The Book of the Black Earth Novels
Blood and Iron (2014)
It begins with a shipwreck following a magical storm at sea. Magician, gladiator, and spy are joined together in an epic war for freedom in an ancient land where every man and woman must pay the price of blood or iron.
Available on Amazon. Full-cast audiobook available through Graphic Audio.
Storm and Steel
An empire at war.
Three fates intertwined.
The Magician. Horace has destroyed the Temple of the Sun, but now he finds his slave chains have been replaced by bonds of honor, duty, and love. Caught between two women and two cultures, he must contend with deadly forces from the unseen world.
The Rebel. Jirom has thrown in his lot with the slave uprising, but his road to freedom becomes ever more dangerous as the rebels expand their campaign against the empire. Even worse, he feels his connection with Emanon slipping away with every blow they strike in the name of freedom.
The Spy. Alyra has severed her ties to the underground network that brought her to Akeshia, but she continues the mission on her own. Yet, with Horace’s connection to the queen and the rebellion’s escalation of violence, she finds herself treading a knife’s edge between love and duty.
Dark conspiracies bubble to the surface as war and zealotry spread across the empire. Old alliances are shattered, new vendettas are born, and all peoples—citizen and slave alike—must endure the ravages of storm and steel.
Available on Amazon. Full-cast audiobook available through Graphic Audio: Part 1 and Part 2.
Blade and Bone
In a land where God kings and God queens hold the power of life and death in their hands, Horace, the onetime slave who became a powerful magician, has turned the tables on his former masters. Horace, Alyra, and Jirom must navigate the hurdles of managing the slave rebellion under the Akeshian Empire’s nose. But evil is not content to sit back and let them gather their strength. A new threat is coming in the form of an unstoppable army of undead creatures under the control of a mysterious sorcerer, conquering kingdoms and leaving behind nothing but death. To face the enemy, our heroes will have to dig deeper and find a strength they didn’t know they possessed.
Available on Amazon. Full-cast audiobook available through Graphic Audio: Part 1 and Part 2.
Sun and Serpent
THE WAR CONTINUES, AND THE UNDEAD RAVAGE THE LAND. JIROM, HORACE, AND EMANON BEGIN TO HOPE THEY MIGHT FREE THE EMPIRE. BUT CAN THEY MANAGE TO DO SO BEFORE THE DARK KING CONQUERS THE WORLD?
Horace has come a long way from his days of slavery. Now he, Jirom, and their companions think they just might glimpse victory ahead, and the triumphant end to what began as a mere slave rebellion. But first Horace must recover from the loss of his beloved Alyra. And Jirom finds himself asking if even victory will be worth the cost–how can he be sure he and the other winners of this war will rule more justly than the Akeshians did? Meanwhile, a mysterious mass murder-suicide in a temple in Thuum hints that they have more foes than they knew of. And as they advance upon the capital, they find strange obstacles barring their way. Obstacles that suggest the barriers between worlds are growing dangerously thin…..
Shadow Saga Novels
Shadow’s Son (2010)
In the holy city of Othir, treachery and corruption lurk at the end of every street, just the place for a freelance assassin with no loyalties and few scruples. Caim makes his living on the edge of a blade, but when a routine job goes south, he is thrust into the middle of an insidious plot. Pitted against crooked lawmen, rival killers, and darkest sorcery, his only allies are the socialite daughter of his last target and a guardian spirit no one else can see. But in this fight for his life, Caim only trusts his knives and his instincts, but they won’t be enough when his quest for justice leads him from Othir’s hazardous back alleys to its shining corridors of power. To unmask a conspiracy at the heart of the empire, he must claim his birthright as the Shadow’s Son. . . .
Available on Amazon. Full-cast audiobook available through Graphic Audio.
Shadow’s Lure (2011)
In the wild frontiers of the North, life and death balance on a sword’s edge.
Caim travels to this forbidding land in search of answers about his past, but the emergence of a new plot from the Shadow tosses him into a maelstrom of death and deceit. Against a cunning foe that threatens not just his life, but his very soul, Caim must seek out the strength buried inside him. To free his homeland and himself, he must confront the Shadow’s Lure. . . .
Available on Amazon. Full-cast audiobook available through Graphic Audio.
Shadow’s Master (2012)
The Northern Wastes. . . .
A land of death and shadow where only the strongest survive. Yet that is where Caim must go to follow the mystery at the heart of his life. Armed with only his knives and his companions, he plunges into a world of eternal night where the sun is never seen and every hand is turned against him.
Caim has buried his father’s sword and found some measure of peace, but deep in the north an unfathomable power lies waiting. To succeed on this mission, Caim will have to do more than just survive. He must face the Shadow’s Master.
Available on Amazon. Full-cast audiobook available through Graphic Audio.
Short Fiction
“The Artist” (Fall 2003) – Jon’s first published story, appearing in the Cloaked in Shadow: Dark Tales of Elves anthology by Fantasist Enterprises.
“Sign of the Cross” (2005) – Published in Dreams & Visions #34 by Skysong Press.
“Office Magic” (April 2006) – Appeared in Modern Magic: Tales of Fantasy and Horror, a fantasy anthology by Fantasist Enterprises.
“Sea of Madness” (August 2007) – This homage to the late H.P. Lovecraft was published in the Sails & Sorcery: Tales of Nautical Fantasy anthology by Fantasist Enterprises.
“The Farmer’s Daughter” (July 2006) – Published online at Amazon.com as part of the Amazon Shorts program. Unknown if this story can still be obtained from that site. Reprinted (Summer 2008) in Cemetery Moon #4 by Fortress Publishing Inc.
“The Wu Jen” (Winter 2010) – Published in Trail of Indiscretion #10 by Fortress Publishing Inc.
