Part of The Raven and Eagle
First published 2025
Elān catches a raven raiding his salmon stores and locks it in his cupboard. The bird offers him a bargain: freedom in exchange for vital intelligence about the Koosh, shapeshifting invaders terrorizing his coastal people. The raven knows the location of a powerful Koosh weapon that has gone missing. Elān must captain a canoe expedition to retrieve it, leading a crew that includes a human bear-cousin, an enormous wolf, and the foul-mouthed raven itself. Their journey takes them across dangerous waters where they face cannibal giants and navigate a world transforming under Koosh occupation. Elān tells stories rather than fights battles, yet he finds himself thrust into the center of his people's struggle for survival. As the Koosh advance and trusted alliances crumble around him, Elān confronts a fundamental choice about what kind of hero his story needs him to become.
Genres: adventure, fantasy, epic-fantasy, young-adult-fantasy, historical-fantasy
Vibes: atmospheric, epic, lyrical, mythic, suspenseful
Tropes: found-family, quest-narrative, reluctant-leader, unlikely-hero
Setting: coastal-waters, Koosh-occupied-lands
400 pages · Paperback · Solaris
Content warnings: colonialism, violence