The first book in the Seeker's Memories cycle

Children of the Sfergals

In the world of Tarquilion, marked by intrigue, ancient secrets, and the appearance of unknown and dangerous creatures, two young men, Eli and Toma, try to find their own paths and uncover a threat that could destroy everything they know. Their personal fates gradually become entwined with events that shift the balance of the entire world.

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Cover of Children of the Sfergals: a glowing blue sfergal set in cracked stone

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About the book

Seeker's Memories: Children of the Sfergals

Fantasy novelTwo connected storylinesCrystal technology

Summary

Southern Tarquilion empties before packs of atrids — artificially created predators appearing in numbers no one can explain. After an attack on his family's estate, Eli Yahi travels to Erelar, the independent karhon city, for skills that might one day let him protect others. In Flora, Toma Nemias begins his service as a candidate for royal scout, and his very first night watch ends with the murder of the royal treasurer. At the same time, he learns that the story of his father's death is not complete. As one enters a school and the other an investigation, both draw closer to the consequences of decisions made before they were born.

Highlights

Eli and Toma's connected storylines
The karhon system of talents and crystal technology
A mystery built on history, institutions, and buried decisions

Children of the Sfergals brings a rich and convincingly built fantasy world, filled with tension, emotion, and uncertainty. A blend of epic fantasy, personal tragedy, and strongly drawn characters makes this novel a striking and intriguing opening to the Seeker's Memories cycle – a story that pulls the reader into its world from the very first pages and leaves a strong impression long after the reading is done.

Characters

Meet the heroes of the story

Eli

He is curious, and quickly realizes how little he can do once everything around him starts to fall apart.

A boy from the Morvelske plains

Meeting the karhon Isidor Lodi shows him that power doesn't have to be inherited or stumbled upon: it can be learned. Going to Erelar isn't an escape for him, but an attempt to make sure that next time, he won't have to wait for someone else to save him.

Toma

Enters royal service with a clear picture of his father and of the soldier he wants to become.

A young candidate for royal scout

One night watch is enough to crack both pictures. As he learns the scout's trade, he must decide how far he's willing to go for answers his family and the court don't want to give him.

Supporting Protagonists

Silvia

A curious, forthright girl. She chafes against the court rules that keep her apart from the world beyond the palace.

The youngest daughter of the Stenol king

Mihael

A young pirate left on a tropical island by his crew to recover from a wound.

Crew member of the Pearl Spyglass

The world

The World of Dalaria

The first book takes place mostly in Tarquilion, a land north of the Kardel desert, and in Erelar, a city set within the desert itself. Tarquilion is a kingdom slow to respond to crisis, while Erelar is an independent city that keeps its knowledge behind rules of its own. Choose a location for background on the world without spoiling the plot.

Tarquilion is a powerful kingdom at the heart of Dalaria, known for its centuries-old military tradition, its hereditary royal line, and a strictly ordered administration in which governors, landowners, and city administrators are appointed by the king's will.

Governance: Royal monarchy with governor administration
Location: Central Dalaria
Rule: The king rules alongside the council of diskips, while six governorships are led by royal governors. In his name, the governors appoint the landowners who administer smaller estates.
Military: Tarquilion relies on the standing royal army, city garrisons, and the governors' detachments, and in time of war the landowners recruit soldiers from their estates.
Notable: Although it has a landowner administration, Tarquilion is not a classic feudal kingdom, because authority passes by appointment rather than by hereditary right.

Flora is the royal city and the centre of Tarquilion. Built of white stone and ringed by walls, it stands at the very edge of the Floranska gorge. It is the seat of the hereditary royal line and the most important political centre of Dalaria.

Status: Royal capital
Governance: Royal governor administration
Authority: Seat of the king and the city governor
Location: Central Tarquilion, set on the Floranska highlands, along the very cliff that looks east over the vastness of the Lorska forest.
Population: 120,000
Notable: The city is also known as the city of the phoenix. The most prominent cliff on its eastern side is called the Phoenix's Nest, and the phoenixes visit it once, at the dawn of every decade.

Erelar is an independent karhon city set on a rocky rise in the middle of the Kardel desert. It is known as the home of the karhons – scholars and masters of crystal, whose knowledge draws travellers, rulers, and envoys from many lands of Dalaria. Though it belongs to no kingdom, Erelar maintains good diplomatic relations with Tarquilion, Stenol, and other powers, above all thanks to its knowledge, its neutrality, and the rare skills of its karhons.

Status: Independent karhon city
Governance: An elected karhon administration in which only karhons hold the right to vote.
Authority: The city is governed by the Council of Karhons, led by the Archikarhon.
Location: South of Tarquilion, on a rocky rise in the Kardel desert.
Significance: Erelar is one of the most important centres of karhon knowledge, especially in the study and working of crystal.
Population: about 3,500
Notable: Despite its small population, the city is known for its unusual architecture (sharp and rigid near the ground and very rounded the higher it goes towards the sky), its arena, its greenhouses, the palace, and the Archikarhon's tower rising over the desert.

Karbell is a fortified city in southwestern Tarquilion, on the Bell river in the middle of a fertile lowland. As the administrative, trade, and military centre of the Karbell Governorship, the city is vital to supplying the rest of the kingdom. As the crisis begins, its walls become a refuge for the people of the surrounding villages and estates.

Status: Governor's seat
Governance: City governor administration
Authority: Seat of the Karbell governor
Location: Southwestern Tarquilion, on the Karbelska plain, along the Bell river.
Population: 35,000
Notable: The city is known for its four forward fortresses, connected to the city walls and serving as the first line of defence for the Karbelska plain.

Author

Ivan Vladić

Ivan Vladić is a fantasy author, theologian, and programmer. He is drawn most to stories in which vast worlds break through personal decisions, and in which the heroes must grow up before they understand their place in the world.

Children of the Sfergals is the first book in the Seeker's Memories cycle. The author also illustrates the book and uses this page to share updates on the world of Dalaria and the novel's path to publication.

Photo: Ivan Vladić

Children of the Sfergals

The book is printed

The book is coming soon

Seeker's Memories: Children of the Sfergals

Meet the heroes of the story

Eli

Toma

Silvia

Mihael

The World of Dalaria

Tarquilion

Flora

Erelar

Karbell

Ivan Vladić

The book is coming soon

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