W'starrah (Altieri) can see the future, ranks high in her church, and is without question the most beautiful woman in the North Mark. But the prophecy she knows to be true will either break her heart, destroy her home, or end her life. In 2002 ADR, the jewel of the southern empire is the city of Cryssigens, where life is an unending carnival of display, while intrigue brews beneath the surface. Nobles, guilds, and House Cups scheme with and against each other, even in the best of times. But civil war stripped the city of its Overlord, now factions emerge to dare all in a bid to succeed to the throne. One of the leading lights of Cryssigensian society is W'starrah Altieri, the Lavender Lady, high-ranking priestess of the sect of Argens Stargazer; while others see only her dazzling beauty, her eyes are filled with visions of the future. She willingly risks her life and reputation to save her city, but juggling visions, rivals, suitors and the occasional assassin pushes the real world further from her grasp. Who could expect that in the midst of this she would meet the promised love of her life, or foresee that he too is doomed? Perilous Embraces is the third book in the "Shards of Light" saga set in the Lands of Hope. It is highly recommended that you read The Ring and the Flag and Fencing Reputation first. It is followed by Shards of Light (coming in 2018).
Author
Will Hahn has been in love with heroic tales since age four, when his father read him the Lays of Ancient Rome and the Tales of King Arthur. He taught Ancient-Medieval History for years, but the line between this world and others has always been thin; the far reaches of fantasy, like the distant past, still bring him face to face with people like us, who have choices to make. Will didn't always make the right choices when he was young. Any stick or vaguely-sticklike object became a sword in his hands, to the great dismay of his five sisters. Everyone survived, in part by virtue of a rule forbidding him from handling umbrellas, ski poles, curtain rods and more. Will has written about the Lands of Hope since his college days (which by now are also part of ancient history). His first tales include "Three Minutes to Midnight" a slightly-dark sword and sorcery novelette, as well as “The Ring and the Flag” and "Fencing Reputation", the first stories in the ongoing Shards of Light series. The first novel-length tale of Hope, "The Plane of Dreams" was published in September 2012, and 2014 saw the serialized publication of the seminal epic "Judgement's Tale" beginning with "Games of Chance".
