An ill-assorted team must find a way to work together if they're to rediscover a vital ancient secret.
When the Elven Empire fell to the humans they'd enslaved, the elves disappeared into the forests, taking with them many secrets. Among these: the formula for hardlac, a versatile, durable substitute for metal, made from the sap of a common tree.
Five hundred years later, the humans are caught in an economic war with the dwarves, who control the production of metal. Knowing how to make hardlac would shift the balance of power in the humans' favor. And its secrets may lie hidden within the libraries of the ancient Isle of Turfrae.
A research team is quietly dispatched to the Isle, but among the criteria for selecting them, the ability to work well together was not included. They must deal with their differences, navigate a 500-year-old, carefully obscured trail of evidence, and brave ancient dangers in the interior of the Isle in order to fulfill their vital mission.
This character-oriented ensemble-cast novel is a standalone within the Gryphon Clerks setting, and can be used as an entry point to the series.
Published:5 April 2024 Publisher:C-side Media Genres:
For someone with an English degree, Mike Reeves-McMillan has spent a surprising amount of time wearing a hard hat.
He lives in Auckland, New Zealand, the setting of his Auckland Allies contemporary urban fantasy series; and also in his head, where the weather is more reliable, and there are a lot more wizards.
