Saint of the Shattered Veil Release Day!

My collection of ten dark fantasy shorts, Saint of the Shattered Veil, releases today. This is a project I’ve been working on over the course the past year after I conceived of the idea for a protagonist who almost never showed her face and spoke very few words. It’s been a challenge to write, to create stories that felt connected but individual, and to give hints at a larger world without giving too much away.

So, as I sip my morning coffee (Sanguine, by Found Familiar), let’s have a brief chat about what you’ll find in here.

My protagonist, Anya Petrova, is a warrior nun with a past darkened and made tragic by betrayal during the Athenian Civil War. This led to a situation where she joined the Order of the Veiled Sisters in the Convent of the Screaming Veil, wherein she took three vows: Necessary Speech (only speak words absolutely necessary to convey meaning), Veiled Visage (never reveal the face in public), and Non-Refusal of Aid (no request for aid can be refused).

I’m sure you see how these can cause conflict and trouble.

Now, this warrior nun travels throughout the continent and beyond providing aid to those who request it. Sometimes, it’s a noble claiming his lands are beset by a terrifying beast. Other times, it’s farmers and children kidnapped by a cult seeking to sacrifice them to a terrifying fiend. And sometimes, she helps those who do not ask directly but demonstrate a need. In the chaos of war and loss, her vows gave her a sense of purpose, and she clings to that purpose with all her might.

But she is also a woman conflicted by two romantic relationships. One partner, the seemingly calm and “safe” spice merchant Lysander Vale, offers a sense of stability, of regularity, but he repeatedly begs her to abandon her order, forsake her vows, and live a “normal” life. This man comes across as a bumbling, clumsy individual who plays it safe, except when he sees the opportunity a fae lord trapped in a bottle presents him, but there is something hidden—something that would destroy Anya’s trust in him if it ever came to light.

And then there is Seraphine Duskwhisper, a Moon Elf sorceress who knows tragedy and loss equal to Anya’s. When a terrifying fiend threatened her enclave, it was decided that a ritual would be performed that would bind an entity of the Void itself to the soul of a young (nine-years-old) magical prodigy. When, as a teenager, Seraphine could not control her magic, she was exiled, the scars on her neck and back a visible reminder of the ritual binding.

For Anya, she is both passion and acceptance. Her curiosity is as dangerous as the magic she works hard to control, but as someone who understands loss and suffering, in her, Anya finds acceptance and the comfort of being seen.

~.~

The collection is arranged in a loose order moving with the changing of seasons. The first tale takes place in the winter and the last ends in autumn. Any interwoven tale is extremely loose, as each is designed to be read individually. That said, the author’s note makes it clear I only request that final tale be read last, as that points to a major change in the political landscape of the nation of Atheria.

You will find a world of political intrigue, a world where ancient and eldritch entities awaken after eons of slumber and demand the old pacts be fulfilled, a world where monsters lurk in the wilds and in the cities, and a world where the value and power of love cannot be taken for granted.

This book is for fans of the old Fafnir & the Grey Mouser shorts, the Elric Saga of Michael Morecock, the Witcher, Castlevania, and the games of FromSoftware, particularly Bloodborne and Elden Ring.

Saint of the Shattered Veil is available across the web. However, you can buy both paperback and ebook directly from me.

Webstore?

I’m currently setting up a webstore on Cursing Raven Books’s website. As of now, the store will sell the .epub files direct to readers. These files should run on any e-reader that can read .epub files. Once I get this established, I may branch out to selling either all paperbacks or special editions there as well.

-Robin