Shade and Sorceress

Book excerpt: The powerful and learned Mancers arrive in Eliza’s town to take her away to their Citadel. The only problem is they have made a terrible mistake – Eliza isn’t the powerful Sorceress they think her to be. Or is she? Eliza is stunned to learn her father, Rom Tok, has been keeping important secrets: her mother’s death wasn’t from pneumonia, but the death of all great Shang Sorceresses: killed in battle against evil forces. Even so, Eliza’s lessons with the Mancers at their Citadel show them what she has always known – she can’t do any magic. The final brave act of Eliza’s mother was to trap the evil Xia Sorceress, Nia, in an Arctic prison. But Nia is still powerful enough to use her minions to capture Rom Tok. Escaping the Citadel with her best friend Nell and new friend Charlie, Eliza sets off to rescue her father. They seek help from the Triumvirate, an uneasy alliance of ultimate power – the Oracle, the King of the Faeries, and Swarn, the witch who delivered Eliza as a baby. They try to stop her, but she is determined. She knows she’s connected to the Xia Sorceress somehow. What awaits Eliza in the Arctic is more horrible than she could have imagined. Abandoned by the Mancers and the Triumvirate, she must rely on her friends and her own wits and common sense to succeed in her quest. Shade and Sorceress is Catherine Egan’s first published novel. Her short fiction has appeared in several publications in the USA and Canada. Catherine currently resides in Princeton, NJ.