Conash: Dead Son

The Queen's Blade #0.5

by T.C. Southwell

A humble goat herder’s son and kin of the wood cat, Conash bonds with his familiar when he is just six years old. The sickly boy teeters on the brink of death, so much so that he is given the Death Rites three times before he is ten years old.

Against all odds, he grows up a happy, laughing child, the apple of his mother’s eye and his father’s most cherished son. The church will not give him the Life Rites, since the boy will not live to puberty. Conash is beloved of the beasts; able to charm the birds from the trees with his smile, and his parents know he is God Touched.

When the Cotti invade his village during the Rout of Ashtalon, Conash is just twelve years old. After witnessing the slaughter of his family and familiar, he wakes from his death sleep a castrated Cotti slave, and suffers their abuse until the night he slips away into the desert. He crawls from it maddened and haunted by his familiar’s ghost, his heart as dead and cold as frozen stone.

Sustained by hatred and rage, he journeys to Jondar, capital of the Kingdom of Jashimari, to become a thief and murderer and live in the gutter, fighting for scraps with stray dogs. Then an elder assassin takes him in and trains him to be a killer...

Genres: Fantasy, Ebooks

Nook

First published February 8, 2011

About the author

T. C. Southwell was born in Sri Lanka and moved to the Seychelles when she was a baby. She spent her formative years exploring the islands – mostly alone. Naturally, her imagination flourished and she developed a keen love of other worlds. The family travelled through Europe and Africa and, after the death of her father, settled in South Africa.

T. C. Southwell has written over thirty novels, ranging from fantasy and science fiction to romance and adventure, as well as five screenplays. Her hobbies include motorcycling, horse riding and art, and she earns a living in the IT industry.

Reviews

[Janet · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Start of One of the Best Fantasy Series out

The writer invites you into this amazing world where you will be enthralled in short order. Be prepared to meet a hero who you just want to hug all his career away. Meet Lilu, a very special Lady of the Night and begin a journey spanning decades that will leave you spellbound.
You will not be able to put this series down nor forget The Queens Blade.
Thank you author, this series is brilliant.

[Diane · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think is one of my favorite books in the whole set. Having read this "prequel" after having finished the series, it did a great job of shedding light on Blade's personality. In addition to that, I found it to be one of the most well-written of the series. Given that I liked the character Blade, these two books covering his early years were like a great bonus treat. I might even like these two books better than the series as a whole (but would not have liked them had I not liked the series as a whole, so there's the tricky bit). I highly recommend investing the time to "finish" up the story by reading this book and the one that follows it.

[Sheila · Rating 5 out of 5]

First part of the unexplained years from the Queens Blade it shed so much light on how he bacame what and who he was loved it read it in 10 hrs.

[Irene · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another great insight to Blade's past life, I enjoyed it as I enjoyed all the others.

[Edith Shelton · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book Explained Conash. Great read.

[Aditya / · Rating 2 out of 5]

I enjoyed the series but I did not like this book