Spellslinger 2: Shadowblack

Sebastien de Castell had just finished a degree in Archaeology when he started work on his first dig. Four hours later he realized how much he actually hated archaeology and left to pursue a very focused career as a musician, ombudsman, interaction designer, fight choreographer, teacher, project manager, actor and product strategist. His only defence against the charge of unbridled dilettantism is that he genuinely likes doing these things and that, in one way or another, each of these fields plays a role in his writing. He sternly resists the accusation of being a Renaissance Man in the hopes that more people will label him that way. Sebastien lives in Vancouver with his lovely wife and two belligerent cats. Follow Sebastien decastell.com or on Twitter: @decastell

SORCERY IS A SCAM . . .

Four months after fleeing his own people, Kellen has discovered he's an even worse outlaw than he was mage. It doesn't help that his only allies are a swaggering card player and a thieving squirrel cat.

Then he meets Seneira, a blindfolded girl who isn't blind, and whose secrets get them caught up in a conspiracy of magic, blackmail and murder. Now Kellen must find the mage responsible before the entire frontier falls victim to the mystical plague known as the shadowblack.

Perfect for fans of The Dark Tower, Firefly, Guardians of the Galaxy, Terry Pratchett, Ben Aaronovitch and Jim Butcher.

' Magic with a Wild West flavour, served with flair .' Financial Times

'A bucket-load of tension is offset with humour , power struggles , lots of magic and some great characters . Fantasy junkies will devour with relish.' The Guardian

' gloriously escapist fantasy' The Observer

SORCERY IS A SCAM . . . The second book in the page-turning SPELLSLINGER fantasy series.