AVAILABLE NOW — The Lion

In the beginning, when the world is new, Jad the young shepherd meets his god, and his god is an idiot.

But before Jad can tell anyone, he and his friend, Tez, stumble across a Rada soldier in the river, bleeding from a sword strike. He tells the boys that Phentinite soldiers are coming to take their village, and kill anyone who resists.

Jad’s father says they’ll fight. Their god will protect them. The Rada soldier says many gods have been fed to the Phentinite empire’s terrible god eater, including his own. If only, he says, the village had a Speaker of magic — who Jad’s father would deem a terrible heretic — only then might they be able to save their village.

And the Rada is looking directly at Jad.