifted psychiatrist, Daniel Dodson is perfectly aware that he's in a tough place personally following the death of his wife. Then a mysterious new patient offers a welcome professional distraction. The world of swords and magic that Tenai so vividly remembers obviously can't be real. The deadly enmity and long war that left such deep emotional scars plainly symbolize something else.

Following the great battle in the winter country, a handful of surviving Lau, too badly wounded to travel, were left to the care of Ugaro tribesmen. Surgeon Dedicat Suelen Haras Soyauta, personal physician to the king of the summer country, can't bear the thought that injured Lau soldiers have been abandoned in the winter country, subject to who knows what barbaric medical practices, perhaps even neglect or outright abuse.

Rihasi Gerogevet of Saraicana has a problem. She knows just who can help her solve it: Lord Aras Eren Samaura, the king’s most powerful scepter-holder. But Lord Aras is in Gaur, a long journey from Saraicana, and getting there safely isn’t going to be easy. Especially as a lot of people are determined to make sure she doesn’t get there at all. Kior Voeret has a secret.

Sometimes the past does not let go. Tenai is determined that no one will use her to break the fragile peace of her world, even if that means she must support and defend the son of her bitterest enemy. But set against four hundred years of fury and hatred, that determination may not be enough. Daniel has come to know far more about Tenai’s adversaries than he ever wanted to — more than she knows herself. Forced into unwilling cooperation with these enemies, Daniel must find a way to defy their plans, protect his daughter, and help Tenai overcome the shadows of her past — before it’s too late.

Born to the inTasiyo, bitter enemies of the inGara, Tano is trying hard to behave perfectly and win acceptance among his new people. But he fears that any misstep might mean the lord of the inGara casts him out. Tano could lose more than his place with his new tribe: he could lose Ryo’s good opinion and encouragement, his tentative new friendships, his younger brother—everything that matters to him. He would rather die.

For generations, the Ugaro of the winter country have traded peacefully with the Lau of the summer lands. But now a fatal mistake has created bitterness and hatred on both sides of the river, threatening to destroy a peace that has become tenuous. Nikoles Ianan realizes, too late, that he should have prevented his own people’s unforgivable trespass - he should at least have tried.

Esau Karuma never expected to marry—he's really not the type. But when he hears about a girl who's got to get married immediately or else she'll be crushed under a whole mountain of trouble, Esau doesn’t hesitate to volunteer. He’ll whisk her out of the way of disaster, marry her real quick, get her settled someplace she’ll be comfortable, and that will be that. No reason in the world either of them should be too much of a nuisance to the other. Given his whole life so far, he should have known that plan might be a little too optimistic....

The veil between the worlds is growing thin. At midwinter, as the old year dies and before the new year dawns, Nolas-Kuomon, Lord Death’s lady, may open that veil for anyone who asks to step from one world to the other. After all the dire peril of the past summer, no one could be surprised if Danyel or his daughter Jenna preferred to return to their own world. Taranah Berangilan-sa, the king’s aunt, would strongly prefer that both Danyel and his daughter remain in Talasayan. Indeed, everyone sensible will surely set that prayer before God as midwinter approaches.

Sinowa inGara cherished his first wife. But now, with his people heading for trouble, he needs the high standing he would gain from marrying again. The best choice would be a singer -- preferably an inKarano singer. Only one inKarano singer is unmarried: Marag inKarano. For ten winters, Marag has turned aside every warrior and every poet who has approached her. She knows she will become one of the foremost singers of all the tribes. She knows whomever she marries will gain great standing through that marriage.

Daniel never imagined that Tenai's memories of her earlier life might be absolutely true. But when he and his daughter are swept up in the plots of her enemies and dropped abruptly into a world of dark magic and darker history, Daniel must find a way to aid Tenai against the all-too-real echoes of her past.

A long time ago, Kuomat walked into the woods, abandoning his place in the world of men. For years he’s lived as an outlaw, with little to do with ordinary townsfolk. But when Jenna asked him for help in the name of Death’s Lady and of the king of Talasayan, Kuomat chose to involve himself in the affairs of the great. That did not go unnoticed. Now Kuomat has one last chance to step out of the forest and return to the world ... if he can bring himself to take it.