Fantasy & science fiction by Shane Cupp

A king’s mind
survives inside
a sword.

Ancient powers will go to war to control it.
Enter the world of The Last Ark.

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Ancient power. Dangerous magic. Divided loyalties.

01 / The books

Begin with the blade.

The series on Amazon

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The King in the Sword

The Last Ark · Book One

A king’s mind survives inside a sword. The man carrying it believes his king is dead.

After months in an enemy dungeon, King Gram Daderklen risks everything to free his surviving Royal Guard. His captors answer with a punishment he never imagined: binding his consciousness to an ancient blade.

Sergeant Rolan Kerns escapes with the sword, determined to reach Montair and bring Queen Liora news of her husband. The weapon soon proves unlike any he has carried. It strikes enemies with lightning, warns him of danger, and seems to understand his words. Inside the steel, Gram struggles to make himself heard while knowledge he cannot explain surfaces behind barriers in his mind.

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As an invasion advances toward Montair, Queen Liora fights to hold the kingdom together for her young son. Kerns’ return brings her a trusted defender and a reminder of the life they once hoped to share. It also brings a secret that will test his loyalty to both the king he serves and the queen he has never stopped loving.

The powers driving the war are hunting the sword. It holds the key to the Ark, an ancient defense on which the world’s survival depends. Gram must uncover what his enemies have made him—and Kerns must understand the weapon he carries before they come to claim it.

The King in the Sword begins The Last Ark series, where a royal family’s struggle to survive opens the way into a forgotten world of dangerous magic and ancient ambition.

Kindle eBook 6 × 9 Paperback

Formats & publication details

Published by Caniche Press (opens in a new tab)

Kindle eBook: ISBN 979-8-9957115-0-6
6 × 9 Paperback: ISBN 979-8-9957115-1-3

Available now

Secrets in Steel

The Last Ark · Book Two

Queen Liora has escaped her fallen capital with her seven-year-old son and a handful of loyal guards. Rolan Kerns leads the party across a kingdom gripped by winter. They must reach the mountain refuge of a reclusive mage before their pursuers catch them.

Trapped in the sword Kerns carries, King Gram claws his way through sealed memories. Each discovery brings new abilities and new questions about the blade’s power.

Monsters stalk the road, and one of Kerns’ own men knows more than he will admit. As her companions reveal unexpected powers, Liora must decide whether she can trust them with her son’s life.

With the Ancients closing in, Liora refuses to let them decide her family’s fate. But defying them may demand magic she never knew she possessed.

Kindle eBook 6 × 9 Paperback

Formats & publication details

Published by Caniche Press (opens in a new tab)

Kindle eBook: ISBN 979-8-9957115-2-0
6 × 9 Paperback: ISBN 979-8-9957115-3-7

02 / The series

The Last Ark

The fight for a royal family.
The fate of the world’s last defense.

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Queen Liora and royal guardsman Rolan Kerns are fighting to keep the royal family of Montair alive. The blade Kerns carries may be their greatest hope, but its secrets reach far beyond the war tearing their kingdom apart.

The sword is the key to the Ark, an ancient power that stands between their world and destruction. Those seeking it command armies, dangerous magic, and creatures long believed to be legend.

In The Last Ark, the fight to save a royal family becomes a struggle over the world’s last defense. As King Gram battles the barriers inside his own mind, Liora and Kerns must discover which of their powerful allies will stand beside them when loyalty to the crown conflicts with loyalty to the world.

03 / Behind the books

Shane Cupp

Shane Cupp is a lifelong fan of science fiction and fantasy, an artist, and the author of The Last Ark series, beginning with The King in the Sword.

He can usually be found with a laptop, something cold and caffeinated, and his poodle attentive at his side, writing about ancient power, danger, and survival—though maybe not in that order.

Get in touch

04 / Get in touch

Let’s talk stories.

Reader messages, event invitations, and other inquiries.

contact@shanecupp.com

A king’s mindsurvives insidea sword.