‘Convincing action sequences, vivid world-building and fascinating magic. Best described as George RR Martin meets HP Lovecraft, The Glass Breaks is a fine example of British fantasy writing at its most entertaining’ The Guardian.
FORM AND VOID
by A.J. Smith
Head of Zeus, 2019 – 2022
(via Northbank Talent Management)
Book One – THE GLASS BREAKS (June 2019)
Seventeen-year-old Duncan Greenfire is alive. Three hours ago, he was chained to the rocks and submerged as the incoming tide washed over his head. Now the waters are receding and Duncan’s continued survival has completed his initiation as a Sea Wolf.
It is the 167th year of the Dark Age. The Sea Wolves and their Eastron kin can break the glass and step into the void, slipping from the real world and reappearing wherever they wish. Wielding their power, they conquered the native Pure Ones and established their own Kingdom.
The Sea Wolves glorify in piracy and slaughter. Their rule is absolute, but young Duncan Greenfire and duellist Adeline Brand will discover a conspiracy to end their dominion, a conspiracy to shatter the glass that separates the worlds of Form and Void and unleash a primeval chaos across the world.
Book Two – THE SWORD FALLS (March 2021)
A man of the dawn claw will be the always king.
It will ever be so. They will always rule… but they will not always lead.
Prince Oliver Dawn Claw, heir to the Kingdom of the Four Claws, is thrust into a world he doesn’t understand as he waits for his father to die. Away from home, with few allies – and too many enemies – he faces a new and otherworldly threat from beneath the sea. Alliances break and masks fall, as the Dark Brethren reveal their true master.
Meanwhile, Adeline Brand – called the Alpha Wolf – refuses to wait, and becomes the edge of the sword that swings back at the Dreaming God. Assembling allies and crushing resistance, she enters a fight she doesn’t know if she can win, as the sea begins to rise.
Book Three – THE SEA RISES (March 2022)
Ages end and the sea rises. As the sea rises, so too does the old world.
Lord Marius Cyclone faces an unimaginable danger. The mighty legions of Santago Cyclone – known as the Bloodied Harp – and King Oliver Dawn Claw will be upon the Dark Harbour in less than a day, and truce seems impossible, even as the end of the world of Form creeps ever nearer.
But the tide waits for no man. Marius has only one choice if his people are to survive: flight, into the Void.
All the while, a primal power awakens. The Sunken God has lived through many ages and watched countless civilisations rise and fall. And he will not let his quarry flee without a fight.
AJ Smith is a teacher and youth worker based in Luton, England.