The Hierarchy, high priests of the religious order the Light, rules both the magical kingdom of Albi and its religion. Worshippers in the old ways of the Earth Mother, clandestinely scattered throughout the land, are persecuted as heretics. And when missionary student Rollo Woodbridge returns to his home in Albi, he is arrested for heresy and treason, setting off a chain of events that puts everyone’s life in jeopardy and plunges the kingdom into chaos.

With Rollo in jail, the treacherous motives of the Hierarchy begin in earnest as Earl Uptree of Norcaster puts the entire Woodbridge family at risk. When two wise women rescue Rollo from prison, the family home is destroyed—but Rollo and his siblings are left alive. While his sister Maddy and his brother Brat swear vengeance, Rollo attempts to broker a peace between the faiths. While Maddy works her way into advantageous positions and Brat joins the underground resistance, Rollo tries desperately to save his kingdom’s future. As plots weave inexorably toward one another and life and death hang in the balance, the family must decide whether to stay and fight or leave Albi forever in the suspenseful, action-packed Against the Light.

Originally from Scotland, Dave Duncan has lived all his adult life in Western Canada, having enjoyed a long career as a petroleum geologist before taking up writing. Since discovering that imaginary worlds are more satisfying than the real one, he has published more than forty-five novels, mostly in the fantasy genre, but also young adult, science fiction, and historical. He has at times been Sarah B. Franklin (but only for literary purposes) and Ken Hood (which is short for “D’ye Ken Whodunit?”)
His most successful works have been fantasy series: The Seventh Sword, A Man of His Word and its sequel, A Handful of Men, and six books about The King’s Blades.
He and Janet were married in 1959. They have one son and two daughters, who in

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