The Far Threshold
The 10,000 Spirits Cycle, Book 1
Cassa’s father abandoned her at birth, for want of a son. Sixteen years later, he wants her back.
The only home Cassa has ever known is a hut on a remote coast of ancient Korea. Shunned by the villagers for her wild and solitary ways, she roams the forest alone and dives for octopus and abalone with the rugged diving women.
When a band of soldiers come with promises of finding her lost family, Cassa follows them on a mountain road where assassins wait to hunt her down. She finds shelter at the palace where her father is king, but even there she uncovers conspiracies that threaten her father’s life as well as her own.
While striving to learn the ways of a princess, Cassa secretly studies the fighting arts, and is drawn to a mysterious destiny beyond the palace walls. She finds help from unlikely allies: a slave warrior, a failed sorceress, an aging scholar with a quick sword. The feared mountain tigers come to protect and guide her, and she earns the love of the common folk, who believe she possesses magical powers.
Cassa dreams of a peaceful life and healing for her broken family, but when she is called to risk all in a quest to save her father and his kingdom, can she and her friends defeat the dark powers that gather to stop her?
Cassa’s story comes from the legend of the First Shaman, an ancient tale that Korean shamans still sing in their rituals today. It begins with The Far Threshold, and will continue in upcoming volumes of the 10,000 Spirits Cycle.