Fall of Fair Isle

 

This trilogy has been very popular with readers. Even though the first book was published in 1999, people still arrive at events with much-read copies for me to sign. They tell me how they’ve searched high and low for the third book, (an Omnibus called The Shadow Kingdom) which sold out in Australia and was never reprinted. (Desperate Alliances is the US edition of the third book).

Fall of Fair Isle BREAKING NEWS

Solaris have bought the rights to release this trilogy as an omnibus edition, in print and e-books, March 2015.

FINAL_THE FALL OF FAIR ISLE

 

The Fall of Fair Isle tells a more intimate tale than The Outcast Chronicles. It begins where most fantasy books finish – after the great battle.

After the Ghebites invade Fair Isle, Imoshen (named for her ancestor, Imoshen the First) is the last surviving member of the royal family. She has to work with General Tulkhan, the Ghebite invader,  to save herself, her people and her way of life. Hers is a matriarchal society, his is patriarchal society where the men can take three or four wives. The Ghebites fear the T’En, who they regard as closer to animals than True-men.

As for the T’En, when Imoshen the first led her people to this land, she told them to take partners from the locals, so that they would blend in and be accepted. The T’En inter-bred with the original inhabitants of Fair Isle, who were descended from the Ancients (a race of mystical beings) and their blood was diluted until there are very few pure T’En throwbacks. Six hundred years of this has changed the way the T’En gifts are expressed in full-bloods and half-bloods and much knowledge of old T’En lore has been lost. (They call the mystic plane, death’s shadow).

At the core of the trilogy is an exploration of gender politics, as Imoshen and Tulkhan try to find common ground. Despite their differences, they fall in love. To add to the complications, before the invasion Imoshen was betrothed to Reothe, the last of the T’En males. She broke her vows to him, to bond with General Tulkhan. Furious, Reothe leads the rebels in a bid to retake Fair Isle and claim Imoshen. She has to choose between Reothe, who wants to restore the T’En and create a new Golden Age and Tulkhan who is the best of True-men.


 

The first book won Romantic Mainstream Book of the Year (R*BY) in 2000 and books two and three were finalists in the R*BY.

 

NOTE: When the trilogy was first published  I wrote four books but the publisher closed down the line after the publication of the third book. Much of the world building that I used to create the Outcast Chronicles was from the unpublished fourth book. With the omnibus I have integrated a little more of the back-story into The Fall of Fair Isle trilogy, so that those who have read the OC  can see what has happened in the last 600 years. (FoF is set 600 years after the OC).

 

 

75 Responses to Fall of Fair Isle

  1. Melanie

    Hi Rowena

    I have looked for the above books on amazon – it comes up with the following:

    Briken Vows
    Dark Dreams
    Desperate Aliances

    Are these the same books? I love your books but would like you to confirm before i buy!!

    Can NOT wait unitll KRK 2 comes out!!!

    Thanks

    Mel

    • Hi Melanie,

      Yes, those are the US editions of the books. So glad you enjoyed KRK.

      I think you’ll love the T’En books. People are still coming up to me 10 years later at events with much read copies to tell me how much they enjoyed them.

      The new trilogy is about the T’En but goes back 600 years to tell how they were banished from their homeland.

      Thanks for contacting me. You made my day!

      Cheers, Rowena

  2. Melanie

    Meant to say am in UK!

    Mel

  3. Melanie

    Hi Rowena

    Thank you so much for your reply – I have just purtchased the three books this morning. two from Amazon, one from Ebay! Can’t wait for them to arrive so I can read them!!! My husband might get a bit annoyed though as I have a tendancy to get “lost” in my books when i enjoy them and only talk to him in the evenings to ask for another mug of tea!!! haha

    Thanks for replying – was bouncing around the house for at least an hour after receiving the email!!!

    Melanie

    • Hey, Mel.

      Do you write reviews? If you have a blog site and do reviews I can make sure you get free copies of my next trilogy when it comes out!

      • Trevor England

        how i wish i could write reviews now lol i am i chef though, fly me to australia and i’ll cook you dinner for the KRK2 trilogy when ur done writing it!! haha

        • LOL, love a good dinner, Trevor.

          I have a friend who is into cooking and when we go away on our writing retreats (he’s a writer,too), he cooks up the most amazing food for us, just because he like the challenge.

          Cheers, R

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  6. Louise

    Hi Rowena,

    I was just wondering if there were any plans to re-release this trilogy, what with the upcoming prequel and the success of KRK?

    Louise

  7. Brittanii

    I just wanted to say thank you. My mum bought me the first book in the series when it first came out – I was about ten, and home from school, sick. She thought it was a neat and tidy fantasy novel! lol
    Even so, I got addicted to the series. Still searching for the third book, though. Damn them for not reprinting it in Australia! xDD

    You’re awesome. Thanks again.

  8. Sherilyn

    I accidentally ran across your series while looking for books similar to Game of Thrones. I am so interested in reading all of your books, but I searched on Barnes and Noble.com and even Amazon and it doesn’t show that the Last T’en series is available anymore! :'[

    • Hi Sherilyn (my sister’s name is Sheralyn)

      I’m so glad you enjoyed my books!

      The original series sold out and was never reprinted. I have the rights back and am planning to re-release the trilogy as soon as I can orgnise this. I’ll be making an announcement on my blog in the next month or so.

  9. Kristy-lee

    Hi Rowena,

    I read the trilogy and absolutely loved it..
    The only thing I didn’t love about it is that it ended 🙁

    Is there any following books? Or could you recommend any of yours that you think I would enjoy ?

    • admin

      Hi Kristy-Lee,

      I’m glad you enjoyed my first trilogy. The Outcast Chronicles tells the story of Imoshen the First, who the Imoshen in the Fall of Fair Isle was named after.

      The trilogy you read was an intimate story about people coping in a desperate situation. The Outcast Chronicles has a larger cast and is more about the political intrigue. King Rolen’s king is a rollicking fantasy read.

      I do have a sequel to the original trilogy planned and I think I wrote two books, before wandering off on another trilogy. When I have a chance to catch my breath I’ll go into my files and check. I have ot hand in book four of KRK in May.

      Cheers,

      Rowena

  10. Kristy-lee

    Thank you for such a quick reply
    A sequel would be AMAZING! to say least!
    I look forward to it.

    I will be sure to read all of those.!

    Thank you 🙂

  11. Doug

    Hi Rowena,

    I read the T’en Omnibus – Dark Alliance a few years back though misplaced it when moving house and the only other copy I can find is about $270 in the US 🙁 I have to say it’s an amazing book. It was definitely a page turner for me. I have to congratulate you on your work. It was definitely captivating and captured my imagination. I can’t wait until you re-release the books. I would definitely purchase them a second time for my collection.

    Kind regards,

    Doug Hovi

    • admin

      Hi Doug,

      It’s lovely to hear from people who read my original trilogy. The books are out of print now, which is why they are so expensive on Amazon. As soon as I get them reprinted, I’ll announce it on my blog.

      Thank you for your support!

      Cheers,

      Rowena

      • Doug

        The Kings Bastard did keep me up all night. I have also managed (after all this time) to locate and purchase a copy of the Shadow Kingdom Omnibus! It was delivered yesterday! I hope all is well!

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  13. JQ

    Rowena!!! I’ve been reading reviews of your T’en trilogy these past two days and I’m so excited to read the actual e-/books. Congrats on getting the rights back. I’ve searched high and low for your books. Hope they get released soon. U just found yourself another fan!…and from the pacific island/US territory of Saipan,

    • admin

      Thanks for commenting JQ. So nice to hear from you. Hopefully, I can concentrate on FoF, (I always turn the books into an acronym), as soon as I hand in KRK 4.

  14. Kristie

    Hello,

    I have read and loved these books for a long time. However I have lost the hard copies from many different moves. I now have a kindle but can’t buy these for kindle only hard copies. Will you ever release these for kindle? With beinn Military and constantly moving it is impossible to keep hard copies of my books anymore.

    Sincerely,

    Kristie

    • admin

      Hi Kristie,

      Now that I have a e-reader, I find I’m gathering all my old favourites, which literally fell apart over the years. I will releasing the original trilogy in all e formats, just as soon as I hand in my latest book. (Sometimes I wish I didn’t have to sleep!).

      Cheers, Rowena

  15. jacey williams

    Hi
    I came across the outcast chronicles in a charity shop and couldnt put them down. I’m a massive fantasy nerd and these books did not dissapoint. I’ve even got my boyfriend hooked. Cant wait to read some of your other works. But probably should take a break as I may have lost track of time whilst reading them.
    Thanks
    jacey

    • admin

      Hi Jacey,

      I’m a fan of fantasy from waaaay back, so for me the Outcast Chronicles gave me a chance to push the genre to show what it can do. My other series King Rolen’s Kin is more traditional fantasy. It’s the sort of rollicking tale that got you into reading fantasy.

      Cheers, Rowena

  16. Tania

    I just finished the Outcast Chronicles and loved them, but I want to know more. What happens after Sanctuary? Do you plan on picking up the story so we can find out if the brotherhoods and sisterhoods put aside their 400 year old rivalry? Where can I read more. I loved this trilogy so much I finished all three books in about 4 days.

    • admin

      Hi Tania. 4 days to read the whole OC trilogy? You must be a speed reader!

      When I think of how long it took me to write….

      Yes, I do plan to write more. In the meantime I have the original trilogy, which is actually set 600 years later about a descendant of Imoshen’s who is named after her. I plan to republish this, as it is out of print. Will do a post about it when it becomes available.

      In a perfect world I would quit my job and write full time, but writing doesn’t pay the bills.

      Cheers, Rowena

  17. Tania

    Thank you for responding so quickly.

    I am an avid reader and when I get interested in a story it’s very difficult for me to put the book down. I have over 300 books and several more e-books.

    I’m so happy that you plan to pick OC back up- I can’t wait for what happens next. I will also be waiting for the republication of the original trilogy.

    Love your work, especially the way you handle gender and sexuality.

    Sincerely,

    Tania

  18. Teryll

    Hi, Was just wondering when I can be expecting these books to be released in e-book format; I have just finished the first and cannot source the other two ANYWHERE (and I really enjoyed it)!

    Cheers,
    Tee

    • admin

      Hi Tee,

      Glad you enjoyed book one of the original trilogy. I’m going to have the ebooks ready soon.

      Cheers,

      Rowena

  19. Laura

    Hi, does The Fall of Fair Isle occur after the time of the Outcast novels? I just want to know the timing of the stories so I can read them in proper order. Thanks!

    • admin

      Hi Laura,

      The Fall of Fair Isle occurs 600 years after The Outcast Chronicles, so you can read it out of order, there are very few spoilers. :->

      Cheers,
      Rowena

  20. Dayle

    Hi, I’m on book 3 of the OUtcast Chronicles and I desperately need Fall of Fair Isle….when can I get it in Sydney please? PS, Can’t wait for Book 4 King Rolen’s Kin too xxx

    • admin

      Hi Dayle,

      Came in after a hard day at work to find your comment. Nice surprise. I should have Fall of Fair Isle sorted out by the end of the year. And the edits for KRK 4 are arriving any day now.

      Cheers, Rowena

  21. Dayle

    Noooooo….what am I going to read in between now and then 🙂 —- thanks Rowena, look forward to it.

  22. Lya

    I loved OC and I’m absolutely loving Fall of FI, I was lucky to find the 3 books, they are US version, and I would like to have the original ones once its reprinted, I’m a fantasy junkie. Excellent books!!!
    Congrats Rowena!!!

    • Lovely, to hear from you Lya. I’m cleaning up book four of this original trilogy with the intention of releasing it along with the three books. Just as soon as I can squeeze in the time. Life keeps getting in the way!

      Cheers, Rowena

  23. Bridgette

    Hi Rowena

    My husband and I are really in love with your books. It took us us about 3 days to get through KRK trilogy and when I told him that there was more to come he was over the moon. Recently bought the OC trilogy which I finished this morning and can’t wait to read more, but really difficult to find your books here in south africa especially when you are in a small town. If there are any new release dates for Fall of the Fair Isle in paper back please can’t stand e-books because there is nothing in the world like the smell and feel of a new book. Thanks for the great reads. Why is it that my 2 favourite authors are from australia.

    Thanks again
    Bridgette.

    • admin

      Lovely to hear from you Bridgette. South Africa? I met Dave Freer, who was from South Africa, at an SF convention. He ended up moving to Australia.

      So glad you enjoyed my books. King Breaker will be officially released in October. I have my author copies.

      I will be reprinting Fall of Fair Isle. I’m just going through the process of getting printing quotes and I promise I’ll do a blog post about it when the book are available.

      Cheers, Rowena

  24. Bridgette

    Thanks Rowena
    And yes South Africa, my husband suffers from ADHD and for him to read a complete book is a lot but your books he seems to really enjoy. Please tell me there is going to be a follow on of the OC trilogy really want to know what happens to them all.

    • admin

      Bridgette, I am touched to hear that my books held your husband’s attention. I had a comment from a lady who said her husband was dyslexic, and despite this he’d read my trilogy in a week. I felt honoured.

      I do have plans for more stories about the OC characters. Sometimes I catch myself daydreaming about them. I just have to find the time to write. (Work, 6 kids, 4 still at home, elderly parents and we’ve been renovating for the past two years – sometimes I just want to run away).

      Thanks for dropping by.

      Cheers, Rowena

  25. Jani

    Hi Rowena

    I have read your OR and I loved it!!!
    I live in South Afrika. Is the Fall of Fair Isle avalible here? I would love to reed it.

    • admin

      Hi Jani,

      lovely to hear from you. Glad you enjoyed The Outcast Chronicles. Fall of Fair Isle is going to be published by Solaris. It will be released mid 2015.

      The original editions sold out. Sorry. :->

      Cheers,

      Rowena

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  27. Yolande

    Hey Rowena
    I just finished reading The shadow kingdom I stumbled on in our local library in South Africa. I came scouting this website to see if there is any chance a book four on this trilogy was out by now. I am delighted to see a comment by you above that you thinking of releasing book four with The fall of fair isle!! Is this still true?? There is still so many un answered questions. I absolutely Loved the story line and the setting grabbed my imagination. It is a very well thought out plot and kept me guessing till the last page! Thank you for an amazing work of art. I can’t wait for it to be released iso I can purchase my own copy. For now I will dive into your other works and I am sure they will give me the same pleasure.

    Thanks so much

    Yolande

    • admin

      Hi Yolande,

      Thank you for your lovely comment. The Shadow Kingdom (now called Fall of Fair Isle) was bought by my publishers, Solaris. They will be releasing it in 2015, as an omnibus. Now that you’ve bought it up, I should release book four when the trilogy comes out.

      Meanwhile I’m working on a secret project. If you liked Fall of Fair Isle, you would probably like The Outcast Chronicles. It is set 600 years before FoF and tells the story of the Imoshen who led her people to Fair Isle.

      Lovely to hear from you.

      Cheers, Rowena

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  29. Hi Rowena, I loved the Outcast Chronicles (even though I cried when Gralene died!) that was a though shot… But my a daughter, Jess, and I have been eagerly waiting for the Fair Isle trilogy for years and are so excited it’s been republished. Do you ways to preorder the trilogy or buy the box set?

    Nessie 🙂

  30. Hi again Rowena, that’s great! And it’s coming out so soon. Is it being sold in Australia? I live in Coolum, Sunny Coast.

    Nessie

    • admin

      Hi Nessie,

      It’s probabliy easiest to order copies from Amazon. My books don’t get much distribution in Australia.

      Thanks for supporting my writing.

      Rowena

  31. Jarrod Broben

    Hi Rowena,

    I brought your Outcast Trilogy From you at an expo in Melbourne one year. I think it may have been supernova? They were an awesome read and have just finished reading through them for the second time.

    It’s dissapointing that your books don’t really get published in Australia, as your an awesome Australian writer and I wish the Australian publishers had more faith in their home grown Writers.

    My Question was going to be do you still go to convention’s and if so are we able to buy copies of your books at convetions still? Was really hoping to be able to buy your Fall of Fair Isle from you directly as I did the Outcast chronicals.

    Thank you for the fantastic read’s

    Jarrod.

    • admin

      Hi Jarrod, lovely to hear from you. I’m glad you enjoyed The Outcast Chronicles.

      I’m not sure if I will make it to Supanova this year but I do know that Fall of Fair Isle is available from Amazon or you could order it through your friendly local specialty store. (Support independent bookstores :->).

      Thanks for dropping by. Cheers, Rowena

  32. Hi Rowena, I’ve just finished reading the Fall of Fair Isle and it was fantastic! The world building and shear number of characters (and point of views) wasn’t as complex as the Outcast Chronicles but it was a great story of complex choices and conflicting cultures and values in regards to gender, race and magic. I love the T’En!!! And this trilogy gave me more hope than the OCs. Thankyou for creating these characters and this world and the T’En 🙂

    I won’t say anymore because I don’t want to write spoilers… But I hope you write more T’En journeys xo

    Oh, and you have a powerful writing style. I’m writing fantasy too and your books are great inspiration.

  33. Miss Chief

    Hi,

    Is there a map anywhere in existence for The Fall of Fair Isle books?

    I have gone through all edition of all the books (individual and omnibus) that are available, with the ‘Take a Peek’ thing on Amazon (UK & US sites) and I’ve done exhaustive Google searches, all to no avail.

    Is there perhaps a fan site with an improvised map?

    I am assuming that ‘The Fair Isle’ is not visible on the maps from ‘The Outcast Chronicles’? I did have a good look.

    I’m also assuming that the next book will cover how they got to Fair Isle and therefore hopefully have a map that covers this region? Please? 😉

    You see you are such a good writer even though I knew I should wait patiently until the last instalment of ‘The Outcast Chronicles’ was out and I had read it, before starting on ‘The Last of the T’En’ but I just couldn’t resist!

    Thanks!

    Miss Chief : )

    • admin

      Hello Miss Chief from Trouble Town :->

      Lovely to hear from you. I bet you gave your school teachers a run for their money. (Not in a bad way. I bet you kept them on their toes!).

      I have my own personal map of Fair Isle that I use when I’m writing and, being the ultimate nerd, I have a planet map that shows the relationship of continent where the Outcast Chronicles is set in the northern hemisphere, to the island and mainland where the Fall of Fair Isle is set in the southern hemisphere. I will dig them up and see if the map of Fair Isle is anywhere near good enough to to put up on my blog.

      I do have rough drafts of the books that tell how Imoshen and her people made their way to Fair Isle but they aren’t polished.

      I hope the Fall of Fair Isle sweeps you away. It is a more intimate story about people in positions of power caught up in large events.

      Cheers, Rowena

      • Graham Southwood

        Hello Rowena,

        I just finished reading Fall of Fair Isle, I was wondering is the a reading order for the rest of your books, (The Outcast Chronicles and King Rolen’s Kin)

        Thanks and regards
        Graham

  34. Graham Southwood

    Hello Rowena,

    I just finished reading Fall of Fair Isle, I was wondering is the a reading order for the rest of your books, (The Outcast Chronicles and King Rolen’s Kin)

    Thanks and regards
    Graham

  35. Pilar

    Rowena,

    huge fan here of your work.

    Will you ever get to write the 4th T’En book about Imoshen and her children’s fate?

    Thanks!

  36. Kim

    Hey there!
    Been an avid fan of the last t’en trilogy since I found the first book in my library first year of highschool. Been DYING to finish the series now 12 years later!

    Coming here I’m now extremely confused which one I did read. ‘Just after an invasion, imoshen must lead her people in working with the occupying force?’ if memory serves. But honestly I’d love access to all works in this series.

    Just wondering if there’s somewhere I can get copies for my kindle?

    • admin

      Hi Kim, lovely to hear from you. From the sound of it you found the original publication of The Fall of Fair Isle. It didn’t have a series title then.
      As for kindle versions of the books, Amazon have them. I would put in a link but I’m working off my phone and it has limited functionality.
      Cheers Rowena

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  38. Sarah Arber

    Hi Rowena,

    A friend of mine first introduced me to this trilogy and I loved them as much as she did. She loaned me her two books, the first in the series, and we have a digital copy of Desperate Alliances.

    I am trying to find her a paperback copy of Desperate Alliances for her birthday this year and I was wondering if you could please point me in the right direction, I can’t find them anywhere.

    Thanks in advance.

    Sarah

  39. Kym Little

    I’ve just reread The Shadow Kingdom and am hoping you can tell me the titles of other books in this series that I can purchase hard copy in Australia. Would love to follow you on FB to stay across new releases.

    Regards Kym

    • admin

      Hi Kym,

      So glad to hear from you. And so glad to hear you loved the original T’En series. It was released in a new omnibus edition by my UK published, titled The Fall of Fair Isle. This is the link to the page on my blog.
      http://www.rowena-cory-daniells.com/books-2/last-ten/
      There isn’t another book in this series, but there is another trilogy set in this world, set 600 years before the trilogy you read. It tells the story of the Imoshen, who led her people out of persecution.
      http://www.rowena-cory-daniells.com/books-2/new-series/
      At the moment I’m writing a new book in the KRK series. Fingers crossed I’ll get back to the T’En books after that.
      Cheers, Rowena

  40. Edwina

    Hi Rowena,
    I just read all three books this past week and absolutely loved them – I couldn’t put them down! Do you have any plans to release the fourth book or continue the narrative? I’m dying to know what happens next! Your publisher was silly not to publish the fourth book.
    Regards,
    Eddie.

    • admin

      Hi Eddie,

      Lovely to hear from you. I did write another two books in this series, although I don’t think I did the final clean up.

      When my life finally settles down, I will get back to my writing and self publish these books.
      Thank you so much for reaching out to me.
      Cheers,
      Rowena

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