Practicing the ancient art of Akiun is punishable by death. When the warrior Jenna and her brother Hahn come to the city of Frethenia to flee from the price on their heads and start a new life, all goes well. But soon they discover a plot by the church to cover up damning knowledge, a Brotherhood of Evil that operates under the same church, and a growing connection to the Prophecy of the New Queen of Trefolk. Cast into a deadly maelstrom of assassination and intrigue, Jenna must risk revealing her true identity to save her city, her people, and her brother.

When the Akiun warrior, Tulascarri, is poisoned, she loses her paranormal abilities. Betrayed and ambushed on the battlefield, she is left for dead. A Bandori man, one of those she was paid to kill, nurses her back to health. But what purpose could the gods possibly have for a broken warrior? Ayr of Whispers, priestess of the island of Athiera, discovers that one of the sacred stones is missing. Without it the island will perish. But the head of her order does not believe her, and Ayr learns she may be losing her mind. In the Desert of Broken Hopes, Tulascarri discovers redemption may be possible. On the island of Athiera, Ayr of Whispers dares to defy her superior, unaware her life is in danger. United by mysterious events, two women from different worlds embark on a quest to recover the Southern Rune, and in the process, they discover much, much more. A prequel set two cycles before the events of The Brotherhood of Sfarr, The Southern Rune tells the tale of how the warrior Tulascarri found her way back to the light.

Mike Starr had a remarkable career in Canadian politics. In June 1957, he was appointed Minister of Labour in John Diefenbaker’s cabinet and created a sensation, especially among Canadian ethnocultural groups. He made political history as the first Ukrainian Canadian appointed to federal cabinet. As Minister of Labour, Starr was faced with numerous national problems, including seasonal unemployment, regional disparities, union negotiations and emerging militant nationalism in Quebec. When the Diefenbaker government was defeated in the 1963 federal election, Starr returned to his earlier role as Member of Parliament. With the changing Canadian political environment, he was defeated by a tiny margin in the 1968 federal election. Starr continued his distinguished career of public service from 1968 to 1980. He promoted the increasing involvement of ethnocultural groups in Canada political life. In recent decades, it has become a political norm to have members of various ethnocultural and visible minority groups elected to the House of Commons, and appointed to Cabinet and other senior government positions. For breaking this barrier, Mike Starr was indeed a pioneer in Canadian politics. This book is published in English.