The Three Lands

He vowed himself to his god. Now the god is growing impatient . . .

The Three Lands, a fantasy series on friendship, romance, and betrayal in times of war and peace.

This series is part of Dusk Peterson's Main Bookshelf | More fiction by Dusk Peterson | About the author | Contact information | Site content label (with minor spoilers).

¶ Store: Love in Dark Settings Press paperbacks and e-books.

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RESOURCES

Introduction to The Three Lands. Three paragraphs summarizing the series.

Chronology of the Three Lands of the Great Peninsula. A timeline, periodically updated. Includes spoilers for Three Lands stories already published.

Pronunciation Guide to Proper Names. Includes an MP3 file.

Peter's Family Tree. An Emorian royal genealogy for the period of the Late Charas. Includes minor spoilers for Law Links and Blood Vow.

Law Links

Few events are more thrilling in a Koretian boy's life than a blood feud between two villages. Or so Adrian thought.

Torn between affection toward his traditional-minded father and worship of his peace-loving, heretical priest, Adrian finds himself caught between two incompatible visions of his duty to the gods. Then the Jackal God sends Adrian a message that will disrupt his life and send him fleeing from a danger he knows too well.

This novel is part of The Three Lands, a fantasy series set in a multicultural world where conflicts over law and spirituality provide opportunities for friendship, romance, and betrayal.

¶ Novel: 160,000 words.

EXCERPT – Law Links: Excerpt.

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Death Mask

For nineteen years, he has survived in an army unit where few soldiers live more than two or three years. Then he finds himself in circumstances where his life is a living hell. Will the soldier who defied death find that life is too great a challenge?

¶ Novel.

EXCERPT – Death Mask: Excerpt.

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Blood Vow

He has taken a blood vow to the Jackal God to bring freedom to his land by killing Koretia's greatest enemy. But what will he do when the enemy becomes his friend?

Thrust into exile and pain, young Andrew has no choice but to accept the friendship of the very person he had vowed to kill. When he returns with his friend to his homeland fifteen years later, though, he finds himself in a land of conflicting loyalties . . . where a vengeful god awaits him.

¶ Novel: 120,000 words | Genre tags (with minor spoilers).

E-BOOK EDITIONS

Blood Vow (Kindle e-book edition).

Also included in Love in Dark Settings Omnibus (HTML e-book).

BOOKTRAILER

Includes mild spoilers for Part One of the novel.

¶ Trouble watching or downloading the video?

Watch the trailer for Blood Vow.

Download the trailer for Blood Vow. Go to the linked page and choose the format you want. Click on that format and choose "Save" or "Save to Disk."

ONLINE EDITION

Blood Vow 1: The Gods' Land.
Blood Vow 2: Land of the Chara.
Blood Vow 3: The Look of the Chara.
Blood Vow 4: Land of the Jackal.
Blood Vow 5: The Eyes of the Jackal.
Blood Vow 6: The God's Land.
Blood Vow: Back Matter.

Re-creation

What can you give a slave who, by law, can own nothing?

A 2008 holiday gift story for Dusk Peterson's readers.

¶ Novelette: 17,000 words | Genre tags (with minor spoilers) | Reviews.

ONLINE EDITION – Re-creation.

Law of Vengeance

For over twenty years, Carle has told the heir to the Emorian throne that vengeance is only the other side of mercy, and that disobedience and treachery should never be forgiven. Finally it seems that his message has been received. Which makes it all the more unfortunate that Carle should have chosen this moment to break the law.

As war threatens and the foundations of his life crumble, his only hope for rescue lies with a man who has every reason to hate Carle.

¶ Novel: 150,000 words.

EXCERPT – Law of Vengeance: Excerpt.

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Breached Boundaries

The boundaries of rank declare that Serva can be a princess or she can be a slave. But for the bastard daughter of the King of Daxis, life is not that simple.

Forced to be a tool in a battle waged by her land's unstable King and his dangerously devious heir, Serva cannot even find refuge among her fellow slaves. Instead, she secretly explores the hidden portions of the palace. In this way, she meets an imprisoned spy who is scheduled for execution.

But when a simmering war bubbles to the surface, Serva must choose where her loyalties lie. She must also solve the mystery of the spy's past, and of her own future.

¶ Novel: 120,000 words.

EXCERPT – Breached Boundaries: Excerpt.

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Bard of Pain

In the battle-weary lands of the Great Peninsula, only one fate is worse than being taken prisoner by the Lieutenant: being taken prisoner if you are the Lieutenant.

As the world's most skilled torturer struggles with his change of fortune, he finds that his fate is intertwined with the destinies of an idealistic army commander, an affectionate prisoner, and a protégé who reveres the Lieutenant's art . . . but is on the wrong side of the conflict.

¶ Novella: 38,000 words | Genre tags (with minor spoilers) | Reviews.

E-BOOK EDITION

Included in Love in Dark Settings Omnibus (HTML e-book).

BOOKTRAILER

¶ Trouble watching or downloading the video?

Watch the trailer for Bard of Pain.

Download the trailer for Bard of Pain. Go to the linked page and choose the format you want. Click on that format and choose "Save" or "Save to Disk."

AUDIO BOOK EDITION

Bard of Pain (free MP3 audio book).

ACCESSIBLE EDITIONS FOR THE DISABLED

Bard of Pain (free braille and DAISY editions). More information about the braille and DAISY editions.

ONLINE EDITION

Bard of Pain 1: The Darkness.
Bard of Pain 2: The Fire.
Bard of Pain: Back Matter.

Mystery

Three days ago he faced death by fire. Now he faces a bigger challenge.

¶ Novella: 27,000 words | Genre tags (with minor spoilers) | Reviews.

ONLINE EDITION – Mystery.

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This text, or a variation on it, was originally published at duskpeterson.com as part of the series The Three Lands. Copyright © 2002-2010 Dusk Peterson. Some rights reserved. The text is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial License (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0). You may freely print, post, e-mail, share, or otherwise distribute the text for noncommercial purposes, provided that you include this paragraph. The author's policies on derivative works and fan works are available online (duskpeterson.com/copyright.htm).

Cover designs: Dusk Peterson. Art credits. Permission is granted for the reposting and reprinting of the banner, covers, and story summaries for the purposes of providing information on Dusk Peterson's writings. Please link to duskpeterson.com if possible.