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Meliu survived the horrors at the Shrine of Burdenis, her scalp mangled by the Taken, but she braved her soul's eternity to rescue holy tomes. Escorted by Ivin Choerkin and the wardens, she found the legendary Codex of Sol, a book thought destroyed by the Clan Choerkin centuries ago. The Codex once brought holy war with its forbidden prophecies; its pages once again seem poised to change the destiny of a people.
Seven days before the Eve of Snows, Meliu returned the Codex of Sol to Istinjoln Monastery. Six days later, Lord Priest Ulrikt entrusted her with a missive intended for a High Priest in Choerkin Fost. She departed soon after with Jinbin, three ponies, and two kegs of ale. An energy surges from the monastery not long after they ride from its gates, and the chill it brings to her bones is all too familiar: A Celestial Gate summoning demonic Shadows.
She rides hard for Choerkin Fost, believing the message she bears is vital to the survival of her people, but on arriving no one meets her to take Ulrikt's message. Per the Lord Priest's orders, she opens the scroll. The command is shocking in its simplicity and intended for her all along:
Flee Kaludor.
Seven days before the Eve of Snows, Meliu returned the Codex of Sol to Istinjoln Monastery. Six days later, Lord Priest Ulrikt entrusted her with a missive intended for a High Priest in Choerkin Fost. She departed soon after with Jinbin, three ponies, and two kegs of ale. An energy surges from the monastery not long after they ride from its gates, and the chill it brings to her bones is all too familiar: A Celestial Gate summoning demonic Shadows.
She rides hard for Choerkin Fost, believing the message she bears is vital to the survival of her people, but on arriving no one meets her to take Ulrikt's message. Per the Lord Priest's orders, she opens the scroll. The command is shocking in its simplicity and intended for her all along:
Flee Kaludor.
124 pages, Kindle Edition
Published November 7, 2018
11 people are currently reading
45 people want to read
About the author
L. James Rice
13 books411 followersL. James Rice is the #1 International Best Selling Author of the multi-award-winning Epic Fantasy, Eve of Snows, and the Sundering the Gods Saga.
Having lived in his own world for many years, L. James Rice decided he might as well share that world with folks otherwise trapped in reality, and got serious about writing. He has made enough wine to no longer enjoy wine. He has not eaten enough steak or pizza to no longer enjoy steak or pizza, but is working on it. "Challenges are good," he maintains. He is an old English Lit major who also studied screenwriting at UCLA.
Having managed to graduate high school only rarely turning in homework, he moved on to a university to find it even more forgiving of lax study skills. He celebrated with copious amounts of beer. With scant few memories of either educational facility or anything they reputedly taught him, he refuses to confirm or deny their usefulness. Probably because he is wishy-washy, but I'm not sure of that. 98% sure... or maybe only 50%. Hell if I know.
His proudest success in life does, however, harken back to high school. In geometry class a teacher set a remarkable challenge by saying (paraphrased) "In ten years you might forget everything you ever learned in class, but you will not forget..." Taunted by this teacher's arrogance, L. James Rice managed to not only forget what it was he learned, but the name of it too. And for good measure, the name of the teacher. But not the challenge itself. That would've made the exercise of forgetfulness pointless. To pile on insult to injury, he does remember the name of a spell from the video game Wizardry which he played often during this time: Tiltowait. Take that, geometry!
Born and raised in the midwest, US of A, L. James Rice has a lovely wife and two beautiful daughters, the names and birthdays of whom he remembers most of the time. Plus, two dogs, an unknown number of chickens (always in flux with predators and other natural causes), and a gosling he assumes will someday be a goose who lays non-golden eggs... stupid goose anyhow.
Having lived in his own world for many years, L. James Rice decided he might as well share that world with folks otherwise trapped in reality, and got serious about writing. He has made enough wine to no longer enjoy wine. He has not eaten enough steak or pizza to no longer enjoy steak or pizza, but is working on it. "Challenges are good," he maintains. He is an old English Lit major who also studied screenwriting at UCLA.
Having managed to graduate high school only rarely turning in homework, he moved on to a university to find it even more forgiving of lax study skills. He celebrated with copious amounts of beer. With scant few memories of either educational facility or anything they reputedly taught him, he refuses to confirm or deny their usefulness. Probably because he is wishy-washy, but I'm not sure of that. 98% sure... or maybe only 50%. Hell if I know.
His proudest success in life does, however, harken back to high school. In geometry class a teacher set a remarkable challenge by saying (paraphrased) "In ten years you might forget everything you ever learned in class, but you will not forget..." Taunted by this teacher's arrogance, L. James Rice managed to not only forget what it was he learned, but the name of it too. And for good measure, the name of the teacher. But not the challenge itself. That would've made the exercise of forgetfulness pointless. To pile on insult to injury, he does remember the name of a spell from the video game Wizardry which he played often during this time: Tiltowait. Take that, geometry!
Born and raised in the midwest, US of A, L. James Rice has a lovely wife and two beautiful daughters, the names and birthdays of whom he remembers most of the time. Plus, two dogs, an unknown number of chickens (always in flux with predators and other natural causes), and a gosling he assumes will someday be a goose who lays non-golden eggs... stupid goose anyhow.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
September 19, 2023
Read this as a sort of refresher for the plot of the first book, Eve of Snows, before delving into the second book. It tells of the events immediately before and after the Eve of Snows as seen from Meliu's perspective and it was pretty nice, mainly a setup to make things more intriguing. I'm curious to see where her quest will lead her to in the subsequent book.
November 30, 2018
I loved this novella! It added another layer to the Eve of Snows story by telling the events that were simultaneously happening to Meliu. She is such an interesting character! I can't wait to see what happens in the next book!
July 19, 2019
A fun, fast... too short read! But heading into Trail of Pyres now, so all is forgiven. It was a bit of a jolt traveling back in time to catch up with this character, but worth it! Looking forward to her adventures in the next book.
July 14, 2019
Rockin'! Starts slow, catching us up, then puts the poor gal through her paces.
October 28, 2019
A little different than Eve of Snows, in a sense... fills in some blanks and leaves us with a cliffhanger, so it's good the next book is out! Highly recommended.
January 2, 2020
Short, sweet, and with a twist. A little dark, a little funny, and a fine setup for this character.
Time to dive into the next book!
Time to dive into the next book!
July 11, 2019
In my review of Eve of Snows, I mentioned a holy bleep moment... Yeah... the ending here isn’t quite as holy, but its darned close. Excellent read, leads into Book 2 with a bang.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews