DURANAYA
A found family, caught in a dying world.
Unwanted powers and thirsts.
Assassins of the mind and body, on the prowl.
Twice a century, the world of Duranaya grows new surfaces from the top of its mountain, casting old ones into darkness and forcing a constant upward migration its peoples.
But there are those who live in the pitch-black Undersurface ... and they march to conquer the sunlit world, commandeering the magic that once contained them.
In the midst of the invasion, Whissen, a monk afflicted with a mind divided by magic, crosses paths with Reph, a huntress with a criminal past.
They have little in common, but they do share a predator. One who has rediscovered their scents, and knows their hidden, guilty weaknesses.
The invasion pauses for no one. Reph's aging father is trapped in a hopeless siege, and time is short.
Together, Whissen and Reph must cross enemy territory before Reph's father is lost,
chased by a killer who plays with her food.
Can they turn their weaknesses into strengths before their pursuer does it for them?
The Duranaya Appraisal,
according to the author and readers:
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Deep worldbuilding and magic system.
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Large cast of well-employed, complex characters.
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A sweet found family surrounded by a tragic, dying world.
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Surreal and imaginative physics, lore, and action.
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Bold sequels that build on the story while taking it in exciting directions.
You should read these in order, but this is a standalone series.
Book 1: The Solimancers
With audio narration by
the talented Lauren Potter!
Twice a century, the world of Duranaya grows new surfaces from the top of its mountain, casting old ones into darkness and forcing a constant upward migration on its peoples. But there are those who live in the pitch-black Undersurface ... and they march to conquer the sunlit world, commandeering the magic that once contained them.
In the midst of the invasion, Whissen, a monk afflicted with a mind divided by magic, crosses paths with Reph, a huntress with a criminal past. They have little in common, but they do share a predator. One who has rediscovered their scents, and knows their hidden, guilty weaknesses.
The invasion pauses for no one. Reph's aging father is trapped in a hopeless siege, and time is short. Together, Whissen and Reph must cross enemy territory—before Reph's father is lost, chased by a killer who plays with her food. Can they turn their weaknesses into strengths before their pursuer does it for them?
First seven chapters available for free here.
Book 2: The Tenebromancers
The invasion of the Undersurface began in the proud lands of Ferilo. The minlings came not to dominate, but to exterminate the people of the surface. Old and young, women and men, all to erase a prehistoric curse. Or so taught the mages who awakened them.
Triwalo is a Ferilo child made a refugee by the invasion. Her village is destroyed, her country decimated. In what was to be her final flight for her life, she is saved by the most powerful mages the surface has ever seen. But they are ruthless mages, whose power is matched only by their resourcefulness - and Triwalo is the best resource they have ever acquired.
Reph, Grinla, Whissen, and their captive have nearly reached Gerulo when a child in a mask comes to their rescue. A child with terrifying power, under the control of an unseen manipulator. Can Reph push her abilities further still before it is too late for the warped girl, and the Ferilo land she once called home?
Book 3: The Insumates
The White Calamity marches relentlessly across the eclipsing surface of Duranaya. It spares no one in its goal to free its perpetrators from their ancient curse. Far beyond Gerulo, cities burn and Duranayan life winks out in blood and ash. Ozmadon, Queen of the Minians, seeks an unlikely alternative to the extinction. Unbeknownst to him, so does his ally. For different, unsavory reasons.
The resistance which survives behind the ever-expanding enemy line flies many colors. A discarded princeling, a captive insumate, an assortment of ragged doctors and soldiers, and at their head, a disgraced Xerati advisor with a prime piece of her kind’s currency: a world-toppling secret.
Sequestered in Gerulo, the Hamilo family has just gained its newest, youngest member. She carries much for one so young, but among her unwanted knowledge and experience is the key to saving Duranaya, both from the army of the Undersurface, and from itself.
Suspicion sours the protection of Gerulo. Reph, Grinla, Whissen, and Triwalo must escape it for one last journey, this time to the center of the world, the center of the Resurface itself. Can they arrive in time to save what remains of their people?
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