Queen of Shades

A wanderer. An outcast. A Queen. Against the customs of the land, Kigal is amongst the few still willing to bury the dead. It is a life that has left her wandering, without friend or home, but she spreads her message of justice for the deceased wherever she can. However, when targeted by those who loathe her, she narrowly escapes execution and tumbles into the Underworld. There Kigal is met with the impossible: the souls of the dead proclaiming her as their goddess, fated to be Queen of the Underworld. Hurled into a world beyond her imagining, clashing with seductive gods and bringing demons to heel, she must fight to bring justice to the forgotten dead. Yet as an ancient evil rises in the Land of the Living, Kigal must not only fight for the lives of those who sought her ruin, but for their very souls. Queen of Shades is a 36,000-word novella, the first in a Mesopotamian fantasy series.

A usurper. A sacrifice. A murderer. After ascending to godhood as Queen of the Underworld, Kigal has at last made her kingdom her own-until an equally powerful deity comes to steal the throne. Inanna, Goddess of Warfare and Lust. In her grasp is the one hostage Kigal would do anything to save, even if it means becoming a monster. And a monster she becomes. For her insolence, the goddess's life is rightfully Kigal's to claim, but as the heavens turn on each other and the lands begin to die, she finds herself fighting for a justice that even the gods cannot deliver. When the fallout of her actions threatens to bring humanity to its knees, the Queen of the Underworld is left with one question: how far will she go, and who will she damn, in pursuit of revenge?

A monarch. A sacrificial lamb. A traitor. As Goddess of the Dead, Kigal's world is looking brighter. Her cult has spread, her kingdom is finally safe, and a possible romance begins to bloom. Yet when she angers the mighty god Enlil, a terrible secret comes to light, one that shocks and horrifies her - the truth of what Nergal did to her mother. With the two gods now locked in open opposition, Kigal is caught at an impasse. Risk looking weak in the eyes of the pantheon and leave her kingdom vulnerable, or exact vengeance upon the god she thought she knew - but risk destroying her heart? As cunning gods and ancient monstrosities scheme for ruin, Kigal finds herself forced to make a choice that could save herself - or damn them all. Lord of Blight is a 30,000-word novella, the third in the Mesopotamian fantasy Queen of Shades series.