Golden Age
The discovery of a strange and superior warship sends Dion, youngest son of the king of Xanthos, and Chloe, a Phalesian princess, on a journey across the sea, where they are confronted by a kingdom far more powerful than they could ever have imagined.
But they also find a place in turmoil, for the ruthless sun king, Solon, is dying. In order to gain entrance to heaven, Solon is building a tomb — a pyramid clad in gold — and has scoured his own empire for gold until there’s no more to be found.
Now Solon’s gaze turns to Chloe’s homeland, Phalesia, and its famous sacred ark, made of solid gold. The legends say it must never be opened, but Solon has no fear of foreigners’ legends or even their armies. And he isn’t afraid of the eldren, an ancient race of shape-shifters, long ago driven into the Wilds.
For when he gets the gold, Solon knows he will live forever.
James Maxwell
James Maxwell is a science fiction and fantasy author. Born in New Zealand and educated in Australia, from a young age he was influenced by the fantasy classics (C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, Jack Vance, Weis & Hickman, David Gemmell, Robert Jordan) before moving on to science fiction (Frank Herbert, Isaac Asimov) and then historical fiction (Wilbur Smith, Ken Follett).
At age 11 he used his parents' MS-DOS computer (with its shiny 20MB hard drive) to teach himself programming, and also to write a 40,000 word fantasy novelette. A year later, aged 12, he attended his first writer's workshop, a three day writer's camp, working with published Australian authors and learning about the industry and the craft. Unfortunately, as yet, no publishers or agents were knocking on the door.
The Shifting Tides
The Shifting Tides consists of four books. The current recommended reading order for the series is provided below.
