Frances Smith
THE BOOKS
Spirit of the Sword: Pride and Fury
Book 1 of the First Sword Chronicles
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The Divine Empire teeters on the brink of collapse, riven by division and ravaged by a lack of purpose in its soul. Miranda Callistus, the first Aurelian mage born in five hundred years, may have the power to save the Empire from itself...if she decides that the proud and vainglorious nation is worth saving.
Meanwhile, believing that Miranda's life is in danger, her estranged brother Michael sets forth to her rescue, hoping to prove himself a true hero on the battlefield. But the allies he gathers to his side may be as dangerous to Miranda as any of her enemies.
While Michael fights against his foes, Miranda banters with them in the parlours of the Empire’s great families. Princes, princesses and patricians all claim to have the cure for the Empire’s sickness, and all seek to bend Miranda to their will – or break her, for if they cannot make her their friend then none in the capital will hesitate to make her a corpse.
Spirit of the Sword: Faith and Virtue
Book 2 of the First Sword Chronicles
Michael has survived his battle with the Voice of Corona, and is determined to walk the path of service to the immortal Empress Aegea. But opposing him is none other than his own beloved brother, Felix, who was thought dead but is the chief servant to Michael’s enemy, Quirian.
Meanwhile, the quarrels between the Empire's feuding factions continue as Miranda finds herself increasingly entangled in the treacherous currents of Imperial politics. As plots multiply, Miranda finds herself increasingly unsure of her loyalties to anyone but her lover Octavia and her dear friend, Empress Portia. But as the Empire hurtles towards civil war the day approaches when she will have to choose a side once and for all.
The roads of Michael, Felix and Miranda entwine in Eternal Pantheia, the Empire’s capital, where betrayals and revelations try their resolve. As the city burns around them the three divided siblings must reunite and put their faith in one another, for only together can they save the Empire, or let the fires of its hubris consume the nation.
Short Swords: Tales From the Divine Empire
Book 3 of the First Sword Chronicles
In the wake of the night of madness caused by Quirian's machinations, Miranda Callistus is content to dwell in comfortable confinement in one of the Imperial estates. But as people around her begin to die at an alarming rate it becomes clear that someone - or something - is stalking Miranda, someone who does not beleive that she has been punished proportionately to her crimes.
Meanwhile, Michael and Amy bring word of Princess Fiannuala's death to her kin the forest of Eena, Princess Romana ascends to the rule of the Divine Empire, and a girl named Summer Phoenix leaves her home in a distant world in search of the glory and acclaim that is her due.
And in the mountains to the north a sinister plot is being hatched that could unleash war upon the world and shake the Empire to its foundations.
The Dragon and the Sword
Lonely and friendless, Irithelie has lived her whole life in the hall from which her exalted mother rules the armies and the peoples of the alvenkind. She yearns to show that she is more than a helpless child, and when she and her sisters are despatched across the dark between the worlds on a mission to return the alven people to their homeland it seems her chance may have finally arrived.
But Iri has a secret power, dangerous and unique, and when it is revealed the love and concern of those closest to her may swiftly turn to fear or even hatred.
Meanwhile, the ambitious Summer Phoenix makes her way to Eternal Pantheia just in time to foil an attempt on the life of Princess Romana. Eager for glory and recognition, Summer swiftly joins the new First Sword of the Empire, Michael Callistus, to investigate a series of disappearances on the Imperial frontier, disappearances that may be connected to the assassination attempt...and involve creatures not scene in Pelarius for thousands of years.
The World Serpent comes to claim all crowns, and the army of dragons will devour all worlds that stand before him.
The Chain and the Unicorn
Across the southland, humanity writhes in the chains of slavery, bound to serve the whims and appetites of their cruel elven masters. But the elves have grown complacent, secure in the servility of men, and when a civil war leaves the south depopulated, an opportunity arises for humanity to break its chains and forge its own destiny.
The Chain and the Unicorn presents seven short stories of three people as they lead their folk out of slavery to stand proud as a free nation: David, driven by the belief that he alone has the vision to forge a nation out of fieldhands and bed warmers; Jonathan, torn between his skills as a warrior and his desire for the peaceful life of a farmer; and Rachael, wounded and bitter, who risks death in order to feel alive and fights to find a way out of the darkness she is enmeshed in.
Together they will make sure the world is never the same again.
The Last Giant
Corona is besieged. Princess Ameliora can see her enemies gather beyond the walls. It has been many years since Ameliora abandoned the Captain-Generalcy of the Corona Firstborn, years since she donned her armour or took up her sword. Now, with all the warriors dead and the city gripped by terror, the aged warrior must take up arms and armour one last time, and usher an age of heroes to its close.
A story of 10,000 words.