The first in a high fantasy trilogy, inspired by Ireland's history of English oppression. With the help of their newly arisen gods, Croí is finally about to fight back against the Empire of the Answering - but are the gods on their side, after all?
19th January 2026
Paperback
PRODUCT INFORMATION
Summary
The first in a high fantasy trilogy, inspired by Ireland's history of English oppression. With the help of their newly arisen gods, Croí is finally about to fight back against the Empire of the Answering - but are the gods on their side, after all?
Description
A proud culture oppressed for centuries. An island over-run by bestial gods. And a girl with the power to raise the fallen . . .
For three hundred years the wild island of Croí has been subject to the Empire of the Answering. Clans have been subjugated, their language outlawed, their religion reduced to the whisper of fugitive priests.
Until Croí's prayers are answered. The Gods return. Feral and majestic, they stride the land as colossi, throwing the Empire into chaos.
The dispossessed and the vengeful struggle for power. A ruthless priestess rallies the faithful, offering a simple choice - believe, or die - even as the empire's Queen makes the first moves in a long and dangerous game.
But for all their machinations, one woman will decide the fate of them all . . . Sister Wake, unwilling saint of the Goddess of Death.
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Critic Reviews
Sister Wake is quite simply dazzling. The vastness of Rudden's rich world is breathtaking while his prose is vivid and exquisite. The words are alive, thrumming on the page and propelling us through this utterly compulsive story Sophie White, award-winning author of Where I End
Sister Wake is the rare epic fantasy that hits on all levels - lushly descriptive, meticulously plotted, dizzyingly vast, and with characters that breathe and bleed with the sort of vigour that makes you look up from the page and wonder that they're not sitting right next to you Andrea Stewart, author of The Bone Shard Daughter
I absolutely loved its epic mix of weird horror and revolutionary intrigue. Heartily recommended Gareth Hanrahan, author of The Sword Defiant
About the Author
Dave Rudden is the author of the award-winning Knights of the Borrowed Dark trilogy as well as several works in the Doctor Who universe. A Creative Fellow at University College Dublin, Dave has written for stage, screen and role-playing games, and his first horror feature script, Help, is in development with Wild Atlantic Pictures. He lives in Dublin with a riotous toddler and a serial killer cat.
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19th January 2026
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