G.A. Aiken, a pseudonym of writer Shelly Laurenston, launches the Scarred Earth fantasy series with The Blacksmith Queen. In the land of the Black Hills, the death of the Old King sets off a flurry of assassinations by his heirs. Each of his sons wants to be crowned king, and when the dust settles, there are five survivors, each with an army. For blacksmith Keely Smythe, war between royals means a growing need for weaponry, and she happily embraces the boom in business. But her blacksmithing abruptly stops when a prophecy declares her younger sister shall become the new queen.
Keely has to leave her beloved forge to guard her sister on the journey to meet the witch seer who will proclaim her worthy of the throne. What Keely doesn't know is that she's walking into a trap. When the seer shocks everyone by naming both Keely and her sister as future queens, Keely faces horrific betrayal by someone she believed she could trust. Guarded by centaurs, demon wolves and a War Monk, Keely travels to the Badlands, where she must find a way to enlist gnomes, barbarians, elves and perhaps dragons in her cause. For if she and Caid, the warrior centaur who befriends her, cannot stop Keely's sociopathic, would-be-queen sister, no one in their world will be safe.
A skilled, fast-paced plot, indomitable characters and a cause to care deeply about will make readers eager for the second installment. --Lois Faye Dyer, writer and reviewer