Epic worldbuilding at its finest, The Splinter King is the second book in the unmissable series started with The Black Coast . Filled with war-dragons, armoured knights, sea-faring raiders, dangerous magic and battle scenes. The world fractures as a dead god rises... Darel, dragon knight and the new leader of Black Keep, must travel to the palace of the God-King to beg for the lives of his people. But in the capital of Narida, Marin and his warrior husband will be drawn into a palace coup, and Princess Tila will resort to murder to keep her hold on power. In the far reaches of the kingdom an heir in exile is hunted by assassins, rumours of a rival God-King abound, and daemonic forces from across the seas draw ever nearer... "A fast and wry SF adventure full of the deviousness and wit of Firefly ." -- Stephen Deas on Dark Run "Intrigue, piracy and action, Dark Run is a page turning SF romp with an edge as sharp as mono-molecular blade." -- Gavin Smith, author of Veteran and War in Heaven "The bonds among the crew continue to be a high point of the writing, as are Brooks's terrific action sequences."-- Publishers Weekly on Dark Deeds , starred review "... if you’re looking for a Firefly-like tale, filled with characters like Damian Frey and the crew of the Ketty Jay, you won’t be disappointed with this one. A quick read, but an immensely entertaining one." -- sffworld.com " Dark Run is a thrill-ride of non-stop action, wise-crackery and adventure in the vast vaults of outer space. I look forward to revisiting Ichabod Drift and the crew of the Keiko time and again… " -- Luke Scull "Brooks’s terrific debut demonstrates that a good caper tale can take place anywhere, even in interstellar space ... Fans of rip-roaring space adventures will greatly enjoy this one." -- Publisher's Weekly "Great fun... Golden Age chic!" -- Stephen Baxter on Dark Run "Mike Brook's Dark Run is a rambunctious, rapidfire rollercoaster of a read. Get signed up and strapped in for a helluva ride!" -- Michael Cobley, author of the Humanity’s Fire series "An outstanding tale of honor, religion, politics, and crime. Epic fantasy readers will find characters to cheer for and action to love." -- Publishers Weekly , starred review ― Publishers Weekly Mike Brooks was born in Ipswich, Suffolk and moved to Nottingham when he was 18 to go to university. He’s stayed there ever since, and now lives with his wife, cats, snakes, and a collection of tropical fish. When not writing he works for a homelessness charity, plays guitar and sings in a punk band, watches football (soccer), MMA and nature/science documentaries, goes walking in the Peak District or other areas of splendid scenery, and DJs wherever anyone will tolerate him. Mike is bisexual / bi+ / whatever equivalent terminology you want to use that doesn’t imply a refusal to acknowledge the validity of trans and/or nonbinary people, and is disabled (partially deaf. No, this happened naturally, and a long time before the punk band).