Free (Kindle/iTunes) Reign of Shadows [High Fantasy Kingdom Restoration Epic]

[ATDrake]

Reign of Shadows by Deborah Chester (ISFDB, Wikipedia), whom popular Dresden Files urban fantasy author Jim Butcher considers a mentor, according to Wikipedia, is the 1st in her Ruby Throne Trilogy of classically-styled epic high fantasy starring plucky youths With Destinies® seeking to overthrow the evil dominion of the immortal emperor and restore their kingdom etc., as destined plucky youths so often do, free courtesy of publisher Diversion Books, who are e-printing it from its 1996 Ace Books edition.

NB: this seems to be more a political-maneuvering-and-concealed-plotting-and-backstabbing than a gather-boon-companions-on-a-road-trippy-quest kind of tale, so YMMV if you were hoping for something more tilted towards LOTR than ASOIAF. And it looks like there could be relatively strong romantic elements as well.

Also, don't read the blurbs for #2 & #3 unless you want what would seem to be major spoilers for how certain character fates turn out (some of them rather unexpected from what you might otherwise guess from their apparent setup).

Currently free @ Amazon (available to Canadians & in the UK) & iTunes (available to Canadians and apparently also lot of places worldwide when I spot-check).

If you happen to like this one and wish to follow-up with the rest of the trilogy, Diversion Books are couponable @ Kobo and otherwise eligible for discounts/rebates at other retailers which carry them, and generally reasonably low-priced to begin with.

And this has been the selected 3rd (non-repeat) free ebook thread of the day.

Because while I haven't read any of this author's works, in the past, Ace Books have been an imprint that's generally been a pretty good fit for my tastes (well, at least as far as comedic light humorous sf/fantasy went, which this probably isn't one), and she seems pretty well respected by another author whom a lot of other people like (and again, whom I haven't read but one day meant to).

Also, it's been a while since we've gotten classically-styled epic high fantasy, and backlist fantasy at that, so bonus points.

Enjoy!

Description
Caelan E'Non is the son of the land's most powerful healer, and is naturally expected to follow in his father's footsteps. Except Caelan feels a burning desire to blaze his own trail—and possesses a magic he does not understand.

Elandra Albain has been raised as a servant in her father's house. Her sister, Lady Bixia, has been pampered and spoiled, and is thought to be destined for greatness. But Elandra has a destiny all her own.

For as long as Caelan or Elandra can recall, Emperor Kostimon has ruled the land. For nine centuries his life has been sustained. But this wondrous immortality stems from a bargain with the very source of evil itself—from the dark lord Beloth. Now, as Kostimon's tenth and final lifetime begins, the shadow god is growing restless.

[Brazen_NL]

Thank you. This worked for me at amazon.com and the iTunes store (The Netherlands)