The Malacria Saga, Book One: PRELUDE - Friends, Old and New

By Steven R Dare

Earth has a sister. Her name is Malacria, and they are twins. At a distance, they look just alike, but, as with many twins, personalities differ.

If Thomas Edison or Henry Ford had been born in Tolkien's Middle-Earth, it might have ended up looking something like Malacria. Mystical energy is mundane here. It's a known quantity, as well-explored as physics, chemistry, and biology. They teach about it in grade school. It's not magic. It's science.

Enteves delMortach is a mercenary swordsman with an impressive physique and stellar resume. He gets a letter from an old friend offering work in Malacrisi, the largest city on the continent of Abdirez (the Europe on this mirror of our world). But when that job brings him to the rescue of an underworld chieftain, things get out of hand faster than even a professional warrior can manage.

John Ramirez is the Godfather-like figure Enteves helps out of a coffin -- his efforts to expand his power base have the competition literally trying to bury him alive. Clearly, Ramirez sees, it's time to get scarce, but when he starts tying off loose ends, Enteves faces a death sentence he did not earn. Enteves manages to escape the fate Ramirez had planned for him, but not without suffering a vicious beating.

The marshals of the Order of the Crown, lawmen with a jurisdiction that spans the continent, are already investigating, and with Enteves's testimony, justice is not far away for Ramirez. When his crimes catch up to him, Ramirez goes on the run, trying to escape the noose he's earned. The lawmen hunting Ramirez deputize Enteves, and the chase begins.

Malacria is an all-new vision of what our world might look like if things were skewed just left of everyday normal. The world is a conjunction of classic fantasy, science fiction, steampunk, Old West, and modern day. There are no superheroes, no forces of destiny, no higher callings. There are just normal people making hard choices in tough situations, every day. People like you and me.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: B0915H2XYT
• ISBN13: 9798670985994
• Release Date: March 2021
• Publisher: Independently Published
• Length: 386 Pages
• Weight: 0.97 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 5.3" x 8.0"