Honor & Heresy

Northgard has known war for far too long, but the city’s plight has just begun.

Roy Dawnseve, the prospective heir to his family’s manor, cares more for philosophy than battle. In a society that shuns literature and thrives on violence, his luck is wearing thin. But Roy is given a choice: he can join the frontlines and fight the mysterious soldiers invading Northgard’s shores—or he can search for answers to the enemy's identity within the Orphic Basilica, an ancient, abandoned library.

The Basilica isn’t without its horrors, though. Strange voices echo down the halls. The scent of mildew and death lingers in the air. And Roy’s only companion is Percival Atherton, a manipulative, enigmatic scholar who has no qualms about belittling Roy.

As a fierce snowstorm sinks its claws deeper into the city, Roy must grapple with the ghosts of his tormented past, an ageless conspiracy… and a war he cannot seem to escape.

The first book in a dark epic fantasy series, Max Francis’s debut novel explores the mystical power of literature and the price of belief.