The Puppet King

Treason within, war from without. Torn asunder by the nightmares of a mad king, the elven realm of Silvanesti has nearly been restored to its former grandeur. But the elf Porthios, returning to his homeland, launches a rebellion against young Gilthas, his own nephew. Gilthas's troubles are multiplied by threats from green dragons and from the Knights of Takhisis. Now, with Porthios at his throat, Gilthas must choose between blood and honor. Douglas Nile's Dragonlance novel is filled with treachery and intrigue among the elves during the Chaos War, the backdrop for The New York Times best-selling novel Dragons of Summer Flame.

“Bleak, melancholy, and intelligent like the best by Thomas Ligotti and Jon Padgett, these tales unmistakably come from a deep, personal place and will best resonate with searchers after metaphysical horrors.” —Dejan Ognjanović, RUE MORGUE The Puppet King and Other Atonements conjures a horrific universe of puppets, labyrinths, and liminal spaces. Over the span of fourteen Borgesian terrors, Justin A. Burnett inhabits the strange borderlands between intimacy and isolation, fiction and philosophy, reality and nightmare. Sprouting from the blackened landscape of weird writers such as Thomas Ligotti, Jon Padgett, and Brian Evenson, this collection is a bleak, unflinching gaze into the vertiginous depths of the nonhuman. “A collection brimming with sublime torments. Burnett masterfully grasps the transcendent grotesque, weaving tales charged with cosmic danger. A refreshing and powerful new voice in contemporary dread.” —Rebecca Gransden, author of SEA OF GLASS “Burnett takes you through a journey of contrasts. At once delicate and painfully intimate, yet vast, reverberant and strange, The Puppet King and Other Atonements draws the reader deep into the primordial to the very edge of the stars. Highly recommended.” —Emma J. Gibbon, author of DARK BLOOD COMES FROM THE FEET

Succeeding King Damen on the throne of Minnea, Tarod must do the bidding of Selith, the sorceror who holds a might secret that could condemn Tarod to death. The young king must battle the wizard and his own boredom as he tries to learn to govern a civilized nation.

Not everyone views the Russians as the enemy; some still seek the one true leader of the East― and he's coming.

"I had been born Henry VIII's most precious jewel, the country's future, and the Tudor dynasty's salvation. My birth had marked my father's most joyous success after decades of failures. But now, there was only dying left for me to do. As to what would have happened had I endured, it no longer mattered. And as to whether I would have done my duty...well, I guess we will never know. Because I never got to live." As son to Henry VIII by his third wife, Jane Seymour, young Edward is rushed into adulthood and kingship when his father suddenly dies. At the age of just nine-years-old however, king Edward VI cannot rule on his own, and many who had sworn fealty to him begin to work in secret to attain their own political goals. But, unbeknownst to the rest of the world, Edward has his own secret - one he must never allow to come to light.

In "The Puppet King" Sheena aspires to become a successful writer and film-maker but is thwarted in her plans by her lover, a film producer who destroys her dreams both professionally and personally through his ambivalence. She must overcome myriad obstacles including briefly working as a prostitute and becoming mistress to a wealthy but married man in order to realize her dreams and live life on her own terms. Throughout "The Puppet King", Sheena attempts to overcome her past and move on with her life through the acceptance of God as well as her own realization that she has the ability to control her own destiny. The main characters are extraordinary people with familiar concerns and desires. Sheena relentlessly observes human life unfolding in the Puppet World and finally realizes that her fate ultimately is in her own hands.