Dawn of the Empress

Winter Mage #2

by Nerine Dorman, Catriona Ross (Contributor), Daniel Hugo (Illustrator)

Honour is everything…
And the ripples in the aftermath of war reach far as clans jostle among each other for the spoils.

Proud General Gohei serves clan and emperor above all, no matter the cost, if it means Dawn Clan will endure. This is his family’s legacy of blood and blade that his sons inherit in a world ravaged by conflict. Yet deadly steel means little if the hand wielding it is not guided by cunning.

Will honour be enough when an emperor fades, leaving twin daughters as heirs and Dawn Clan’s future hanging in the balance? Which heir will take the throne? And which hand will guide her?

246 pages, Paperback

Published March 1, 2026

About the author

Nerine Dorman is a South African author and editor of science fiction and fantasy currently living in Cape Town, with short fiction published in numerous anthologies. She is a contributor to the Locus Award-winning Afro-Centered Futurism in Our Speculative Fiction edited by Eugen Bacon (Bloomsbury, 2024). Her novel Sing down the Stars won Gold for the Sanlam Prize for Youth Literature in 2019 and The Percy Fitzpatrick Award for Children's and Youth Literature in 2021. Her YA fantasy novella, Dragon Forged, was a finalist in the Sanlam Prize for Youth Literature in 2017, and she is the curator of the South African Horrorfest Bloody Parchment event and short story competition. Her short story “On the Other Side of the Sea” (Omenana, 2017) was shortlisted for a 2018 Nommo award. Her novella The Firebird won a Nommo for “Best Novella” in 2019. In addition, she is a founding member of the SFF authors’ co-operative Skolion.

Reviews

[Xander Page · Rating 4 out of 5]

So I just finished reading Dawn of The Empress, book 2 of the Winter Mage series by Nerine Dorman and Catriona Ross and just like Legacy of Obsidian, it was an absolute page turner that I couldn't down.

I really enjoyed the world building here, and I am glad we got some politics and intrigue here. Linnard even has a badass "cameo"!

This is genuinely a series I will keep visiting because, while I have some minor issues with it, it has been entertaining a blast to read. Such great prose.