The Rys Chronicles Box Set:
The Complete Series
by Tracy Falbe
Genre: Epic Fantasy
This value bundle brings together all four novels of The Rys Chronicles – Union of Renegades, The Goddess Queen, Judgment Rising, and the stunning conclusion The Borderlands of Power.
The sprawling epic covers seven years in the lives of the main characters, whose charms and exploits have won Falbe fans around the world.
The story begins in Union of Renegades, when Dreibrand Veta, a disgruntled and disgraced officer in the Atrophane Horde, strikes out on his own into a mythic Wilderness. He partners with Miranda, an escaped slave, and they’re compelled to enter an empty land guarded by the ghosts of an ancient genocide.
Here, they enter the world of the rys, a magical race whose all-powerful Queen Onja subjugates a whole civilization. For thousands of years, she has reigned, but, when Miranda dares to defy her, the status quo disintegrates.
Through ambition and desperation, Dreibrand and Miranda trigger events that will change the world. One empire will be tested to its limits. Another civilization will erupt into rebellion and civil war. And ultimately the Wilderness will be reclaimed, and new visions will shine on the horizon.
For terror, triumph, and true feelings, The Rys Chronicles delivers on all fronts.
At the fan feedback page at her website, readers have declared:
“You have just passed George R. R. Martin and Anne McCaffrey as my favorite writer.”
“I cannot put your books down once I've started. Some of the greatest writers that I have read include Raymond E Feist, Lee Child, Clive Custler and Jenifer Fallon to name a few and to which I now add your name.”
“This series is one of the best that I have ever read! Your character creation is fantastic.”
“I am on the last novel in the The Rys Chronicles fantasy series. I have read the series non-stop since I purchased it.”
“I love your books! The human characters are so real, my heart really goes out to them. In good times and bad. The Rys are unlike any characters in any other fantasy books I've ever read, and believe me, I've read a few!”
Books in the Box Set:
Union of Renegades
The Rys Chronicles Book 1
In this opening novel of The Rys Chronicles you'll meet a man scarred by bad deeds who answers the call of a heroic cause. An unconventional heroine will tug at your sympathies as she bravely faces adversity with all the strengths and vulnerabilities of her womanhood. And overarching it all are the rys. Their magic makes them superior to humans, but they are not above employing humans in their deadly schemes.
Union of Renegades begins the love story between Dreibrand Veta an ambitious military officer and Miranda an escaped slave. They’ll become a power couple that rules a vast realm but only after grim struggle and terrible sacrifice.
The Rys Chronicles is a completely published fantasy quartet that continues in:
The Goddess Queen
Judgment Rising
The Borderlands of Power
Four smooth crystal orbs mounted on thick marble pedestals radiated a swirling blue light. Placed in each corner of the chamber, the orbs were almost as large as a human’s head, and except for their largeness, they were identical to the small orb that Dreibrand carried.
This marvelous room exceeded anything Miranda had ever thought possible. The place was a dream become reality, and the surreal light of the throne room caressed her senses like a gentle spring dawn waking her out of a terrible nightmare. She wanted to be lulled by the magnificent power around her. It was so far above her difficult life of poverty, that if she embraced it, she thought that she would never go back.
But she could not trust this power. She recognized the power and remembered that it had taken Elendra.
The guards urged the humans forward, and Taf Ila strode toward the dais at the far end. Dreibrand’s thick-booted footsteps thudded loudly in the calm chamber that seemed too outside of the world to be disturbed by the mundane noise.
At the base of the dais stood a tall blue being with bold streaks of white shot through his black hair. With folded arms, he regarded the humans with intense interest. The humans glanced at him briefly, as they took in all the strange sights, but both of their gazes quickly rose toward the figure high on the throne.
A female of the blue race lounged upon the golden throne. Her features were softer and rounder than the other beings present and pure white hair flowed around her shoulders. A wondrous cloak of ermine pelts fell over her simple black gown, and great diamonds dangled from the black tail of each animal skin.
She was both beautiful and terrible. Power radiated from her like heat from a fire. Bowing to his wondrous monarch, Taf Ila stepped aside without a word.
The knowing gaze of the blue female drilled into Miranda for a long spell, and Esseldan squirmed. Finally, the blue female spoke in the halting words of an unfamiliar language.
“I am Queen Onja.”
Her voice drifted around Miranda’s mind like a memory. Slowly she found her tongue and asked weakly, “Where is Elendra?”
The Queen did not reply, but a door beside the dais clicked open. Miranda looked to the door in an agony of hope, and Elendra actually ran out toward her. The little girl stretched out her arms happily and cried out a joyous greeting to her mother.
Miranda crumpled to her knees to receive the embrace of her daughter. They joined in a tight hug, and relief and happiness spilled tears down Miranda’s face. The little girl beamed with pleasure and had never looked healthier. Elendra wore a black dress with lovely silver embroidery. Her black hair shimmered, and she looked like a dark princess inside the twinkling light of the throne room.
Swallowing a sob of joy, Miranda asked, “Elendra, did that flying monster bring you all the way here?”
Matter of factly, Elendra replied, “Yes. It is the Tatatook.”
Puzzlement twisted Miranda’s expression. In this bright magical place everything seemed like nonsense.
Elendra continued, “Oh Mama, I am so glad you made it. And Esseldan too! It is so wonderful here. You will love it.”
Miranda squeezed her daughter thankfully. The torment of seeing her daughter carried off by the flying monster finally released her body, and she could feel joy.
The return of Elendra relieved Dreibrand as well, but he was not distracted by maternal joy. The Queen had spoken in Miranda’s language, and he wanted some answers.
“Queen Onja, why did you take a daughter from a mother?” he asked.
The azure Queen, who had been intent on the little girl with her mother, turned unfriendly eyes upon the human male. She contemplated him briefly and decided not to speak with him. In her own language, she apparently gave orders because the guards moved toward Dreibrand.
The tall blue being with white-streaked hair suddenly spoke up, making the guards hesitate. He turned and seemed to engage the Queen in a very brief argument, which she ended quickly with short stern words. The guards resumed their mission, and Dreibrand stepped back to draw his sword.
Taf Ila pulled a small peculiar weapon from his jacket. Its handle curved down to be cradled in his palm and his forefinger curled around a trigger device. A spring-loaded snap sounded and Dreibrand felt a sting. A small dart lodged in Dreibrand’s arm when his blade was only halfway out of his scabbard.
Dreibrand’s look of surprise turned to dismay as his hand fumbled uselessly with the sword. A paralysis spread rapidly through his body. He tried to grab the dart with his other hand, but that hand did not work, and he fell over helpless.
The Goddess Queen
The Rys Chronicles Book 2
Queen Onja has called for Shan's head. Her Kezanada agents stalk him with enchanted weapons. For Dreibrand Veta, his growing list of victories has increased his influence in circles of power, but his fame has not endeared him to everybody. The rebellion proceeds slowly for Miranda who cannot rescue her children until Shan defeats Onja. Shan has learned much since beginning the rebellion. His powers are growing. He has used his magic to kill, and, when the spring comes, his armies will fight the armies loyal to Onja. Despite Shan's mounting confidence in his battle magic, Onja will tenaciously defend her throne, and Shan will discover that he does not know the powerful secrets of the Goddess Queen.
Judgment Rising
The Rys Chronicles Book 3
Continue the saga of The Rys Chronicles or join the story at this point as new adventures and challenges confront Shan and Dreibrand.
To the victors go the spoils, and Shan and Dreibrand have flourished for five years as the leaders of their respective kingdoms. Allied by friendship, they greet the future with excitement and grandiose plans. Dreibrand counts on his relationship with Shan to protect him from the encroaching Atrophane Empire as he carefully avoids direct confrontation with his former countrymen, now under the undisputed leadership of his old rival Sandin Promentro.
But a greater malice than imperial ambition threatens the new lords of the Wilderness. The long dead civilization of Nufal, where Dreibrand and Miranda nurture their fledgling kingdom, has not forgotten the brutal genocide of its ancient war with the rys. The ghosts of Nufal may have been extinguished but their avengers remain. The inheritors of Onja’s wealth and lands will now battle the nightmare of their judgment rising.
The Borderlands of Power
The Rys Chronicles Book 4
Nufal is invaded and human warriors fight alongside their rys and tabre champions in a grueling clash of muscle and magic. Grim struggles smash strategy into chaos, and loyalties degenerate into desperate choices for survival. Tempet and Alloi, driven by their desire for revenge upon the rys, push King Shan deep into the violent reservoir of his power.
Still reeling in the aftermath of battle, Dreibrand Veta scrambles to assert his authority upon the remaining forces of the Atrophane Empire if he is to defend his land and overturn the censure that disgraces his name. Rebellion on the imperial frontier complicates these goals as does Shan's sudden unpredictability as an ally. Miranda braves the snows of the Rysamand Mountains to demand that Shan pay his debt to her by helping Dreibrand. Only ambition keeps despair at bay as forces vie for dominance in the borderlands of power.
I am the author of 10 novels, including The Rys Chronicles and Rys Rising epic dark fantasy series and the historical fantasies Werelord Thal: A Renaissance Werewolf Tale and Journey of the Hunted: Werewolves in the Renaissance 2.
I was born in Michigan in 1972 and grew up in Mount Pleasant. It’s called the “Mountain Town” but there is no mountain and it’s debatable about whether it’s pleasant. They say it’s a party town and based on extensive research as a young adult I can concur.
Because I always had the childhood fantasy of running away and joining the circus, I moved to Las Vegas, Nevada in 1995 and lived there until 1997. Those who only stay a week are wimps, but I will say that it’s the second year in Vegas that wears you down. Then I realized the pioneers were trying to get to California, so I moved to Chico, in Northern California and lived there until 2009.
In 2000, I earned a journalism degree from California State University, Chico with the conscious ambition of becoming a fiction writer. With the rapid demise of the newspaper industry and journalism in general, novelist is not such a daft pursuit after all. It’s not like I’m actually going to get a job that values my education. Luckily I’m cursed with the impulse to write in a popular yet competitive genre.
My wandering has circled back and I’m currently residing in Battle Creek, Michigan, and for now my existence within the post-apocalyptic Rust Belt is suitably fascinating.
: A Cajun Country Mystery, has been nominated for an Agatha Best First Novel award, a Lefty for Best Humorous Mystery, and a Daphne Award for Best Mainstream Mystery. The second Cajun Country Mystery, 
, will be available in September 2016. Ellen’s TV credits include Wings and Just Shoot Me; she’s written over 200 magazine articles; her published plays include the award-winning Graceland and Asleep on the Wind. Ellen Byron is a native New Yorker who lives in Los Angeles and attributes her fascination with Louisiana to her college years at New Orleans’ Tulane University.
