“Orphans of Rift” is Brian’s first full-length fantasy novel. He is currently querying literary agents.

It’s a trope-twisting tale of misfits and magic, suspense and romance, crossbows and automobiles. It tilts at greed and unchecked power. It crushes the Bechdel test.

Dark magic festers in the hilltop city of Rift, where a deposed queen lurks and revolutionaries plot rebellion. Rift is no place for Wren Harlo, an orphan from the rural Downlands, who has been banished here for eternity. Wren’s escape plan does not include sedating a lascivious official, discovering a gift for conjuring fire, falling in love, or becoming the unwitting face of the revolution. But destiny is rarely planned.