Next month, in April, The Shadowed Throne – book two of the Risen Sun trilogy – will be published here in Australia and in New Zealand. That’s only four weeks away!

And so, in keeping with tradition, it’s time for some teasers. Don’t read them if you haven’t read The Shadow’s Heir, or if you’d prefer to go into the new book completely blind. For everyone else… here you go! Here are some facts which I can confirm about The Shadowed Throne…

-At the end of The Shadow’s Heir, Laela became Queen of the North. But now she’s in more danger than ever before; not only does her father’s cousin  Saeddryn want to get rid of her, but the Night God does as well. Things will get ugly, and fast

-A major character from the first trilogy will die

-But new major character will also appear on the scene. That’s already been given away by the blurb and the cover, so I can come out and say it: the new character is Kullervo Taranisäii, son of Skade and Arenadd. Kullervo is an interesting character; he’s Arenadd’s son, but he’s nothing like him, or Skade. Frankly he’s something of an oddity in my world: unlike everyone else Kullervo’s not a schemer, or ambitious, or cruel. He’s sweet, soft-hearted and gentle despite his griffinish instincts. While writing him, I just wanted to give him a big hug.

-Is Arenadd really gone for good? The answer might be revealed in this book, or at least partly revealed

-In this book we see the consequences of a griffin messing with magic

-We will also finally meet a character who we know exists but haven’t seen so far in the flesh: Saeddryn’s son Caedmon, who was Arenadd’s heir apparent until shortly before Laela’s arrival on the scene.

-Laela’s ex-lover Yorath will make a brief appearance, but their affair is well and truly over now

-And finally… there’s a character everyone has forgotten about and who the other characters assume is dead. But they’re not dead, and in The Shadowed Throne they’ll come back into the centre of things – older, wiser, and bent on revenge…