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The Fate of Thieves
Not yet published
Expected 21 Apr 26A Legends of the Bruhai Novella
Always leave a way out...
Orphaned thief Dilim has dreams of becoming a powerful soldier someday and righting the wrongs that have been done to him. Loyally devoted to Kala, his one friend, Dilim is swept into an unrelenting tide of daring escapes, street fights, and a desperate bid for vengeance.
Armed with the king’s seal, Master Scholar Lohi travels to Mijaro to mediate the trade of weapons to the barbarian tribes of the south. But there is a second, secret reason for his journey: to gather a group of boys who will be forged into the bruhai, elite bodyguards for the future prince.
Set months before the events of The Blood Stones, this origin story brings Dilim straight into the path of a man who will forever change his life…
Note: this novella is not recommended as an entry point to the Legends of the Bruhai series.
Always leave a way out...
Orphaned thief Dilim has dreams of becoming a powerful soldier someday and righting the wrongs that have been done to him. Loyally devoted to Kala, his one friend, Dilim is swept into an unrelenting tide of daring escapes, street fights, and a desperate bid for vengeance.
Armed with the king’s seal, Master Scholar Lohi travels to Mijaro to mediate the trade of weapons to the barbarian tribes of the south. But there is a second, secret reason for his journey: to gather a group of boys who will be forged into the bruhai, elite bodyguards for the future prince.
Set months before the events of The Blood Stones, this origin story brings Dilim straight into the path of a man who will forever change his life…
Note: this novella is not recommended as an entry point to the Legends of the Bruhai series.
116 pages, Paperback
Expected publication April 21, 2026
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Review of advance copy received from Author
“The king’s bleary eyes turned from the fire to start through Lohi instead. His dry lips parted, but he said nothing. It was as if the black tendrils of grief had stolen away his spirit, filling the room with their soulless malodor. Not just this room…the whole place reeked of grief. Outside the walls even the city mourned, it its way. The Crown Prince had been nothing but a faraway figure to most of them. A dignified person who occasionally stepped into their midst, surrounded by his garatelhai guards. He was the great son of Katesh. But he was not their son. And the man who sat in the king’s chair was no longer a king. Only a father bereft. but Keld did not need a grieving father. She needed her warlord.”
I received an Advanced Reader Copy (ARC) from the author, in exchange for an honest review, which I have provided below. Please – all who read this review, including the author – forgive me for what I’m about to say. I truly mean no offence. As a writer myself, I should know better. An author is entitled to work on whatever kind of projects they like, when they like. And the multi-talented author of this book, has proven she can write extremely well in other sub-genres, including urban fantasy with werewolves, and fantasy western with necromancers.
But all I want from author Tori Tecken is more of the world of Bruhai. Because it’s THAT good.
And I finally got my wish, in this incredible novella 'The Fate of Thieves', a prequel to the first book in the main 'Legends of the Bruhai', which is entitled 'The Blood Stones'. Tecken re-immerses those who have read 'The Blood Stones' in her world, as we are transported to the vibrant yet dangerous city of Mijaro, ruled by the jolly, pandering Citylord Padin.
Padin’s role as city overlord is complex, but it helps when you’re an elite, swathed in luxury and privilege. Padin and nobles like him can afford to overlook the seething poverty and crime that teems in the slum areas of his city. For all its shiny splendour on the surface, like many major cities, beneath that, the bustling Mijaro is simultaneously a smelly, dark, and oppressive place, where homeless and orphan children are forced into a life of banditry, prostitution, and worse, at the mercy of crime lords, who use them solely for their own purposes, and will kill and discard them like refuse if they prove useless or disloyal.
One such crime boss is Hazaro. His fiefdom, Hazaro’s Den, is situated in the Copper Quarter of the city. Hazaro’s top thief is the fierce and nimble Kala. Kala is the mentor and sister-figure to the main character of the novella: a cunning young street urchin turned thief named Dilim.
“Besides, he had nothing else of value. Nothing in except his life, which was worth far less than the scraps he carried. The true predators roaming the alleys in Mijaro were the other street rats, the ones who were two or three years older than he was.”
Thus, simply trying to find his next meal, earning trust and proving himself useful to the crime boss, is actually the least of Dilim’s worries, in his troubled, miserable life. Because an older thief, a merciless bully named Yai, constantly makes Dilim the target of his greed and cruelty, preying upon the younger boy, assaulting him alongside his gang of thugs, and robbing in turn from what stash Dilim has stolen from the more fortunate denizens of the city.
Dilim dreams of becoming an elite fighter one day – a garatelhuai. But he’s just a child, far physically weaker than those like Yai who torment him. It seems hopeless that he will be able to stand up to Yai, without getting himself seriously hurt, if not killed. And though Dilim has the sole person in the world of Kala to guide and try to shield him from harm, Kala may not be able to protect herself from Hazaro’s plans for her.
Soon, Dilim and Kala find themselves embroiled with rival thief-bosses from the Copper Quarter outside of Hazaro’s territories, including the beautiful and cunning Ursua, whose own surrogate mother is elderly crime boss Mumal the Thorn.
Meanwhile, an aging warrior-king, Kinhariian, mourns the loss of his heir, distraught with grief and the looming succession crisis, and failing of legacy, that seems unavoidable without a crown prince. But the king’s main counsellor, the gifted but manipulative master scholar Lohi, always has a trick up his sleeve. Lohi is determined, at all costs, to do what he thinks is best for Kinhariian, the realm, and most importantly Lohi’s own ambitions, in finding an heir worthy to succeed Kinhariian. And what better way to find an appropriate heir, than to forge one.
Those from very different classes of society meet by happenstance, storylines intersect, and the result leads to tragedy, yet also new hope, as the novella ties into the creation of the bruhai, in poignant, shocking ways.
Tecken’s character work shines in this novella, as it did in 'The Blood Stones'. The characters are vivid, and one can’t help but root for a young boy like Dilim, mired in penury, squalor, hunger, crime, and desperation, who daydreams impossibly of being a noble warrior, and escaping his lot. And though they are thieves, there is still some measure of humanity, even honour with characters like Kala, Ursua and Mumal, which provides them some likability as well.
The reader may also feel empathy (to a point) for the aristocracy such as the grieving but volatile and acerbic King Kinhariian, and even the plotting Lohi, who ultimately thinks he’s doing the best for the realm, despite his self-serving ideals. Still, overall, the callousness, lack of regard, and looking down on those below them in society by the nobles in the book, makes them very realistically drawn, compelling, and highly interesting if not endearing.
In terms of the rich worldbuilding, while the magic is light, very subdued, prophecy and superstitions beliefs definitely play a role in the story. The incredible descriptive passages, expanding on lore and culture, woven seamlessly throughout the narrative to give a highly definitive sense of place/setting, without long bouts of exposition that a novella of this length could not realistically contain in the short word count, and still maintain effectiveness and story integrity. Tecken deftly uses epigraphs at the beginning of each chapter to frame the narrative, set the tone, provide more insight into the lore, and add context for the reader. We learn much of the history and customs of various cultures who inhabit the world, what transpired in the past, and in the future, regarding the bigger picture, and how those aspects impact the present-day story.
Thematically, Tecken brilliantly explores coming-of-age, found family, survival at all costs, elitism, courage, hope, sacrifice, betrayal, the ends justifying the means, and how the rich and powerful will always be willing to take advantage of the downtrodden, to serve their own ends. Tecken writes with a sophistication yet simplicity, that demonstrates what an experienced and gifted author she is. I find her prose absolutely beautiful, elevated enough to appeal to my love of language and desire for evocative prose to keep me grounded in the fantasy setting, yet very accessible, full of lovely and moving passages that stuck with me.
Though the novella is more of a slow-burn, there is plenty of suspense, and tense situations, as we for the most part follow Dilim’s POV, learning his backstory, while he tries to navigate the unforgiving, cutthroat underworld of street thieves, where even one’s closest friends will sell you out in a heartbeat, for self-preservation, or simply profit. Lohi’s POV provides the high-level part of the plot, where we see more of the thruline between the main focus of 'The Blood Stones', and 'The Fate of Thieves', tying the two works together, in the overarching scheme that robs unwilling participants of their identity in service to what is deemed a greater cause, becomes apparent before the end of the novella.
With Tecken demonstrating she’s this refined at her craft at writing epic fantasy, with only one main book, and this novella to her credit in 'The Legends of Bruhai', I can’t wait to see how much the writing has progressed by the end of this series. If it continues on the current trajectory, this series will consistently appear on reviewers’ ‘best of’ lists for Indie fantasy. Even now, 'The Legends of Bruhai', very early, seems destined to be one of my top Indie SFF series of all time. I just need more installments to cement this opinion.
And utterly selfishly, I need them now.
I received an Advanced Reader Copy (ARC) from the author, in exchange for an honest review, which I have provided below. Please – all who read this review, including the author – forgive me for what I’m about to say. I truly mean no offence. As a writer myself, I should know better. An author is entitled to work on whatever kind of projects they like, when they like. And the multi-talented author of this book, has proven she can write extremely well in other sub-genres, including urban fantasy with werewolves, and fantasy western with necromancers.
But all I want from author Tori Tecken is more of the world of Bruhai. Because it’s THAT good.
And I finally got my wish, in this incredible novella 'The Fate of Thieves', a prequel to the first book in the main 'Legends of the Bruhai', which is entitled 'The Blood Stones'. Tecken re-immerses those who have read 'The Blood Stones' in her world, as we are transported to the vibrant yet dangerous city of Mijaro, ruled by the jolly, pandering Citylord Padin.
Padin’s role as city overlord is complex, but it helps when you’re an elite, swathed in luxury and privilege. Padin and nobles like him can afford to overlook the seething poverty and crime that teems in the slum areas of his city. For all its shiny splendour on the surface, like many major cities, beneath that, the bustling Mijaro is simultaneously a smelly, dark, and oppressive place, where homeless and orphan children are forced into a life of banditry, prostitution, and worse, at the mercy of crime lords, who use them solely for their own purposes, and will kill and discard them like refuse if they prove useless or disloyal.
One such crime boss is Hazaro. His fiefdom, Hazaro’s Den, is situated in the Copper Quarter of the city. Hazaro’s top thief is the fierce and nimble Kala. Kala is the mentor and sister-figure to the main character of the novella: a cunning young street urchin turned thief named Dilim.
“Besides, he had nothing else of value. Nothing in except his life, which was worth far less than the scraps he carried. The true predators roaming the alleys in Mijaro were the other street rats, the ones who were two or three years older than he was.”
Thus, simply trying to find his next meal, earning trust and proving himself useful to the crime boss, is actually the least of Dilim’s worries, in his troubled, miserable life. Because an older thief, a merciless bully named Yai, constantly makes Dilim the target of his greed and cruelty, preying upon the younger boy, assaulting him alongside his gang of thugs, and robbing in turn from what stash Dilim has stolen from the more fortunate denizens of the city.
Dilim dreams of becoming an elite fighter one day – a garatelhuai. But he’s just a child, far physically weaker than those like Yai who torment him. It seems hopeless that he will be able to stand up to Yai, without getting himself seriously hurt, if not killed. And though Dilim has the sole person in the world of Kala to guide and try to shield him from harm, Kala may not be able to protect herself from Hazaro’s plans for her.
Soon, Dilim and Kala find themselves embroiled with rival thief-bosses from the Copper Quarter outside of Hazaro’s territories, including the beautiful and cunning Ursua, whose own surrogate mother is elderly crime boss Mumal the Thorn.
Meanwhile, an aging warrior-king, Kinhariian, mourns the loss of his heir, distraught with grief and the looming succession crisis, and failing of legacy, that seems unavoidable without a crown prince. But the king’s main counsellor, the gifted but manipulative master scholar Lohi, always has a trick up his sleeve. Lohi is determined, at all costs, to do what he thinks is best for Kinhariian, the realm, and most importantly Lohi’s own ambitions, in finding an heir worthy to succeed Kinhariian. And what better way to find an appropriate heir, than to forge one.
Those from very different classes of society meet by happenstance, storylines intersect, and the result leads to tragedy, yet also new hope, as the novella ties into the creation of the bruhai, in poignant, shocking ways.
Tecken’s character work shines in this novella, as it did in 'The Blood Stones'. The characters are vivid, and one can’t help but root for a young boy like Dilim, mired in penury, squalor, hunger, crime, and desperation, who daydreams impossibly of being a noble warrior, and escaping his lot. And though they are thieves, there is still some measure of humanity, even honour with characters like Kala, Ursua and Mumal, which provides them some likability as well.
The reader may also feel empathy (to a point) for the aristocracy such as the grieving but volatile and acerbic King Kinhariian, and even the plotting Lohi, who ultimately thinks he’s doing the best for the realm, despite his self-serving ideals. Still, overall, the callousness, lack of regard, and looking down on those below them in society by the nobles in the book, makes them very realistically drawn, compelling, and highly interesting if not endearing.
In terms of the rich worldbuilding, while the magic is light, very subdued, prophecy and superstitions beliefs definitely play a role in the story. The incredible descriptive passages, expanding on lore and culture, woven seamlessly throughout the narrative to give a highly definitive sense of place/setting, without long bouts of exposition that a novella of this length could not realistically contain in the short word count, and still maintain effectiveness and story integrity. Tecken deftly uses epigraphs at the beginning of each chapter to frame the narrative, set the tone, provide more insight into the lore, and add context for the reader. We learn much of the history and customs of various cultures who inhabit the world, what transpired in the past, and in the future, regarding the bigger picture, and how those aspects impact the present-day story.
Thematically, Tecken brilliantly explores coming-of-age, found family, survival at all costs, elitism, courage, hope, sacrifice, betrayal, the ends justifying the means, and how the rich and powerful will always be willing to take advantage of the downtrodden, to serve their own ends. Tecken writes with a sophistication yet simplicity, that demonstrates what an experienced and gifted author she is. I find her prose absolutely beautiful, elevated enough to appeal to my love of language and desire for evocative prose to keep me grounded in the fantasy setting, yet very accessible, full of lovely and moving passages that stuck with me.
Though the novella is more of a slow-burn, there is plenty of suspense, and tense situations, as we for the most part follow Dilim’s POV, learning his backstory, while he tries to navigate the unforgiving, cutthroat underworld of street thieves, where even one’s closest friends will sell you out in a heartbeat, for self-preservation, or simply profit. Lohi’s POV provides the high-level part of the plot, where we see more of the thruline between the main focus of 'The Blood Stones', and 'The Fate of Thieves', tying the two works together, in the overarching scheme that robs unwilling participants of their identity in service to what is deemed a greater cause, becomes apparent before the end of the novella.
With Tecken demonstrating she’s this refined at her craft at writing epic fantasy, with only one main book, and this novella to her credit in 'The Legends of Bruhai', I can’t wait to see how much the writing has progressed by the end of this series. If it continues on the current trajectory, this series will consistently appear on reviewers’ ‘best of’ lists for Indie fantasy. Even now, 'The Legends of Bruhai', very early, seems destined to be one of my top Indie SFF series of all time. I just need more installments to cement this opinion.
And utterly selfishly, I need them now.
March 22, 2026
This is an excellent novella that takes the reader through some character backstory leading up to events in The Blood Stones. There is a significant spoiler for The Blood Stones, so while it chronologically takes place first, do not read it if you haven’t read the first book.
Tecken has a talent for introducing characters in such a way that makes the reader invest in them early on without forcing it. I came away in with pretty intense feelings about various characters… some good, some not so much, and even one the jury is still out on.
The prose is descriptive and easy to read. It flows nicely and creates vivid imagery without being excessively wordy.
I eagerly await the next installment of this series and appreciate the novella to satiate my excitement. Temporarily.
Tecken has a talent for introducing characters in such a way that makes the reader invest in them early on without forcing it. I came away in with pretty intense feelings about various characters… some good, some not so much, and even one the jury is still out on.
The prose is descriptive and easy to read. It flows nicely and creates vivid imagery without being excessively wordy.
I eagerly await the next installment of this series and appreciate the novella to satiate my excitement. Temporarily.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews