Stars and Soil

“Don’t trust anyone, Lady Caitlin. Not even me. Especially not me. You can have allies here, but this court does not allow you the luxury of friends.”

The land is dying, commoners are protesting, and workers are revolting. The king is ailing, but the prince is not stepping in to quell the unrest.

Caitlin doesn't care—she hasn't cared about anything since the day her world shattered and she lost everything. But fate intervenes to make her care, throwing first a rebellion leader and then the spoiled prince in her path, giving her the influence and power to rule the realm as queen or tear it all down from the inside.

Caitlin would be more than happy to destroy the kingdom, but there's more to the story than the rebels know. Darker forces lurk behind the throne, and if Caitlin is to keep her head attached to her shoulders, she will need to learn more about court politics and ignore the fluttering of her heart whenever she sees a certain court lady.

Caught in a web of deception and conspiracies—militant revolutionaries, cryptic priestesses, and a secretive lady-in-waiting with a ruthless family—Caitlin must unravel the truth of a long-hidden magical prophecy, or she will become yet another pawn of an enemy far more dangerous than a tyrannical king. An enemy that has been plotting in the shadows for centuries.

And it has its sights set on making Caitlin into its weapon.

Stars and Soil is the first novel in the Scions and Shadows series and is perfect for those who like their fantasy full of court gossip, political intrigue, shifting alliances, deep worldbuilding, backstabbing and betrayal, and sapphic and disability representation. Fans of Seth Dickinson's The Traitor Baru Cormorant and Tessa Gratton's The Queens of Innis Lear will feel right at home in this magical, queer-normative world.

Spice Level: 🌶️ 🌶️ 🌶️ 

Rep: 

Main character: sapphic, bisexual

Secondary characters: sapphic, aromantic, asexual, trans, non-binary, achillean, disability (POTS, PTSD), neurodivergent

Content Notes: contains depictions of discussions of consumption of drugs and alcohol, consensual physical intimacy including kink, abortion, pregnancy, infertility, contraception, execution, civil unrest, oppressive systems and people, violence, murder, domestic violence, religious abuse, uprisings, revolution, grief, loss. If you feel I am missing something, please report it on my main website. Everyone has individual sensitivities, boundaries, and triggers and I am happy to update this list to accommodate within reason. 

Interior Art: Etheric Tales

Cover: GetCovers

Word Count: 135,000

Interior Formatting: Dax Murray 

Editors & Proofreaders: Ingrid Moon, Liz Sauco

PROVIDED FILE TYPES: epub, mobi, pdf 

PRAISE FOR STARS AND SOIL

A complex story about grief and trying to find both agency in one's life and what one wants out of it, Stars and Soil has a large, diverse cast of characters - some charming, some despicable, but all complex and real. Tons of description paints vivid pictures that really draw you into the environment and the story, and the intrigue will leave you second-guessing everyone's motives as the events of the present eerily echo events of the past that refuse to let go.

~ Liz Sauco, Author of the Blades of the Goddess

Stars and Soil hits the ground running with the introduction of Caitlin, a woman coming to terms with everything that’s happened to her while simultaneously navigating her moral proclivities in a society filled with pirates, religious zealots, and the ever-shifting world mercantile business. She comes to odds with her own family, battling frustrations she buried in her heart for years, the anger and isolation of being uprooted, and the resentment towards having others direct her life. Dax has a very emotionally convincing main character, making her journey through her fantastical world all the more engaging. I look forward to seeing the rest of Caitlin’s journey.

~ Ka'ua Lara, Author of A New World For You

"Dax Murray has a way of getting you hooked and their descriptive style is quite endearing. Their will to craft a world that is so unapologetically and simply queer was also something that made me quite happy while reading." - NetGalley Reviewer 

"You can tell how much work has gone into the worldbuilding. Fascinating cultures and magic systems, and plenty of intriguing threads that can be addressed in later works." - Amazon Reviewer 

"The world-building is intricate and immersive, drawing you into a universe filled with rich lore and compelling characters." - Amazon Reviewer 

"I really enjoyed the overall worldbuilding and magical elements and loved the nuances of the political intrigue. Definitely recommend this book with a hot cup of cocoa and some tissues to help you work through the expansive range of emotions this will invoke." - NetGalley Reviewer

2024 INDIE INK AWARD NOMINEE:

• Best book cover and cover artist,
• Best morally gray character,
• Best setting,
• Side Character MVP,
• WTFWN: Bisexual or Biromantic Representation,
• WTFWN: Disability Representation by a disabled author,
• WTFWN: Gay or Lesbian Representation,
• WTFWN: LGBTQ+ Representation,
• WTFWN: Mental Health Representation,
• WTFWN: Trans or Nonbinary Representation.

Read the Next Book in the Series: