A novella set in the world of Twelve Kings in Sharakhai and The Song of the Shattered Sands.

The Last Days of Old Sharakhai is a Shattered Sands novella set near the end of A Desert Torn Asunder (Book 6 of The Song of the Shattered Sands) and answers the question: What happened to King Ihsan? King Ihsan, once thought invincible, is now a fugitive in the city he once ruled. Struck by the black mould, a deadly wasting disease, Ihsan knows his days of ruling Sharakhai are coming to an end. His goals are simpler now. He’s focused on his daughter Ransaneh and her prospects when he’s gone, and that means forging a lasting peace in the desert. When Ihsan’s grandsons try to convince him to return Sharakhai to its former, authoritarian rule, he’s left with a difficult choice. Siding with his grandsons and the city’s old guard could easily rekindle hostilities and lead to a resumption of the devastating war with the desert tribes, while a refusal would instantly turn him and Ransaneh into targets for revenge. With very few friends left, Ihsan allies himself with Shohreh, a legendary swordswoman who mere months ago would gladly have killed Ihsan with her bare hands. But Shohreh bore witness to the terrible war that just ended. The last thing she wants is a return of the bloodshed. What follows is a game of assassins, political intrigue, and desperate flights as Ihsan tries to stay ahead of his enemies and set Sharakhai on a path toward peace.

The Tapestry at Briarmount Abbey is a Book of the Holt novella, a story set several years before The Dragons of Deepwood Fen, and focuses on Rylan Holbrooke, one of the heroes of the main series. Rylan Holbrooke, dragon singer and part-time thief, travels to faraway Briarmount Abbey only to learn that the Sylvan Tapestry, the very thing he’d come to see, was stolen mere hours before his arrival. When signs point to the thieves having used magic to abscond with the ancient relic, it puts Rylan on edge—the last thing he wants to do on his holiday is tangle with a rogue witch—but he considers the matter too important and offers to search for the tapestry. With the help of Vedron, his acid-spitting dragon, Rylan sets off to find clues. The trail leads him to the hills known as the Winding, which are said go be haunted by the Dancing Willow. The willow is home to a band of undead children who pray on the unwary or those foolish enough to remain in the Winding for too long. Rylan digs deeper and discovers the theft is related to the willow. In fact, the theft’s origins can be traced all the way back to Black Aerlath, the terrible day when the willow was made and the children were turned into haunting specters. The children didn’t deserve their fate, and Rylan is desperate to help them, but it seems as though the local constabulary, the willow, even the abbey itself, are all working against him.

Mala is a street thief with a knack for manipulating shadow. When the city's garrison is left empty after a terrible battle, the leader of Mala's gang decides to steal from it. Larger gangs might steer clear, fearing retribution from the Silver Spears, but Mala's crew is young and foolhardy, and the potential score is simply too big to pass up. After using her talents to steal into the garrison, Mala stumbles across Shohreh, an injured woman wearing a blood-red battle dress. Shohreh is a Kestrel, one of the elite swordswomen who serve the twelve kings of Sharakhai. Knowing Shohreh will be killed the moment the others learn of her, Mala helps her to escape through a secret door and into the city's catacombs. Near death, Shohreh is healed by the Crone, a near-mythical figure in Sharakhai and the leader of the Kestrels. After revealing a plot to kill Zeheb the Whisper King, the Crone commands Shohreh to save him and to kill Mala for having learned the location of their underground lair. What follows is a deadly game that threatens not only the Whisper King but Mala and everyone she knows.

The third book in The Song of Shattered Sands series--an epic fantasy with a desert setting, filled with rich worldbuilding and pulse-pounding action. Since the Night of Endless Swords, a bloody battle the Kings of Sharakhai narrowly won, the kings have been hounding the rebels known as the Moonless Host. Many have been forced to flee the city, including Çeda, who discovers that the King of Sloth is raising his army to challenge the other kings' rule. When Çeda finds the remaining members of the Moonless Host, now known as the thirteenth tribe, she sees a tenuous existence. Çeda hatches a plan to return to Sharakhai and free the asirim, the kings' powerful, immortal slaves. The kings, however, have sent their greatest tactician, the King of Swords, to bring Çeda to justice for her crimes. But the once-unified front of the kings is crumbling. The surviving kings vie quietly against one another, maneuvering for control over Sharakhai. Çeda hopes to use that to her advantage, but whom to trust? Any of them might betray her. As Çeda works to lift the shackles from the asirim and save the thirteenth tribe, the kings of Sharakhai, the scheming queen of Qaimir, the ruthless blood mage, Hamzakiir, and King of Swords all prepare for a grand clash that may decide the fate of all.

"Sharakhai, the great city of the desert, center of commerce and culture, has been ruled from time immemorial by twelve kings--cruel, ruthless, powerful, and immortal. With their army of Silver Spears, their elite company of Blade Maidens and their holy defenders, the terrifying asirim, the Kings uphold their positions as undisputed, invincible lords of the desert. There is no hope of freedom for any under their rule--or so it seems, until ðCeda, a brave young woman from the west end slums, defies the Kings' laws by going outside on the holy night of Beht Zha'ir"--Back cover.