Markus K. Umiger
Three travellers look out over the valley toward a fortress beneath Blaecwyrm Tor at sunset

Chronicles of Steel and Song

Barony of the Black Hills

Some places shape you. This land demands you.

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Lands forged by conflict.
People bound by more.

In the rugged hills beneath Blæcwyrm Tor the balance of power is fragile. Old loyalties fracture, new threats rise, and the fate of the Barony rests on those willing to stand when others look away.

As kingdoms manoeuvre and darker forces stir beyond the mountains, Eckhart, Dein and Elspeth must navigate a world where honor, survival and duty often demand different paths. Their choices will shape not only their own destinies, but the future of a land on the edge of war.

Barony of the Black Hills is the beginning of an epic journey through a richly woven world of politics, warfare and enduring friendship, where steel, song and sacrifice leave a lasting mark.

Inside the novel

Five threads,
one barony.

Thread 01

The Land

Rugged hills, high passes and one road worth holding. Beneath Blæcwyrm Tor the ground itself decides who eats in winter and who marches in spring.

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Thread 02

The Conflict

Old loyalties fracture while kingdoms manoeuvre for the passes. The Barony sits where every border argument eventually comes to be settled.

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Thread 03

The People

Eckhart, Dein and Elspeth. Three who stand when others look away, and who find that honor, survival and duty rarely point the same way.

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Thread 04

The Threat

Beyond the mountains something older than the kingdoms is stirring, and the men who should be watching for it are busy counting each other's banners.

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Thread 05

The Song

What the fighting leaves behind is carried in verse. Steel decides the day. Song decides how the day is remembered, and by whom.

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Front cover of Barony of the Black Hills
Back cover copy of Barony of the Black Hills

Hold the first volume
in your hands.

Printed with a blackened board, gold foil sigil and the arms of the Barony on the spine. Turn it over, read the back, then start at chapter one.

  • SERIESChronicles of Steel and Song, book one
  • GENREEpic fantasy
  • FORMATSHardcover, paperback, ebook
  • ISBN978-1-736492-00-0
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The valley of the Barony at dusk

Beneath Blæcwyrm Tor

A border you can walk in a day.
A war you cannot.

Steel, song and sacrifice leave a lasting mark.

AUTHOR PORTRAIT
TO BE ADDED
Spine of Barony of the Black Hills showing the title and the arms of the Barony

The author

Markus K. Umiger

Markus K. Umiger writes epic fantasy about the people who hold a border together: the soldiers, singers and stewards whose choices outlast the kings who order them. Barony of the Black Hills is the first volume of Chronicles of Steel and Song.

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Send word when the next volume is ready.

Occasional letters from the Barony: release dates, map fragments and early chapters. Nothing else.

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