Black River
Black River
“It will be safer for you if no one associates you with what is about to happen.”
Ruperion couldn’t even protest before he felt Denalku’s hand on him– and the splash of river water closing over his head. Denalku had pushed him, with more than just his hand: a hand holding the tiny Traveling stone Ruperion had hidden in the look of white quartz, when its true face was a dark thing of unknown origin. Dark, like the deeds done with it.
Ruperion breathed deep in protest to find his lungs filled with the musty flavor of tamarack-stained Potter’s Flowage and the sweet pesticides from nearby cranberry bogs. He almost screamed his rage as he surfaced among the snags and reeds, too exhausted to more than flail to the safety of the shore.
For days he glared at each surfacing fish, watched each ripple from beaver or muskrat or water spider, each passing boat wake in the hope Denalku returned to lead him home. In Metatha time fled. Had he destroyed all of Metatha? Would Denalku arrive demanding an antidote the wyseer never dared seek? Would he expect greater and greater arsenals? Where would he draw the line? It should have been before Shesta. Perhaps this would be Ruperion’s punishment for mentoring such a demon: He would forever sit here in this world of dullards blind to the magic surrounding them, waiting for a dead man to retrieve him home.
About Black River
What if Uncle Rupert’s fanciful stories of world-hopping wizards scavenging exotic animals, magic stones and weapons of mass destruction were real?
Kyle Nelson had always felt like a fish out of water, despite his family’s deep roots in the Midwest. When his creepy Uncle Rupert uses a magic trick to send him to another world, he finds himself the center of a 500-year old mythos that reignites an ancient civil war. Now, as a pawn of both sides, he could be the very tool that destroys the universe.
Black River is a cross between contemporary and epic fantasy. When Kyle is transported from west central Wisconsin to Metatha, a world that bypassed technological evolution by scavenging from other worlds, he sparks a rebellion and magical arms race. Unbeknownst to Kyle, he is the last remaining member of a caste that can use a magical stone to Travel to other worlds. The mundane flora, fauna and even pebbles of far worlds grant unthinkable powers to Metathans. They have built 500 years of mythology around the hoped for return of the Traveler. What he doesn’t know is that it is his besotted “Uncle” Rupert that Metathans most fear will swim home. And Rupert hopes Kyle will be his key to do just that.
Cover art by Meg Turville-Heitz and David Dodd
Cover design by David Dodd.
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Excerpts From Goodreads Reviews of Black River:
“Black River is a compelling adventure, a unique spin on the ever present battle between good and evil, and a delicious read….I was captivated by her intricate language and imagery and her scientist’s eye for the most compelling details of our natural world as well as the otherworldly settings she delivers. The sincerity with which she questions the motives and self-awareness of her characters also impressed me throughout this lush read. The plot of Black River takes surprising turns and we find ourselves literally surfacing in new worlds, or on strange planets, or just in different aspects of our own space-time continuum, as Kyle Nelson, his uncle Rupert, and a memorable cast of wyseers/wizards, acolytes, adversaries, devotees, and destroyers try to reclaim and reshape their history…” –KW
“Is it science fiction? Fantasy? Or… well, I don’t care, I just know it was a wild ride and I was sorry when it was over.” — LS
