A necromancer. A crumbling empire. And a mind that may be her greatest enemy. Dark fantasy for readers who like their politics corrupt and their magic dangerous.The Viiminian Empire rots from within, its dominion mere walking corpses and fading memory. Everyone knows its glory is gone. Everyone except Rhea Phuul.
Confronted with the painful decay of the once-mighty Empire, Rhea has taken up the mantle of the Eternals: the restoration of her society and its ancient faith. Only when long-forgotten duties are carried out might the Empire again find renewal.
But Rhea must convince the people of Tuonako to heed an outsider of no great lineage. Her fiancé's family bring prestige, but they also bring age-old enemies. Rhea is no schemer. But her greatest foe (even more than the grim-faced Establishment and its shadow-stalking Inquisition) may lie deep within her own mind.
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Dark, philosophically rich, and morally unsparing, Old Phuul sits in the tradition of Stephen R. Donaldson's unflinching moral complexity and Joe Abercrombie's grimdark political realism. The Viiminian Empire is a world where necromancy is not mere window dressing but the beating heart of a society in collapse, and where the most dangerous battles are fought inside the self.
Old Phuul is book 2 in the Viiminian Empire series. It is set after the events in Wise Phuul, but an be read as a standalone.
Please note: this title contains an explicit content warning for necrophilia, in addition to assault, death, kidnapping, mental illness, murder, terminal illness, and torture.
About the Author :
Daniel Stride is a long-time fantasy reader and all-round geek, having fallen in love with The Lord of the Rings aged nine (he still thinks The Silmarillion is the best book ever written).He spent far too long at University, where he accumulated multiple degrees in-between lobbying politicians and fighting for doomed causes. But he wasn't really a career student - honest - he even had a respectable nine years working for the local newspaper. And now he's a qualified lawyer and security guard...Apart from reading, writing, and teaching himself foreign languages, he's a member of the Society for Creative Anachronism, with a taste for reconstructing medieval skaldic verse. His only true weakness is chocolate. And cats. But not chocolate cats, because the fur would get all sticky.Dan lives in Dunedin, New Zealand. Upon completing his second novel, Old Phuul, he is currently working on increasing his number of short story publications, and developing a Beowulf-length epic poem in verse.
Review :
"The Phuuls are back! This time, Rhea Phuul takes the spotlight to navigate deadly challenges in the great city of Tuonako. Stride delivers both a compelling protagonist and a fresh fantasy setting." - Paul Leone, author of Mysterious Albion
"The cultures, histories, traditions, and taboos all have an authentic and multi-layered feel... The political machinations and interplay of the various powers are a major driving point. The characters are believable and compelling, with a wide and diverse range of personalities." - Mark McCabe, author of The Heart of Night Saga (review of Wise Phuul)
"Magic, faith, and politics all play a part in a book that's far more complex than I expected... The dead are an integral part of the world and its story. It's a gritty world and a gritty story, with genuine drama and tension." - Beauty in Ruins, Top Fantasy Amazon Reviewer (review of Wise Phuul)
