With The Last Gift-Knight set for release on April 1st, 2026, I have set up pre-orders on a number of ebook retailers. You can check them out by following this universal link and choosing your store of preference or by checking out any of the links below:
Are you a fantasy book reviewer?
Do you review books on a website, blog, Goodreads, Storygraph, or any other book review site? Do you genuinely enjoy reading fantasy? Then I would like to offer you a digital reviewer’s copy.
Follow this link to a Google Form to register for your advance review copy.
Frustrated with living in the shadow of a long-dead hero, Derek flees to infamous ruins and begs his ancestors for a sign. The next day, he is summoned to serve as the personal guard of his family’s greatest enemy. The ensuing journey leads him through storied places, the depths of loneliness, and a growing dread over what awaits at his destination.
A reserved and bookish princess unexpectedly finds herself on the throne yet under suspicion. Chandra hardly has time to prepare or to grieve before facing her duties. Aided by a trustworthy few, she must identify and defeat the culprits before the next plot comes to fruition—one in which Derek is unwittingly key.
Content warnings: medieval combat, weaponless combat, marital argumentation, death and grieving, and a brief depiction of verbal abuse.
The cover art
This cover art by Jenn St-Onge works from a couple of inspirations. She can no doubt offer deeper insight, but I can only speak to my own perspective of the process.
One is the cover of the book that I had completely rewritten to produce this one, The Gift-Knight’s Quest. That cover had in turn been partly inspired by the Knight of Swords tarot card, so it carried a pale horse, big fire energy, and one belligerent knight.
My goal was not just to have the original art reproduced in a unique style. Like the book it represents, the new art bears elements of the old while travelling its own path. For instance, the colour of Derek’s horse Gale: not immediately described in the book, so the original cover art’s depiction serves as canon. The palette maintains that fiery spirit. Derek keeps a riding cloak which in this moment is dramatically flowing in the wind.
The other inspiration is a scene being hinted at from the very first chapter of The Last Gift-Knight. Keeping too strictly to the scene would have limited the elements of the piece (and artistic license, which I prefer to allow); however, the setting, the time of day approaching sunset, and the characters involved including figures visible in the foreground are true to the scene.
One might imagine the fourth man to be present, albeit just out of the picture. I will let the reader learn what I mean.
This is not, however, the full picture. The wraparound art intended for the paperback edition is in progress.
