For generations, Jaduin had been governed in peace and prosperity by the “Stone Kings” of the Feodrian clan, so-called for their power of command over rock and stones. But after one of the Stone Kings died, his army general, Hakon of Dornholm, seized the throne and banished the family and followers of the Stone King. For years, those who escaped have roamed Jaduin in disguise, hoping for a new Stone King to emerge from the Feodrian clan.

As the novel opens, Larkeanna, daughter of the Coastland’s Chieftain, is facing the prospect of an arranged marriage. As a vassal to King Hakon, her father is trying to make a wise match for her. But ever since the inscrutable death of her mother, Larkeanna has resisted the tight rule of her father. When she meets mysterious Arild, a young Feodrian, who seems to talk to the clouds, she has no idea that their fates are connected through past events and that Jaduin will soon face a turning point , at which only the two of them can avert doom. An oath that Arild's ancestors gave to the Cloud Keepers binds Arild to defeat an enemy even more menacing than King Hakon in his greed for power. Arild must fulfill this obligation, even at the cost of his love for Larkeanna or even his life.

For those who love to listen to the wind as it touches the leaves, who are sometimes lost in daydreams while watching the clouds in the sky, wondering where they are drifting, for those who love the scintillating dialogue of Jane Austen’s novels and the romance of mythical, medieval scenery of grand sagas, I hope you will find it a compulsive read. A Direthroat, a gigantic bear under a demonic curse; a heavenly stone that can transport the soul and the vital force of one person into another; a community of wise souls dwelling within one woman; the mystical Cloud Keepers, for whom a year goes by in the blink of an eye; and a living mountain, who finds ferocious satisfaction only in petrifying every other living creature – these are some of the extraordinary characters and phenomena encountered by the disguised prince and the spirited noblewoman and that force them to make dramatic decisions.

“An epic saga with historical flair and an ingeniously woven plot. Highly romantic and riveting!” (Lübbe)

Reading Sample (in German): Cloud Keepers

Flash/Trailer (in German)