Shackles and Shards: Shattered ARC interest form
If you are thinking, "Hey, I think I signed up for this already," you might have! BUT. I recently migrated from one mailing service to another and there was a hiccough. Entirely my fault! But yeah, I messed up and I don't have the list of interested arc readers anymore. Woops! So if you are interested in reviewing my "Shadow Magic Wielding Death Priestess with Headmates goes on an adventure with her girlfriends and her dragon to save democracy from an evil necromancer" book, please sign up (potentially again).
Expected Release: October 2026
Romance: Polyamorous sapphics (F/F/X)
Setting: Secondary world fantasy / queer-norm
Sresca has lived her whole life in service of Dana—the Goddess of Death and Lady of Sorrow. Yet that is not enough; she hopes to join the Goddess herself in the underworld as her chosen, a position which requires Sresca to give up her memories, emotions, and ties to the world of the living. Something she is all too eager to do if it means being closer to Dana.
But first she must undergo a series of trials.
While Sresca prepares, a former duke notes her resemblance to the lost princess, thought to have perished in the revolution. With Sresca as his puppet-queen, he can conquer the fledgling democracy that stripped him of his lands and titles. But the full scope of his plan is darker still and he is just one person in a far larger, and more ancient plot. Even with the shadowy powers of her Goddess at her command, Sresca won’t be able to stop him alone.
Her only allies are a beautiful knight who claims they were once engaged and a fierce assassin who says they were once lovers; both stir emotions in her heart despite her not remembering either of her new companions; feelings that she swore off long ago in order to serve her Goddess.
Accompanied by her companions, Sresca must abandon her Goddess and journey into the unknown in order to free herself from the would-be tyrant and save the republic and everyone who calls it home.
Credits:
Cover Art: May Barros
Cover Typography: Dax Murray
Cover was designed and illustrated without the use of generative AI. For more information, please see the author's anti-AI promise.
Interior Design: Dax Murray using Lacuna Pub software
This book was written, edited, proofread, and formatted without the use of LLMs or other generative technologies. All associated art and design was done by human professionals that are also firmly anti-AI.
SHACKLES AND SHARDS: Shattered is the third novel in the SCIONS AND SHADOWS series, but it can be read without any previous exposure to my world. Review copies of the first two novels can be provided for people who want the full experience.
SHACKLES AND SHARDS: SHATTERED started out as one single book. But at chapter 7 of 25, I realized I was oh page 400... Yeah. I restructured it into 3 books. So this book will end on something of a cliffhanger. It has a full narrative arc of its own, but there will be questions left dangling for book 2 (Shackles and Shards: Sacrificed), expected late 2027 or early 2028.
Content warnings and disclaimers:
This book features a protagonist with Dissociative Identity Disorder. This is an ownvoices representation, but DID is a very individual disorder. No two people with DID experience it the same way. My person presentation is outwardly covert while inwardly confusing and that is the sort of experience I am presenting here. Because of the nature of DID, it being the result of childhood trauma or neglect, these are subject matters that come up. While they are discussed, nothing is ever presented on page.
Other forms of plurality, such an endogenic plurality, are not depicted in this book. The focus of this book is the experience unique to those living with not just severe trauma, but dissociation and how it affects ones life.
Other issues that come up / are explored:
- Manipulation and blackmail
- Claustrophobic settings
- Ritual sacrifice (blood and animal)
- Child soldiers (Magical)
- Consensual intercourse including elements of BDSM
Reviewer Name / Review Blog Name
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Reviewer Website / Carrd / Linktree / StoryGraph (best place I can learn more about you and the books you like)
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Which of my books have you read?
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Which of my books have you read?
Would you like review copies of previous books in the series?
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Would you like review copies of previous books in the series?
I promise I will not use LLMs or other generative technologies to write my review. I will not feed the book into an LLM and I will not ask an LLM to write all or part of my review.
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I promise I will not use LLMs or other generative technologies to write my review. I will not feed the book into an LLM and I will not ask an LLM to write all or part of my review.
Where do you plan to review or promote a review you wrote? Select as many or as few as you like, I'm just curious. This doesn't affect you getting a book.
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Where do you plan to review or promote a review you wrote? Select as many or as few as you like, I'm just curious. This doesn't affect you getting a book.
I understand that I am requesting a book the prominently features lesbians. I am okay with reading spicy scenes between consenting lesbians.
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I understand that I am requesting a book the prominently features lesbians. I am okay with reading spicy scenes between consenting lesbians.
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Would you like to also subscribe to my author newsletter for other updates?
Thank you so much for your interest in SHACKLES AND SHARDS: SHATTERED. I will be reaching out to you in the coming months with next steps and a copy of the book! Please whitist email addresses ending in @daxmurray.com so you don't miss my email!
