Cover Reveal: For the Good of the Realm

My fantasy novel For the Good of the Realm is coming out from Aqueduct Press on June 1. Here’s the cover, designed by Aqueduct’s Kath Wilham using art by Ruby Rae Jones.

I am very happy with the cover along with being very happy to have a book coming out. This is my second novel from Aqueduct. It’s very different from The Weave, my first one, which is science fiction including space travel and alien first contact. Aqueduct also published my fantasy novella, Changeling, which is not like either of the novels.

It occurs to me that a lot of the authors whose work I admire never write the same book twice. I may be moving in that direction myself, except that I have some ideas for a sequel to For the Good of the Realm. So we’ll see what I do next.

Aqueduct’s press release for the book describes it like this:

 Anna d’Gart is both skilled with the sword and shrewd (not to mention discreet), a rare combination among the hot-tempered and rowdy Guards serving the King, Queen, and Hierofante, which is why she’s always the Queen’s first choice for carrying out sensitive assignments. Discovering that someone powerful is using magic to damage the Queen, Anna is plunged into political intrigue and a series of tough decisions. No fan of the uncanny, she’s forced to enlist the assistance of a witch—whose magical practices are strictly prohibited in the Realm and condemned by the Church.

With the aid of her flirtatious friend and fellow Guardswoman Asamir and their friends Roland de Barthes and Jean-Paul of the King’s Guard, Anna repeatedly matches wits with an opponent too powerful to be named. Intent on preventing war, preserving the Realm, and protecting the Queen despite the risks to herself and her fears about the ancient way of magic, Anna deploys all the means at her disposal—espionage, diplomacy, her sword, a powerful witch, and, of course, indomitable bravery.

Professor, poet, and novelist (her book Unbecoming is a real delight) Lesley Wheeler says of the book:

For the Good of the Realm is a sparkling tournament of a novel, full of thrills as well as feats of storytelling bravado. Moore has invented a feminist medieval otherworld that is egalitarian in its sword and sorcery, yet political intrigue ultimately rules as Anna, a stalwart member of the Queen’s Guard, collaborates with a range of surprising characters to foil the nefarious plots of a power-hungry Hierofante. Spirited and funny, this is a great read.

I’m putting together some virtual readings and other events, and will let people know when the book is available for preorder.