Daughter of the Sword
Women have no place… Except in the hands of fate.
As the firstborn son of General Calloway, Mera’s twin brother, Luke, has trained his entire life to inherit the magic in his bloodline and serve his kingdom in a vicious, century-long war. In a society with no regard for women, she has grown up so deep in his shadow that she does not know herself beyond him, in a light of her own.
The powers are unpredictable. Once the child hits adolescence, they appear randomly, and her family, having waited nearly a decade, are beyond impatient. But the Gifting is close. The seer has foretold it. Just as the prophecy predicts that the new generation will be the one to end the conflict once and for all.
Mera has waited as anxiously as the entire kingdom for her brother’s awakening, for him to fulfill his destiny as the Champion, drawing on nineteen years of ruthless training to bring a swift end to a terrible war. She cannot wait to watch him become a hero, a victor, the saviour of the land.
Until the day she wakes up with the powers instead.
A kingdom and former colony consumed by a centuries-long war for control of a fallen empire. A court who view women in leadership as blasphemy, forced to train a woman to lead or risk losing the war–and the rest of the colonies. And a woman who, once she comes into her power, may not want to give it up.
Nearing completion, this second, separate work has been an endeavour while Talia completes her postsecondary education at the University of Toronto. It draws heavily upon her learnings in History and Sociocultural Anthropology as an exploration of extreme patriarchal culture and its formation around empire–and the psychological and physical journey of a woman discovering and coming to fight for her agency within it. A dramatic, captivating story of trailblazing and fighting back against oppressive systems, and particularly poignant in the era of #MeToo, it chronicles women’s empowerment and channels the ongoing frustrations faced by women and other genders in today’s male-dominated society. In addition, the novel develops critiques of empire, and how categories such as gender are connected to race, class, and imperialism, advocating for women’s freedom in all its forms… Including stepping beyond gender.
Exploring womanhood, strength, and vulnerability in its many forms amidst the violence of empire, this novel is an upper-Young Adult story that weaves together the romance and world-building of Sarah J. Maas’ A Court of Thorns and Roses and Marie Rutkoski’s The Winner’s Curse, fused with the magical adventure of Maas’ Throne of Glass series. Featuring a diverse cast of characters, LGBTQ2SI+ romance, and #OwnVoices for ADHD, it is a novel about loyalty, love, and recognizing what each of us deserves–even if we must betray our allegiances to get it.