The Dark Prince — Kevin McMaster

In the north, in the Kingdom of Aurnia, a plague is spreading. Illness and disease are running rampant, and the people are becoming something unnatural. Darragh, the young Prince from the south, fears that he brought this awful curse with him from his homeland when he left Cashel, in an attempt to escape his father's shadow. But now he must return home, through dangerous foreign lands, and lead a group of weary travellers in search of answers, and a cure to the evil magic that haunts them. There is Aurora, the beautiful Princess of the north, and the beloved of Darragh. Joining them is Blacksmith, the inventor, who only goes to Cashel to see his daughter, and learn how she fares in the south. And then there is Shiel, the blue-skinned Sheelian warrior from the Northlands, estranged from his people, a strange and ancient race. Also coming along is the Infidel Plastique, the mysterious troublemaker who helped Darragh on his dangerous journey into the north. He will be returning to his homeland an outlaw, unwanted and unwelcome in either Kingdom. And then there is Milo, the soft-hearted Jester, travelling at the King's behest, his purpose for joining them unknown to all, not the least of which himself. On their journey they would encounter new levels of danger and heartache, the likes of which they could never have imagined before. A journey without, would take them within, and reveal all their inner demons, as they face the real ones that hide in the dark corners of this New World. They would find themselves in the presents of Giants, Goblins and the many myriad creatures from the ancient times, still left to roam the dangerous wild and haunt the world of man. But what would be their greatest threat, the monsters and the crawling things, the Wizards and the ancient ones, or the horrors of mortal man, and the darkness he hides inside? A Jester's Tear combines all the fantasy elements of J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings series with the Science Fiction wonder and action adventure of George Lucas' Star Wars, while paying a wonderful homage to the epic tales of Greek and Roman Mythology. Combine all these elements with the tragic emotional introspection of the classic works of William Shakespeare and Christopher Marlowe and you have The Dark Prince, the first story in the epic trilogy A Jester's Tear. The second book, entitled The Golden Son, is due to be released in the summer of 2015.