The Third Genesis

The Pretender's Gambit, Book 3

By: Nicholas S. Casale

Narrated by: David Wealleans

Book III in The Third Genesis series

A world of deception, forbidden love, and hidden power awaits in The Pretender's Gambit

The struggle continues for those who live, love, fight, toil, and die under the watch of the false gods of Empyrean. Those loyal to the One, who stands above the Liars, plead and hope for the day of The Third Genesis to arrive.

Lo'akh, a cunning shapeshifter and master spy, ventures into the treacherous Obsidian Mountains with Hava, the archon he loves, to learn the secrets of his fellow fiends. Now in the service of Lady Himiko, a human ruler in a land of fiends, Lo'akh is tasked with uncovering the weaknesses of her enemies. But a shadow from his past—Abaddon, long thought dead—hunts him relentlessly, seeking vengeance that could destroy everything.

Lady Himiko, caught between duty and desire, struggles to maintain control over her fiendish realm. Her secret love for Balar, her loyal and fearsome bodyguard, threatens to unravel her rule if her opponents discover it. With enemies closing in from all sides, their forbidden love may be the key to her downfall—or the one thing that can save them.

In the depths of the adonium mines beneath the city of Godsmouth, Efrem, a discarded automaton, toils without purpose. Rejected by those who once called him "son," Efrem yearns for a new destiny. When his courage catches the eye of an archonic messenger from Grand Archon Helios, his life is forever altered, setting him on a path that may determine the fate of false gods and mortals alike.

©2024 Nicholas S. Casale (P)2025 Nicholas S. Casale