The Many Shades of Midnight - Paperback

by C. M. Debell (Author)

Isyr. Stronger, brighter, more beautiful than other metals. Once the most desirable thing in Ellasia, now it is priceless, the pure Isyrium needed to produce it mined to exhaustion. What's left is controlled by the powerful mining syndicates, and such is the demand for their Isyrium that even kings do their bidding. Yet just as the beauty of Isyr hides a deadly secret, so too do the syndicates.

A terrifying enemy is spreading a plague across the land, a sickness that kills or transforms everything it touches. Unable to contain the outbreaks, the King of Lankara begs the aid of his disgraced former military commander, Alyas-Raine Sera, a man who has spent years fighting syndicate expansion and whose resentment over his exile makes him an unpredictable, dangerous ally in the power struggle between the rulers of Ellasia and the mining companies.

Attached to the embassy sent to recall Alyas, apprentice surgeon Brivar finds his skills and loyalty tested as his service to his new patron uncovers secrets about Isyr and the plague that link it to the mining of Isyrium - and threaten the life of the man it is his duty to safeguard.

In their own separate ways, Alyas and Brivar must take on the might of the syndicates and confront the greed, murder, betrayal and impossible choices of a crisis that has been decades in the making - and the price of their failure could be everyone and everything.

The Many Shades of Midnight is a gritty political fantasy about friendship, sacrifice, and the fight for survival in a world where greed drives everything and no one can be trusted. If you enjoy complex characters, intricate world-building, and high-stakes intrigue, you'll love this standalone grimdark fantasy.