Yesterday, Part One of Perdition, the second novel in the Tales of Ardenia series I’ve been pecking away at my computer keyboard for the last 10 months to produce, went live at Amazon. If you’ve read Animus, the first novel in the series which made its debut in September, you’ve likely been anticipating Perdition’s release. If not, now would be a great time to pick up Animus as well and get a little binge book-reading going.

I’m doing something a bit unconventional with Perdition, which I hope will generate a cascade of readership by engaging the market in a way that it’s evolving toward. As Perdition is a big, epic story which will be close to 900 pages all told when it’s published in paperback form, I’m releasing it serially this spring. The current schedule had the initial release of Part One yesterday as an e-book, with Part Two due for digital release on May 4, Part Three on May 25 and Part Four, along with the paperback version and, if things go well, the audiobook on June 15. Then I’ll start working on Retribution, the third book in the Tales of Ardenia series. No rest for the weary author, that’s for certain.

For you the reader, it’s an opportunity to eat an elephant one bite at a time since many of you don’t have the big block of time an epic book like this commands, and it’s also an opportunity to have a shot at Perdition sooner than you otherwise would if the entire editing and presentation process had to be completed.

Plus it’s a chance to try out Perdition without plunking down full price for it. Part One is just $2.99, which is practically free.

So what are you getting yourself into if you start reading this series? Well, Animus is the introduction of a story about two countries which have lived side-by-side in mortal hatred of each other for centuries. Ardenia, the larger country to the north, is an early Industrial-age Western democracy; in Ardenia they’re in the process of invention which characterized the late 19th century and early 20th century in America and Europe, though not necessarily in the same order things happened in our experience.

Their southern neighbors the Udar are…less civilized. The Udar are a depraved, warlike people with customs and culture the Ardenians rightly regard as savage – Udar men are hunters and warriors and little else, leaving their women to handle all the other occupations, and the Udar don’t believe in representative government, private property or even the nuclear family. They exist mostly as a collection of mobile warrior villages, owing complete fealty to an absolute ruler who isn’t just the king but the high priest of their religion.

And for hundreds of years the Udar have raided into Ardenia, and for hundreds of years the Ardenians have held them off after taking losses. The Ardenians being general peaceful and industrious people, they’ve largely been content to play defense against their savage neighbors.

But as Animus opens, the Udar are coming across the border again, pillaging settlements and carting off Ardenian captives to be enslaved. One such raid sets in motion a rescue attempt which is the main story of the novel, but it’s only a small part of a massive invasion the villains have planned.

In Perdition, we see the full scope of the conflict – and how poorly prepared the Ardenians are for what’s to come.

There’s a lot of politics in it, some of which relates a little to current events, there’s espionage, there’s some fun experimentation with Industrial Age technology and the interplay between innovation and government, there’s a little romance, a good bit of military strategy and even some humor. There’s a reason 20 of the 22 Amazon reviews of Animus were 5-star reviews, and Perdition is a bigger, better book than Animus (though you should buy both books and immerse yourself in the whole story, because what else have you got to do amid a Stay At Home order?).

So the clock is ticking. Click here and download Animus, then click here and get started on Perdition!