Retribution: A Tale of Ardenia

by Scott McKay

In Retribution, the third novel in the Tales of Ardenia series, many of the characters from the first two novels Animus and Perdition make continuing appearances - and the main story, that of the war between the Western-style industrial democracy of Ardenia and the savage warrior Udar people, continues. It's a story of politics, of business, of brutal combat and of love. In Retribution the reader is taken deep inside Udar society for a frightening glimpse of life as a captive among the barbarians, but also deep inside the machinations and inner workings of the Ardenian capital - where the political world new president Abraham Dees must navigate is no less perilous and savage. The book chronicles the rise of Will Forling as Ardenia's unlikely military hero, Randall Thurman as an entrepreneurial star with a terrible secret to protect, Piety Forling's bittersweet existence as both a worried wife and a business tycoon and Sebastian Cross as the deeply conflicted, yet fanatically-driven leader of the budding Ardenian Air Force. And Ned Mannion, the lovable gangster whose vision might just change the entire fortune of his country - or end in disaster. As well as the terrible Udar villain Anth'an, who operates within the prophetic conviction that he cannot be killed by his enemies. It's a fast-moving, sweeping epic story that will make the reader reticent to put it down, and its characters jump off its pages to emerge almost as real-life friends and acquaintances. Retribution is the third book in the Tales of Ardenia series, with the fourth and final installment, Quandary, set to come in 2022.

974 pages, Kindle Edition

Published April 26, 2021

About the author

A veteran of sports and political journalism and punditry, in 2019 Scott McKay branched out into fiction with Animus: A Tale of Ardenia, the first of four books in the Tales of Ardenia series.

Scott's writing career started all the way back in 1997 with the launch of Purple & Gold, a sports magazine devoted to college athletics at Louisiana State University. Over the eight years Purple & Gold was in existence it grew to over 15,000 subscribers and was known as one of the most comprehensive, well-written and insightful college sports publications in America.

Following a five-year hiatus from writing while pursuing opportunities in sales and entrepreneurship, Scott returned to the written word with the launch of The Hayride, an online publication devoted to Southern politics and culture. It was through that site's coverage of life and political events in Louisiana and elsewhere that Scott found the inspiration to begin a secondary career as a fiction author.

Animus: A Tale of Ardenia, published in September 2019, is the opening salvo in a sage of love, hate, war, peace, civilization and savagery intended not just to entertain but to provoke thought about good and evil and the border between the two.

Scott lives in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

Reviews

[William Martin · Rating 5 out of 5]

An Intensely Gratifying Read

I loved all the character development. I loved all the life lessons woven in which parallel many of dilemmas we confront in our contemporary world.