To Know Your Enemy

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Toy Soldier: A derogatory term for an elven marine.

Battles great and terrible, small and bitter, raged across Known Space as the wars of Elves and Orcs played out their legacy of hatred across the stars themselves. Epics would be written, songs would be sung; but wars are fought by real people with loves and families and homes.
Shaundar Sunfall has made it home from the war, but nothing is the same. He doesn't know how to talk to his family, and his relationship with his betrothed is strained. He can't sleep because he's haunted by nightmares, and drinking himself into an oblivion is the only thing that keeps them at bay.
So when Captain Madrimlian offers him a chance to get revenge against the orcs, he seizes it with both hands. The Avalonian Navy has a plan to infiltrate the orcs through transformation magic, sabotage their war efforts, and assassinate their leaders.
Shaundar will become that which he hates to fight the enemies of his people. But when you learn to know your enemy, you might also learn to love them...
Part naval adventure, part high fantasy, part space opera, and part war novel, To Know Your Enemy is the second book in the Toy Soldier Saga and the sequel to A Few Good Elves.

Get the first novel, A Few Good Elves, now!

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Behind the story

SableAradia

Hi! I'm Diane Morrison, a short and long-form fiction hybrid author and editor. I'm one of the creators of the Game of Tomes. I like pickles and bluegrass, and hate talking about myself. An avid National Novel Writing Month participant and gaming geek, I am proudly Canadian and proudly LGBTQ. I co-host a podcast, If This Goes On (Don't Panic), where I get to interview some of my favourite authors and other interesting people in the SFF field. Under my pen name "Sable Aradia" I am a successful Pagan author, a musician, and a Twitch streamer (writing, worldbuilding, RPGs). I live with my partners and our furbaby kittehs in Vernon, BC, where I was born and raised. I'm here to share the worlds of my fiction, and my hubby Erin Righ is adapting them to RPG systems, starting with Pathfinder. You can also read my fiction right here on the site by subscribing to my Patreon.

Sable Aradia & Erin Righ

Broadcasting Info

We broadcast several time a week about writing, RPGs, science fiction and fantasy, and of course, World Anvil.

Regular Schedule

Sundays 11 AM PST/PDT (3 hrs)

Sable's Worldforge - World Anvil worldbuilding

Sundays 6 PM PST/PDT (3-4 hrs)

Toy Soldiers: Old School - Pathfinder RPG campaign in the Toy Soldier Saga

Tuesdays 2 PM PST/PDT (2 hrs)

Ask an Old GM - Erin answers Game Mastering & RPG questions

Tuesdays 5 PM PST/PDT (3 hrs)

Diane Actually Writes - writing sprints, World Anvil, and chill

Wednesdays 11 AM PST/PDT (3 hrs)

Diane Writes - writing, word sprints, and writing questions answered

Thursdays 5 PM PST/PDT (3 hrs)

Diane Actually Writes - writing sprints, World Anvil, and chill

Fridays 2 PM PST/PDT (2 hrs)

Ask an Old GM - Erin answers Game Mastering & RPG questions

Saturdays 2 PM PST/PDT (2.5 hrs)

Write with Erin (and Sometimes Diane) - writing sprints, World Anvil, and chill

Variant Schedule

Last Thursday of each month 11 AM PST/PDT (1 hr)

State of the Multiverse - Sable & Erin community stream --(Wyrd West, Toy Soldier Saga)

Game of Tomes House Leader - House Lapin (Sable)
More information about the Game of Tomes here! If there's a topic you'd like covered DM me on Discord!

Topics

writing

Worldbuilding, RPG, Science Fiction, Fantasy, Music

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Some Reviews:

The Wyrd West

"Saskatchewan gunslinger elves in a world vividly real and detailed. Morrison shows us a rarely explored Weird West landscape." --Cat Rambo, Nebula & World Fantasy Award winning author "A book friend told me about this world of gunfighting elves and I knew I was hooked! Then the writing was great, and that was a bonus!" -- Shane's Book Club "I had no idea what to expect when I started 'Showdown'.I was initially put off by the capitalizations of what I took for time worn stereotypes: the Desperado, the Gunslinger, etc. Then Graeme let us see his elven ears and I was THERE. From that point on a black hole couldn't have sucked me out of the story. Horses with opinions? A Gnome pitching a line to a Gunslinger's sister? A ghost offering advice to that same Gunslinger? Oh, yeah, I'm definitely into this world." --Bonnie Milani, author of Home World and Liquid Gambit. "I loved this book. It was like Fallout meets Firefly meets Supernatural meets Shannara. . . I found myself wanting to know much more about the world the author has created . . . It is packed full of good characterization, a steady plot, and worldbuilding you can really sink your teeth into." -- Katje van Loon, author of Bellica and Stranger Skies "A+ world-building in this one. The Wyrd West is set in the post-apocalyptic Canadian prairies-a new wild west only with magic. Alongside the traditional gunslingers, desperados, First Nations people, saloon owners and courtesans, there are also necromancers, elves, gnomes, Mantis-folk, and some steampunk technology. Even the common elements have been tweaked to be just a little different-the courtesan's guild runs a spy network and the saloon owner has a prosthetic hand. I especially enjoyed the gunslingers' magic and code of honour: the Mark of Cain they wear after killing a bandit, the vigil to the Lord and Lady, the blessed ammunition." -- On Spec Magazine

Toy Soldier Saga

A Few Good Elves

A Few Good Elves is one of the best SFF military stories I've ever read. The world is both logical and imaginative, with a heavy dose of just plain great characters and an adventure to match. There is no lack of humor, darkness, struggle and success in this tale which combines the high fantasy of Lord of the Rings with the naval drama of Master & Commander. The main character has struggles that build an elven culture which results in an epic world - just the right size for a war story that keeps you on the edge of your seat. This book is a great read. No matter what genre you favor, there is something for you to love.
— Sarah Buhrman, Author of The Runespells series

I really enjoyed this. It’s a completely different space faring experience. Very beautiful descriptions. Real characters with lots of depth. Great job! I can’t wait for the next one.
— Sara L. Skroh

Elves ... Orcs ... and the magical science of them sailing through space makes this book as amazing as the beautiful depth of the characters that grips you to its pages until the very end!
— K. S. Bishoff

Eye of the Storm

"Shaundar Sunfall is in a foreign place pretending to be someone he is not. Yet as he gets closer to his "pretend" wife he realizes he has feelings for a woman he is not supposed to care for. This was an interesting story and I wasn't sure exactly what was going on at the beginning and I almost felt as though it belonged within a greater story. I liked the chemistry between the two and I am curious to see what happens with Shaundar's mission." -- Rebecca A. "Eye of the Storm by Diane Morrison stood out for me. I liked the elf/orc dynamic." -- TL Clark, author "Amongst my favorites were the story by Diane Morrison (man oh man, I wished that were a full-length novel -- I'd buy it without hesitation!)" -- Amazon Customer

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