Debut Speculative Novel Reimagines a 1,200-Year-Old Irish Legend as Sci-Fi Thriller

HALIFAX, Nova Scotia - Rezul -- Forgotten Scholar Press announces the publication of Pillar of Stone & Sorrow, the debut novel from Celtic Studies scholar Dr. Ranke de Vries. Described as Cinder meets The Handmaid's Tale, the book transplants the ninth-century Irish tale Longes mac n-Uislenn ("The Exile of the Sons of Uisliu") into the year 2900 CE, imagining a future where medieval Irish culture, law, and medicine govern advanced societies.

As sole heir to the mining city of iX, Derra's future seems fixed: statecraft lessons by day, brief escapes into the city's hidden clubs by night with her friend Ver. That future is upended when she is promised in marriage to Conor Nesman, ruler of the desert city of Etica — an alliance meant to save her city, and one she cannot refuse. When Derra discovers Nesman's true ambition is to seize iX for himself, tragedy strands her inside his palace, a gilded cage where every smile conceals a threat. As enemies close in, she finds herself drawn to the one person she cannot have: her loyal bodyguard, Noishu. Derra must choose between surrendering to a tyrant and risking everything to reclaim her freedom and her home.

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"My hope for Pillar of Stone & Sorrow is that people will love it," said de Vries, "but also that it will leave readers wanting to know more about the Celtic elements hidden throughout the story."

Available at all online booksellers

https://www.amazon.com/Pillar-Stone-Sorrow-Ranke-Vries/dp/1777340128/

Alongside the novel, de Vries is releasing a companion volume, The Celtic Elements in Pillar of Stone & Sorrow, on the same publication date.

About the Author

Dr. Ranke de Vries is a Celtic Studies scholar on a mission to introduce readers to the world of medieval Irish and Welsh stories. She holds a PhD in Early Irish from Trinity College Dublin, taught at Utrecht University for a decade, and is now an Associate Professor of Celtic Studies at St. Francis Xavier University in Nova Scotia. For more than two decades she has lectured and published on the vivid, violent, and often-overlooked world of medieval Celtic literature. With her debut novel, she weaves ancient Celtic literature and languages into modern speculative fiction, in hopes of drawing readers to explore the medieval sources themselves.

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Advance Praise:

"It kept getting better and better, constant twists and unexpected turns making this a page-turning experience, set in a thoughtfully crafted future world."

"Definitely will read the next one and can't wait to read the companion volume!"

"The world building is amazing! A perfect Celtic-inspired sci-fi summer read."