Sword & Board LLC’s mission is to support and create new, inclusive intellectual property for use in media, primarily novelization and gamification. Sword & Board believes in diverse, independent storytelling and providing a means for publishing that may not otherwise be available to creators. We believe that it is our responsibility to “Do No Harm” with the stories we tell.
This doesn’t stop us from showcasing difficult or challenging stories, but to do so in a well-researched way that encourages meaningful discussion.
Our current main project is The Gods Chronicle, a series set in a world inspired by Middle Eastern, African, and Asian influences. It reaches beyond the Euro-centric model of western fantasy classics. If you’re a fan of Game of Thrones, the Daevabad Trilogy, or The Poppy War trilogy, you’ll enjoy The Gods Chronicle. Currently, book 1 The Dying Sun is available in both hardcover and ebook editions.
What Have Patrons Helped Fund?
Artwork, editing, and publication of The Dying Sun
Convention attendance
Research, research, research
What Have People Said About The Gods Chronicle?
“As a Muslim and a South Asian man, I don’t think I will EVER have a comparable experience to reading through a fantasy novel and seeing parts of myself represented on the page. It is done with the utmost accuracy and respect. This is representation and research done right.”
-Zaid Hasan, GoodReads
“If you love epic fantasy with a hefty dose of court politics and meddling gods, then The Dying Sun might be the read for you.”
- Katharine Tucker, GoodReads
“If you grew up on a diet of Tolkien and works inspired by him, but want something different from the usual European medieval background then you should give this book a read. Anyone who's a fan of the fantasy genre will find it familiar enough to be able to follow and finish it easily, but will hopefully find the angle and content as refreshing as I did for a change of pace (there's also a handy glossary in the back for a lot of the terms Western readers might not be familiar with).”
-Kasey Ripley, Amazon
An Excerpt from The Dying Sun:
Breathe, Ruya told herself. She clutched a thick tome to her chest and shut her eyes. Eerie silence washed over her. The room was rank with the familiar scent of decay. She’d sat at the deathbeds of hundreds, if not thousands, of people at this point in her life. A necessary duty of the high priestess of death.
But she’d never seen anything like this before. Bodies were sprawled all over the catacombs, easily a hundred people all piled haphazardly atop each other. She tried not to look at their faces as she walked over and around them. They weren’t the first casualties of this war.
They wouldn’t be the last.
She hesitated before she entered the last room in the catacombs. In the center was a large sandstone ossuary. The flickering light of a single torch sent shadows dancing across the pale walls. Ruya approached and pushed the stone lid halfway off. She placed the tome inside reverently. The lid slid shut with a final, echoing thud. Pale-green necrotic fog began to slip out of the crack between the lid and the ossuary itself.
“Was this really necessary?” Ruya asked herself.
“Yes.”
The voice came from the shadows, and Ruya jumped. A tall creature emerged, human in all appearances but decidedly not. Ruya sighed in relief, then shivered. Her now-empty hands rubbed her arms from the cold.
“Kyran, I knew them. All of them.” Ruya gestured toward the archway where a few of the corpses were visible. She didn’t look. She didn’t want to see their empty faces looking back at her. Ruya didn’t trust her legs to support her if she did.
“Their sacrifice will be remembered.” Kyran wiped blood off his pale hands onto his salwar. He approached Ruya and wrapped his arm around her with uncharacteristic warmth. Ruya took to it, leaning on him.
“Where is Tsillah?” Ruya asked, craning her neck behind him to see if she could make out the devata anywhere.
“She’s exploring her new home,” Kyran said. “We should leave.” He glanced to the walls. The white stone was beginning to sprout black necrotic rot that grew rapidly outward like vines.
Ruya nodded. She had no desire to be here any longer. The curse would spread quickly and leave this place unsafe for anyone other than Tsillah. Kyran took Ruya’s hand, leading her away from the ossuary. She carefully tiptoed around the bodies, following in Kyran’s footsteps toward the light of the High Temple.
Back to the world of the living.
Back to the war.