In the troubled city of Strand, the City Watch and Governor’s Guard struggle to fend off the criminal empires who rule their streets. Between the corruption, smuggling, underground slaving, mass larceny and a rebellious group attempting to usurp the throne, Guardsman Eirik’s life shows no signs of getting any easier. Yet the arrival of group seeking a stolen artifact heralds a coming disaster for the already rotten city. Uncertain if he can trust his own people, Eirik has little choice but to throw in his lot with two enigmatic varl and a country boy. Toss in a conman seeking vengeance and a slave-turned-bodyguard with an elusive agenda, and Eirik has his work cut out for him. But even if his questionable allies and the hordes of eager thugs don’t kill him, the plot they discover threatens to rip Strand apart. And may destroy the fragile varl-human alliance that maintains the peace with their giant neighbors in the north… The Gift of Hadrborg is an action-packed prequel novel to Stoic Studio’s critically acclaimed The Banner Saga Part 1, which was funded through Kickstarter to wild success.

Having begun writing in 2012, James Fadeley flows from genre to genre. He strives to find the perfect blend of world building, character development, action and pacing while combining both traditional and fresh themes into his work. He limits himself to no particular literary genre, and engages in science fiction and fantasy, horror, crime and alternative history... and more often than not, carefully blends several of these into one.

A resident of Arlington, Virginia, he lives with his wife and dog. "The Gift of Hadrborg" is his first novel.