Tracato: one of the best new fantasy novels I’ve read all year.

Joel Shepherd's Tracato, the third book in his A Trial of Blood & Steel series, shouldn't be hitting shelves any day now. And just in time for its release, Stefan of Fantasy Literature has proclaimed it, "one of the best new fantasy novels I’ve read all year."

He writes:

"With the third book in a series of such complexity, it becomes hard to include many plot details without also including spoilers, so this is intentionally vague: you’ll find romance, conflict and betrayal ratcheted up to entirely new levels. Characters’ morality and loyalty comes in so many shades of grey that black and white may seem a faint memory by the time you’re done. There are some edge-of-your-seat scenes describing warfare that are, in a word, simply awesome — especially those including the serrin light cavalry. There are a few scenes that are extremely dark, but also some that may have you cheering out loud for the characters. In a nutshell, it’s hard to imagine that readers who have been following the story so far in Sasha and Petrodor will be anything less than satisfied with Tracato — not to say chomping at the bit to get the fourth and final book in the series, Haven ... Tracato is simply one of the best fantasy novels of the year. Highly recommended."