Neck of Ivory: Book I of The Shinoro (Volume 1)

Neck of Ivory is the first book of The Shinoro, a tale of the bonds and enmities between two cursed nemesis of ancient origin, who have been brought into conflict again by the worldly events of a civil war's aftermath. It is a more personal look at a world of the deadly intricacies between sword-saints and guardians of knowledge, cults, syndicates, religions, armies and agents. It is a mid-fantasy novel by Timothy Matthew Haggerty. Neck of Ivory tells the story of a reconstruction of a vassal state, as well as the histories of the people who fight for it, in the past, foreshadowing their relations, and present, where their relationships are tested, linked to one another in consequential ways, that have implications throughout the novel. A lesser scion and his friend are tasked to this land from childhood: We follow his trials, and failings, and his unwilling tutelage in manipulation and power, and the value of integrity and truth, during the most unlikely of rises to power. And ultimately his loss of self-determination in a volatile cordon between two hegemony vying for power on an alien moon with a deep, haunting history. The Shinoro offers a vibrant and visceral view into an often stark, often beautiful feudal culture, with an otherworldly ecosystem and people: their romance, their everyday way of life, and their dis assembly under duress. Facing the primeval threat that formulated them, warrior sects and societies guide the ordinary people from the machinations that consume empires, but more vitally to that, ordinary people with extraordinary responsibility, from within. Includes: 370 pages, detailed territorial map on back-cover of the trade-back.