Overture of Shadow

In the kingdom of Breheimen, the Muse-touch is real. Artists, musicians, and craftsmen who carry the gift wield a supernatural power that drives civilization forward - and shapes history. But the Muse can be corrupted.

Dorian Silversong is a wandering bard and master of his craft who has spent twenty years keeping his distance from capital politics. When his beloved mentor sends an urgent summons, he arrives to find the headmaster dead and a cold-eyed rival already in control of the Royal Bardic Council. Across the kingdom, Muse-touched artisans are disappearing without explanation. A blacksmith. A glassblower. A stonemason. Each one Muse-touched. Each one gone.

As Dorian digs deeper, he uncovers a centuries-old secret: a journal hidden for five hundred years that proves the Muse itself can be twisted into something predatory. And the man behind the disappearances is further along in his plans than anyone knows - close to completing a device that will shatter the barrier between the physical world and the aether, unleashing forces that could end civilization as Breheimen knows it.

Dorian's gifts - the ability to compel, inspire, and reshape the emotions of those who hear him - are formidable. But a new and terrifying ability is awakening in him, one that blurs the line between artist and weapon. And if he cannot master it before the villain completes his work, no amount of lyrical genius will be enough.

Muses' War: Overture of Shadow is the first installment in the Muses' War series - a complete, satisfying story with a fully resolved central plot and threads that open naturally into the series. Readers who love richly built secondary worlds, magic systems grounded in the creative arts, political intrigue with genuine stakes, and slow-burn romance between intellectual equals will find a great deal to enjoy.