Raves for the novels of Marshall Ryan Maresca:
“[The Way of the Shield] is a political story, one which both demands and rewards your attention. It’s a personal story, dealing with pain, loss, heartbreak and forgiveness. It’s a story about morality, about sacrifice, about what people want from life. It’s a fun story—there’s quips, swordfights, chases through the streets. It’s a compelling, convincing work of fantasy, and a worthy addition to the rich tapestry that is the works of Maradaine. Pick it up, give it a try—you won’t be disappointed.”
—Sci-Fi and Fantasy Reviews
“Veranix is Batman, if Batman were a teenager and magically talented. . . . Action, adventure, and magic in a school setting will appeal to those who love Harry Potter and Patrick Rothfuss’ The Name of the Wind.”
—Library Journal (starred)
“The perfect combination of urban fantasy, magic, and mystery.”
—Kings River Life Magazine
“Marshall Ryan Maresca is some kind of mad genius. . . . Not since Terry Pratchett’s Ankh Morpork have we enjoyed exploring every angle of an invented locale quite this much.”
—B&N Sci-fi & Fantasy Blog
“Maresca’s debut is smart, fast, and engaging fantasy crime in the mold of Brent Weeks and Harry Harrison. Just perfect.”
—Kat Richardson, national bestselling author of Revenant
“Maresca offers something beyond the usual high fantasy fare, with a wealth of unique and well-rounded characters, a vivid setting, and complicatedly intertwined social issues that feel especially timely.”
—Publishers Weekly
DAW Books presents the novels of Marshall Ryan Maresca:
Maradaine:
THE THORN OF DENTONHILL
THE ALCHEMY OF CHAOS
THE IMPOSTERS OF AVENTIL
*
Maradaine Constabulary:
A MURDER OF MAGES
AN IMPORT OF INTRIGUE
A PARLIAMENT OF BODIES
*
Streets of Maradaine:
THE HOLVER ALLEY CREW
LADY HENTERMAN’S WARDROBE
THE FENMERE JOB
*
Maradaine Elite:
THE WAY OF THE SHIELD
SHIELD OF THE PEOPLE
PEOPLE OF THE CITY
* * *
THE VELOCITY OF REVOLUTION*
*Coming soon from DAW
Copyright © 2020 by Marshall Ryan Maresca.
All Rights Reserved.
Cover illustration by Paul Young.
Cover design by Adam Auerbach.
Edited by Sheila E. Gilbert.
DAW Book Collectors No. 1866.
Published by DAW Books, Inc.
1745 Broadway, New York, NY 10019.
All characters and events in this book are fictitious.
Any resemblance to persons living or dead is strictly coincidental.
If you purchased this book without a cover you should be aware that this book may have been stolen property and reported as “unsold and destroyed” to the publisher. In such case neither the author nor the publisher has received any payment for this “stripped book.”
The scanning, uploading, and distribution of this book via the Internet or via any other means without the permission of the publisher is illegal, and punishable by law. Please purchase only authorized electronic editions, and do not participate in or encourage the electronic piracy of copyrighted materials. Your support of the author’s rights is appreciated.
Ebook ISBN: 9780756415013
DAW TRADEMARK REGISTERED
U.S. PAT. AND TM. OFF. AND FOREIGN COUNTRIES
—MARCA REGISTRADA
HECHO EN U.S.A.
PRINTED IN THE U.S.A.
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Contents
Cover
Praise for Marshall Ryan Maresca
Also by Marshall Ryan Maresca
Title Page
Copyright
Acknowledgments
Maps of the Archduchy
Chronological Note
Prelude
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Antepenultimate Interlude
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Penultimate Interlude
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Ultimate Interlude
Chapter 27
About the Author
Acknowledgments
This has been a journey, friends.
In 2007, sitting in a bookstore café, frustrated that the novel I was trying to write wasn’t coming together, I had a strange idea. I wrote it out in longhand:
Four series
Magic student/secret street thief?
Traditional knight/paladin/elite warrior
Police detective partners
Thieves—brothers?—pulling heists together
Interconnect in same world
There, in twenty-odd words, the seed that became the Maradaine Saga was planted. It took time and a lot of work to cultivate that seed, grow it into what would become The Thorn of Dentonhill, A Murder of Mages, The Holver Alley Crew, and The Way of the Shield, as well as the further development for all the other Maradaine novels, leading to this book in your hands.
More than once over the course of writing this book, I whispered to myself, “I’m actually getting to do this.” Because with this, finishing the first phase of the Maradaine Saga, I’ve accomplished something beyond what I thought I’d, frankly, be allowed to do.
But I actually got to do this.
Let me clarify what I mean. This saga, comprised of four series that interconnect with each other, all while laying the foundations of larger plots that reach a climax in this book in your hands, started with The Thorn of Dentonhill, which was released in February 2015. I’m writing these acknowledgments for the twelfth book just five years later, with the book being released before the end of the year. Twelve books, in a span of time where it’s rare for a writer to put out more than three. Twelve books, in a span of time where it’s not uncommon for someone to go from “debut author” to “retired author.”
I actually got to do that. I was allowed to do that. I had this mad, absurd plan, and enough people nodded their heads and said, “Yes, do that,” to put this in your hands.
Thanks to so many people lending help and support along the way.
First and foremost, I have to talk about my absolute rock of support, my friend since middle school, Daniel J. Fawcett. So much of the worldbuilding and big ideas behind Maradaine were shepherded by long conversations and email chains with him over the past thirty-plus years. His influence is woven into the very DNA of the work. The books—and I—would be lesser without him.
A lot of my development as a writer can be tied to the ArmadilloCon Writers Workshop, which was run by Stina Leicht f
or several years. Stina’s been a friend and mentor for years, first with critiques of my work when I was a student in the AWW, then bringing me up to help her run it. She continues to be one of my favorite people in this business.
Being a student in the AWW also helped these books with critique and guidance of several other generous folks who volunteered as instructors and administrators, including Julie Kenner, Kimberley Frost, Anne Sowards, Patrice Sarath, and Melissa Mead Tyler. The first books, and consequently the saga as a whole, were improved by the early reads from several peers I had critique exchanges with, including Abby Goldsmith, Ellen Van Hensbergen, Katy Stauber, Nicky Drayden, and Amanda Downum.
Of course, there have been two people who were deeply consequential as first-readers for every single one of these books: Kevin Jewell and Miriam Robinson Gould. I’ve been incredibly graced to have their insight throughout this whole process.
This isn’t even counting all the people I’ve been privileged to talk craft with, and through those conversations, build long necklaces out of their pearls of wisdom. I could not, in any fair or accurate way, name them all, but I would like to single out my podcasting co-hosts Alexandra Rowland and Rowenna Miller. They’re brilliant and insightful and just a damned delight to talk to about the process of writing fantasy.
I can’t emphasize enough how much is owed to my agent, Mike Kabongo. He’s handled with grace and humor the arduous task of dealing with my constant harassment while shopping my work in the early days, not to mention just plain keeping up with me continually going, “OK, now here’s what’s next” at the, frankly, absurd pace I’ve been maintaining. Years ago, when he first read the then-too-short draft of Thorn of Dentonhill, he told me, “Clearly you are a writer I want to watch. Even if you decide I’m not the agent for you, do let me know when you hit the shelves, I want to buy something with your name on it.” That’s the kind of faith you want to see in a future agent.
Way back when I first started talking my Big Plan with Dan Fawcett, he said, “That’s fantastic, but for it to work, for you to be able to do what you want to do, you’re going to need the right editor and the right publisher.” Fortunately for me, Sheila Gilbert and DAW Books were very much the right editor and the right publisher. Were it not for Sheila—two-time Hugo winner for Best Editor, so very well earned—and her astounding faith in this work and my big plan, we wouldn’t be here. How absolutely blessed I am to have her at my back and in my corner, I cannot adequately express.
Everyone at DAW and Penguin Random House—Sheila, Betsy, Katie, Josh, Leah, Alexis—have been fantastic partners on this endeavor. Another person I should thank is Paul Young, who has done such gorgeous work on the covers for these books. I’ve always been thrilled to see his interpretations of each of these stories and characters, as well as Maradaine through his eyes.
Further thanks are owed to my parents, Nancy and Louis, my mother-in-law, Kateri, and my son, Nicholas.
And highest and first in my heart, my wife, Deidre. None of this, absolutely none, would have come about without her. Deidre has been a beacon of strength and support who has always believed that I could be successful as a writer. She has been an anchor in my life for the past fifteen years, giving me the ability to pound away at a keyboard day after day and making this book happen. But more importantly, she got me on task in the first place, moving me from being that guy who just talked about “writing a book at some point” to actually making all of this happen.
She’s the north star by which I can always navigate my way.
And, of course: you, with this book in your hand. It’s for you, and I am so very grateful to have you join me on this adventure, and everything still to come.
Chronological Note
THE THORN OF DENTONHILL (Maritan 7th–14th—mid-spring)
Veranix Calbert, magic student at the University of Maradaine and circus-trained acrobat and archer, waged a vigilante war against Willem Fenmere’s drug empire. He stole two magically empowering items, learned about missing children in Dentonhill, fended off assassins, and stopped Lord Sirath and the Circle of the Blue Hand in their nefarious magical plans, earning the sobriquet, “the Thorn.” In his final moments, one of the Blue Hand mentions having failed “the Nine.”
A MURDER OF MAGES (Maritan 19th–22nd—mid-spring)
Satrine Rainey—wife, mother, and retired spy—faked her way into an Inspector Third Class position with the Inemar Constabulary, and was partnered with Minox Welling—outcast and an untrained, Uncircled mage. Together they investigated the ritual murders of several mages—especially from the Firewings—that used strange magic-draining spikes, until Minox was nearly the last victim. Satrine rescued him, but his arm was broken by the spike. The killer mentions having taken the spikes from “the Brotherhood of the Nine.”
THE HOLVER ALLEY CREW (Maritan 27th–Joran 5th—mid-spring)
Asti and Verci Rynax—a broken spy and a brilliant gadgeteer—lost their home and shop to the Holver Alley fire, and gathered a crew to steal a statue for an unnamed buyer. They learned the fire was set on purpose, and have their revenge on the man who arranged the fire, only to learn he was part of a larger plot.
THE WAY OF THE SHIELD (Joran 10th–15th—late spring)
Dayne Heldrin—Second-year Candidate for the Tarian Order—returned to Maradaine and befriended Tarian Initiate Jerinne Fendall. Together they helped foil a plot against members of Parliament, captured failed Spathian Tharek Pell, and were publicly lauded by The Veracity Press. They didn’t know that a deeper conspiracy drove that scheme, run by the Grand Ten—power players of Maradaine, including Tarian Grandmaster Lon Orren, Dayne’s beloved Lady Mirianne Henson, and Major Silla Altarn of Druth Intelligence.
THE ALCHEMY OF CHAOS (Joram 18th–22nd—late spring)
Veranix dealt with an alchemical prankster seeking revenge on campus, multiple assassins, and final exams, and shattered the fragile alliance between Fenmere, the Red Rabbits, and the alchemist Cuse Jensett. Veranix also found a savior and ally in Reverend Pemmick of Saint Julian’s Church.
AN IMPORT OF INTRIGUE (Erescan 13th–15th—early summer)
Minox and Satrine investigated the murder of a Fuergan lavark in the Little East, which led Satrine back to an old rival, Pra Yikenj of Lyranan Intelligence, and to her old spymaster Major Grieson, and the reminder that her daughter Rian is also the child of the current king of Waisholm. Minox’s attempts to learn about his magic and his injured hand from the Tsouljans led him into their underground chambers, and triggered a magical transformation of his hand. Pra Yikenj told Satrine she was working with a traitor. Minox also learned the spikes have vanished from the Constabulary evidence lock-up.
LADY HENTERMAN’S WARDROBE (Erescan 18th–24th—early summer)
Asti and Verci’s investigation of the fire led them to Lord Henterman, and inadvertently to Liora Rand, the spy who betrayed Asti to the Poasians. Their final confrontation left Liora severely injured, but she was able to control Asti’s broken mind, and escaped with a statue similar to the one they stole before. Major Grieson—Asti’s old handler—confides in Asti that Liora is part of a corruption in Intelligence. Liora has been working with Major Altarn, and is also connected to the Brotherhood, Lord Sirath, and someone called Crenaxin, the Dragon.
SHIELD OF THE PEOPLE (Erescan 26th–31st—early summer)
Dayne and Jerinne, with the help of Amaya Tyrell, prevented the corruption of the Parliament election by rescuing the Scallic ballots from the Deep Roots. The largest surprise was the election of Ret Issendel, of the separatist movement the Open Hand, which troubled Dayne due to Ret possessing a terrifying mystical power. Altarn was promoted to colonel, and prepared to begin the “Altarn Initiatives,” which included working with the Brotherhood, Crenaxin, and Ithaniel Senek.
THE IMPOSTERS OF AVENTIL (Soran 11th–19th—late summer)
At the Grand Collegiate Tournament, Veranix struggle
d to keep drugs off the U of M campus, but two imposter Thorns created trouble for him, including attacking the local Constabulary. Minox and Satrine came to Aventil to investigate, and became intertwined with the Thorn. Veranix discovered he can control Minox’s altered hand, and Minox can use it to control the Thorn’s rope. Minox learned Veranix’s identity as the Thorn, but decided to help him by providing files about Fenmere’s operation. Fenmere’s Poasian smuggling connections brought him a new drug, the more potent efhân. Satrine learned of the Altarn Initiatives, somehow tied to changes in the magic curriculum at the U of M.
A PARLIAMENT OF BODIES (Oscan 3rd–5th—early autumn)
Minox and Satrine investigated the Gearbox Killer, who left a monstrous device in the Parliament, which brought them to Dayne and Jerinne. Minox and Dayne were able to rescue most of the victims, and with the help of Verci Rynax, dismantled the device. Dayne knew the Gearbox Killer was Sholiar, but Sholiar outmaneuvered them all, escaping after torturing Minox’s Uncircled mage friend Joshea Brondar. Sholiar told Satrine the Brotherhood commissioned him to compose “a symphony of fear.” Minox faced an inquest regarding his untrained magic, especially his powerful altered hand, and was restricted from active duty. When Minox’s cousin Nyla was threatened by Sholiar, Satrine found Verci with odd help from Sister Myriem. Satrine stopped the abduction of children bound for someone named Senek, but Minox’s sister Sergeant Corrie Welling was taken and put on a slave ship bound for somewhere far from Maradaine. The slavers and the abductors had connections with Vice Commandant Undenway, who was behind much of the corruption in the Constabulary, including having Inspector Kellman under her control. Grieson told Satrine he had lost standing and resources in Intelligence, and to seek Verci’s brother if something happened to him, but Satrine had her own crisis with the release of her mother from prison. Jerinne learned the secret of Rian’s parentage, and Dayne, Minox, and Satrine agreed to work together to investigate the deeper corruption in the Constabulary and Maradaine.
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