The Princess Thieves
What could be more important than freedom?
In the Victorian age the world was stricken with a deadly malady which transformed its sufferers into infectious, savage hunters. Shortly thereafter, in 1873, a vast gateway between realms opened up in London, leading to a parallel England populated by two races; the short, stubborn, Duart and the hulking, green-skinned Akka. They stepped through to aid the British people and settle in their damaged country, bringing an army of toughened Firecasters to address the monster problem, along with a class system that puts humans roughly in the middle.
In the spring of 1883, in the week this story takes place, Gwendoline, the last remaining member of Britain’s royal Saxe-Coburg bloodline is preparing to be married to the Duart Lord, Aaron of Britannica. Gwendoline yearns for escape and freedom, to roam the two worlds as an adventurer, aspirations thoroughly discouraged by her diminutive sorceress bodyguard, Viola.
Things come to a head when they meet a duart calling himself Robin Hood, who certainly seems intent on living up to the legend, clearly more than his long-suffering Akka companion “Little John”. What begins as a bungled royal kidnapping escalates into a journey of fascinating discovery and frightening revelations for Gwen, and as the countdown to her wedding draws ever closer, she must confront what kind of Queen she wants to be.
Their paths cross with a wizard, a bounty hunter, an enchanted sword, a wicked captain of the guard and the rudest horse you are ever likely to meet, in the lyrical, satirical, fantastical miracle that is The Princess Thieves.
Book 6: Published November 2017
