A Madness

by Dan Conover

In the age of the Western Wars, The Lady of Gwynyr walks not only the Old Path, but a political tightrope. Sit safely in her highland realm while a genocidal madness sweeps across the homeland plains of her lowland Clydish cousins and miss a chance at forging a better world. Stray too fast or too far toward modernity and risk losing the highland political strength she requires to act abroad.



But while others might dither, The Lady Rialta understands better than anyone that her beloved Gwynyr can no longer hide from the outside world. Not with the covetous eyes of two rival empires probing the highlands for evidence of the precious iron reserves her Old Path line has kept hidden for centuries.



If she is to lead her people out from centuries of isolation to lay the foundation for a new global era, Rialta is going to need a little help. And the only heroes available to her at the moment are the boisterous lowland mercenaries of the 2nd Clydish Regimental Group, sworn to the service of the Gheraldic Empire, and led by the most unpredictable commander ever to serve General Barney Alt.



In "A Madness," the first book of The Darbas Cycle, the key to the future of a shattered, ancient world rests on the shoulders of unlikely allies, beset by enemies who understand that the opening of old wounds is the first step toward conquest.

291 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 9, 2013

About the author

I was born in Chicago, raised in North Carolina, and spent most of my 20-year newspaper career in Charleston, SC. That's also where I met my wife, Janet Edens, and where we raised our four kids from previous marriages.

I quit the newspaper business on a buyout in 2008 and managed to miss most of the carnage that followed. I've been freelancing ever since.