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When Shadows Grow Tall

Additional information

Author

Maressa Voss

Genre

Adult – Fantasy

Release Date

July 26, 2024

Publisher

Roundfire Books

Categories , , , Tag Product ID: 20051

Description

In the Grasp, a realm on the threshold of enlightenment, the dactyli guard the fading embers of their ancient brotherhood, dedicated to the pursuit of absolute truth. Lovelace and Gunnar, two of the order’s last rangers, find themselves on the precipice of a changing world. When the order faces a fatal threat from within, Lovelace and Gunnar embark on a dangerous ranging, whereon they discover that more than the welfare of the order is at stake: a rogue dactyli named Alev amasses an army of those he calls the Burned Ones, mercenaries wielding elemental forces. Lovelace and Gunnar are forced to grapple with the unimaginable implications. Meanwhile, the Grasp languishes under the oppressive rule of Osbert, who exploits the recent advent of the printing press to smoor the fires of budding enlightenment. A young woman named Kylene undertakes a journey to find her missing father, a prominent printer wanted for sedition. Her path leads her to the kapnobatai, a mysterious group of outcasts with whom Kylene takes up refuge and the mantle of her father’s fight for freedom. In the mountains of Droch Fhortan, Lovelace and Gunnar encounter a feral young woman, Cora. Her mere existence uproots an age-old belief and puts to ground a new truth: magic can be awakened, magic can be taught. As their paths intertwine, a shared purpose emerges – to expose Osbert’s tyranny, thwart Alev’s dangerous plot, and rekindle the flame of enlightenment. So begins the battle for the minds of the Graspish people, and a quest for the heart of magic itself.

About the Author

Photograph of author Maressa Voss

Maressa holds a degree in Classics with an emphasis in Language and Literature from UCSB. She lives in California with her husband and son. 

Her debut fantasy novel, When Shadows Grow Tall, is forthcoming July 26th, 2024 with Roundfire Books, an imprint of Collective Ink, previously John Hunt Publishing. 

She is currently working on “writing what she knows” with a dys/utopian satire based in a near-future Southern California. 

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