Emergence: A Gatekeeper Prequel

by Krista Wallace

A three-year-old girl walks out of a cornfield into a tiny farming village…

There is no clue to how she got there, and she speaks a language that baffles even the village mages. Is she a witch? The result of a wizard's errant spell? By the time she starts school she is already an outcast, and her temper doesn’t help her make friends. The other children bully her relentlessly.

When she buys a sword, a local swordmaster recognises her natural talent and offers to train her in an elite method. He soon sees in her more than just she has a gift. She is driven to master the techniques and be the best swordfighter she can be, to stand up to her tormentors. Ultimately, she is determined to leave the village to find out who put her there.

Genres: Fantasy

119 pages, Paperback

Published May 31, 2024

About the author

Krista is a fantasy writer, jazz & rock musician, audiobook narrator, actor, podcaster, mother, Gran, a lover of pie, dark chocolate, and fine single malt scotch. She hails from Port Coquitlam, BC, where she writes and records in a closet, emerging occasionally to sing with the big band FAT Jazz, or her duo, the Itty Bitty Big Band. She is the author of the Gatekeeper fantasy series, and an urban fantasy comedy romance: Griffin & the Spurious Correlations. She has short stories published in Pulp Literature, Heart's Kiss, electricspec, and 49th Parallels (an Aurora nominated anthology), and an essay in Canada is not the 51st F**king State from Cosmic Cranium Press. Krista sometimes throws knives, and sometimes tap dances, but not usually at the same time. Learn more at kristawallace.com.

Reviews

[Kory Pahl]

Great prequel! It’s been awhile since I read the trilogy and I forgot how much I love Krista’s writing style. The story grabs you from page 1 and flows so easily, you reach the end and experience massive disappointment that it’s finished! I hope there’s more coming from Krista about Kyer and her world.

[Edwin Downward]

Krista did an exceptional job of capturing the angst of growing up with her teenage depiction of Kyer's troubles pushing me close to a Grinch (from the movie with Jim Carey) moment of having to say, "My eyes are leaking."

[Perry]

Whether you've read the Gatekeeper series (three books so far) or about to do so, I'd recommend reading this to gain an insight into Kyer's temperament and motives. Well worth reading for its own sake though.

[Trevor Atkins]

A great introduction to Kyer and the village of Hreth. The reader is carried along with Kyer from when she starts school to when she departs on the journey we find her on in “Gatekeeper’s Key”, Book 1 of the Gatekeeper series. This prequel to the series takes us through how Kyer is forged into the person she is when she sets out to find her origins and discover why she had been abandoned all those years ago.

[Matthew]

Thoroughly enjoyed this novella! There were so many aha moments in this prequel I have to recommend that you read it after like book three. You can totally read it first but I think waiting until you are part way through is the right choice. Really gives you more insight to Kyer and who she is as a character. I wonder if some out there could comment about having read it after reading the whole series and what that experience might be?