A cry, coarse and high pitched, sounded in the sky next to the little dinghy. Talis blinked in confusion, but Dug craned his neck around to look for the source, as if he’d been waiting for it.
Maybe he had.
The six-eyed raven that had once been Onaya Bone flapped her color-shifting wings and settled onto the bench in front of Dug. She regarded him, then ruffled her feathers up around her and settled in like any other raven in its roost. Another refugee.
Talis tugged the motor’s cord, and the silence was drowned out by the grumbling roar of the little outboard turbine. The ship tugged ahead as if eager to transport them to safety. She leaned her forearm against the tiller and brought the little ship around in a lazy circle.
The green-edged silhouette of Heddard Bay hung like an emerald in the sky, near enough that Talis could see the sway of treetops along the slopes of a volcano that dominated the island’s skyline.
They’d lost their ship. Their home. Lost the fortune in its hold. Lost blood. Lost their gods, and with them, no small amount of hope.
But while she still had a heartbeat, Talis was going to see to it that they hadn’t lost everything.
The End of Book One of the Peridot Shift
Acknowledgements
I would never have completed this novel if not for the support of the following people. No matter how profusely I thank them, it will be insufficient to express what their support means to me.
Thanks go to my husband Matt, who encouraged me for so many years while I struggled to discover that I was, indeed, a writer. And then kicked me in the pants when I needed it most. The words “maybe it’s time to really finish it” snapped me out of the rinse-revise-repeat cycle and moved a decade of work forward to this moment.
To Jillian Iris and Jillianne Frances, who read and gave feedback on countless early drafts and supported me with enthusiasm no matter how many times they watched me go back and start over.
To John Adamus, without whom this would have been a very different book. His experience, passion, and guidance helped me realize the potential of a million-or-so messy words and craft the book that FLOTSAM is now.
To the authors and reviewers who provided Parvus with wonderful blurbs in support to this first-time author.
To Oriana Leckert, for far more than a proof read.
To Julie Dillon, for her enthusiasm as much as for the stunning, amazing, totally brilliant cover illustration.
To the team at Parvus Press, for getting as excited as I do about my genre-bending absurdities.
To Mary Robinette Kowal, for applying her talent to the fantastic performance of FLOTSAM's audio edition, and for the moral fortitude that bolstered my own.
To my parents, Bud and Tricia, to Mel and Kathy Jay, Brett Schmidt, John Sotherland and Juliana Fajoses, Frie Van Raevels, Dave D’Alessio, the Wilson family, David and Selena Toback, and Juan Henao. Each provided generous support and warm encouragement which made final publication possible.
My sincerest gratitude to each of you.
Thank you for being awesome.
About the Author
R J Theodore is hell bent on keeping herself busy. No, really, if she has two minutes to rub together at the end of the day, she invents a new project with which to occupy them.
She enjoys reading, design, illustration, video games (she will take you down in Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo), binging on movies and streaming series, napping with her cats, and cooking. She is passionate about art and coffee.
R J Theodore lives in New England with her family.
Book One of the Peridot Shift series, FLOTSAM, is Theodore’s debut novel.
Read about her writing process, find her on social media, and subscribe to her reader list for updates, announcements, and free books by visiting rjtheodore.com
A Word From Parvus Press
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Glossary
Characters
(Entries for Peridot’s deities are listed under the “Religion” section of this glossary)
Cormack - Business associate of Talis operating out of Subrosa. Rakkar.
Dug - First mate of Wind Sabre and Talis's closest friend. Full name is Dukkhat Kheri. Bone.
Ellanis - Business associate of Talis operating out of Subrosa. Cutter.
Fens Yarrow - A Cutter man from the nineteenth generation post-Recreation who built a weapon with the intent to kill The Five. Executed by Onaya Bone for his intended deicide. His weapon disappeared, but some Veritors hold that it was completed, and that it is possible to find and use it.
Hankirk - Imperial Captain with whom Talis has a once-romantic history. Claims to be a descendent of Fens Yarrow. Tasked with retrieving the ring of Lindent Vein. Cutter.
Illiya - High Priestess of Onaya Bone at the Temple of the Feathered Stone on Fall Island in Bone territory. Formerly an interrogator for hire. Bone.
Jasper - Merchant and fence operating out of Subrosa’s Corrugated District. Breaker.
Meran - A mysterious woman who wields alchemy and a stranger, unknown power. Seems pissed about something.
Scrimshaw - Nickname given to the linguist who accompanies Wind Sabre's crew during their escort mission to Fall Island. Artisan class. Pronouns: xe/xin/xist (among others). Yu'Nyun.
Sophie - Wrench for Wind Sabre. Grew up on a colony airship with too many siblings and overprotective aunts. Cutter.
Talis - Captain of Wind Sabre. Left the Imperial
