This is the fourth and final book in my “Hidden Houses” modern fantasy series, and my sixteenth published book overall. And now, it’s done. Here’s the Kindle edition on Amazon, and here’s the paperback edition, direct from the printer. The Kobo edition is in the works. Here’s the cover copy:
As House DiAngelo’s plan nears completion, the Fianna must choose between fighting to reclaim their home, or building a new one.
A bounty goes out for Eric Laflamme, who hides in a safe house in a faraway city. The Fianna, led once again by Miranda Brigand, are on the run, and divided among themselves. Some want to drive House DiAngelo out of Fellwater, and so reclaim their home. Others want to start afresh in the abandoned Voyageur freehold of Elderdown, hundreds of leagues away. Attacking the DiAngelo will require weapons and allies they don’t yet possess. Settling Elderdown may be easier, but the only one who knows its location is Ildicoe Brigand, a pariah whom no one but Eric will trust. The time for deliberation ends, and the time for action arrives, when the head of House DiAngelo murders one of his own men, and declares the final phase of the Magnum Opus begun.
“Masterfully weaving together a rich world of mythos, Myers follows in the footsteps of the great fantasy storytellers of our time—Martin and Tolkien—but he does it on his own terms, bringing new twists and turns… it will nourish your imagination and soul for years to come.” –L. M. Browning, author of The Nameless Man.
So, if you’re looking for an independently published modern fantasy series, with a fully realized world, an ensemble cast of characters, complex and subtle politics, a philosophical background, and without any vampires, without any prophesies, without Chosen Ones, without damsels in distress needing rescue, without female warriors with inappropriate armour, without male heroes who are hyperintelligent assholes (Dr. House? Sherlock?), without villains motivated by one-dimensional goals (the Daleks?), without heroes who win exclusively through violence, without a futuristic dystopia that mainly oppresses teenagers– you get the idea. Here’s your book.
Having said all that, however: there might be werewolves.
And now, if you will indulge me: here’s a personal comment about this book, and about the Hidden Houses series overall.
Every author writes in the hope, perhaps the faint hope, of being read. If you have read the previous books in the series, then I thank you for staying with me all the way to this conclusion.
Fellwater began ten years ago, as a tribute to a dear friend, and as a means of preventing intellectual lassitude during a ten-month stretch of unemployment. It has now grown into this four-part series, with multiple spinoffs published and planned. I think it may be the most personally expressive and revealing work of art I have created so far. Every character in my books is real to me; I hear their voices and see their faces as I write them. Yet every character here is also a self-portrait. Every crisis in their lives happened to someone I care about, if not myself as well. And every moment of beauty and peace they find is something I wish for you, dear reader.
Alas, the Great Work of telling their story is done. Yet I do plan to continue writing about the Hidden World. Following precedents like Terry Pratchett’s Diskworld and Charles de Lint’s Newford, there shall be more stories in the same universe, but with different characters, different questions, and different adventures. Some of these may feature characters who were only peripheral in the main series. (I believe that every character, no matter how minor, should have a story.) Some may feature entirely new characters, and new settings. Two spinoff stories are already published at this time: “A Trick of the Light”, and “The Seekers”. But with this core series now complete, I have fulfilled most of the ambitions I once had for writing a big-canvass, philosophically-influenced, multi-volume fantasy fiction series. I may someday let someone talk me into into writing Book Five. Indeed, in a late-night corridor of sleeplessness, I wrote a beat-sheet for it. But for now, I shall let these characters rest.
At least for a while. We’ll see.