As of last night, I’ve begun what I hope will be final proofread/edit of the third World Spectrum novel, Human Again. I thought this might be a good opportunity to offer a little teaser, so without further ado, I present you the first 200 words of the opening chapter to Human Again, “Beyond Tyzu.”

Naturally, this will represent a significant spoiler for the first two books.

* * *

The regent-lady of Pira was a dour woman. She smiled to her servants, and no one could say she was ever anything but polite and friendly, but any warmth she displayed was only skin-deep.

What she did not show to her people, what she tried to keep hidden, was the cold, empty void that had existed in her heart since the end of the last war. She told no one of the nightmares that plagued her, of her midnight visits to the tomb of her predecessor, the martyred Prince Tyrom.

Her servants found out anyway, and though they loved her with all their hearts, she knew they feared for her mental state. “Married to a dead man,” they muttered when they thought she couldn’t hear.

She had long since given up on herself. She had suffered too much and lost too many people – it had a left a piece of her missing, a piece she did not think she would ever get back. She now lived only for Pira, for the noble people who had suffered so much without letting it break their pride, and who so reminded her of Tyrom. She loved them, and she would do anything to give them the life they deserved, but for herself, she felt only emptiness and sorrow.

But today was different. Today, Leha smiled.

* * *

Well, gee, that seems upbeat, doesn’t it?

*Ominous music.*