Two gritty dark fantasy novels and a bonus short story: His name is Smoke, though some know him as the Demon Dismay. He’s a charming, well-armed young murderer who is not altogether human. Smoke’s purpose in life is to mete out the stern justice of a vindictive goddess, and he is pleased to do it—that is, until he finds other things to live for. A woman, a child, a quiet home deep in the forest. He is so far from anywhere he can no longer hear the haunting prayers of those who would ask him to deliver them vengeance. But the quiet life is not Smoke’s fate. Stories of the Puzzle Lands includes two novels—The Dread Hammer and Hepen the Watcher—plus the short story, “A Moment Before It Struck,” originally published in Lightspeed Magazine.