The Sworn Soldier (preorder)

(preorder—shipping Summer 2026)

Dust jacket and interior illustrations by John Jude Palencar

We're pleased to announce The Sworn Solider, which gathers the three Alex Easton novellas by T. Kingfisher in one volume for the first time. Each novella is highlighted by a full-page illustration by John Jude Palencar—one of them in full-color—as well as a full-color dust jacket which brings for the Poe-influenced setting of the first novella, What Moves the Dead.

The Sworn Soldier is already at the printer.

About the Book:

Alex Easton is no stranger to the horrors of the world. Hailing from Gallacia—a small European country known for its gloomy weather, turnip carvings, and fierce warriors—the former military officer survived the war only to find themself entangled in a series of deadly mysteries. Set in a uniquely reimagined nineteenth century, The Sworn Soldier features three interconnected novellas that detail Easton’s explorations into the strange and supernatural.

In What Moves the Dead Easton is called to the ancestral home of Madeline Usher, a childhood friend suffering from a grave malady. Easton arrives to find the house in disrepair and Madeline and her brother, Roderick, as ghosts of their former selves. Most peculiar of all though is the unusual fungi and uncanny hares inhabiting the land around Usher house.

What Feasts at Night finds Easton at a hunting lodge in the cold, damp Gallacian forest. Upon learning that the lodge’s caretaker has died, Easton, accompanied by loyal batman Angus and talented mycologist Miss Potter, must confront local superstitions about a creature of nightmares.

What Stalks the Deep reunites Easton with Dr. James Denton, a fellow survivor of the tragedy at Usher house. When Denton’s cousin goes missing in an abandoned West Virginia coal mine, the doctor seeks out Easton for assistance in discovering what dangers lurk in the mine’s depths. 

The Sworn Soldier draws inspiration from several sources, including Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Fall of the House of Usher” and the moroi of Romanian folklore. Visceral, evocative prose demonstrates T. Kingfisher’s horror sensibilities, while narrator Alex Easton gives voice to the author’s wit and wry humor. A seamless blend of terror and charm, Kingfisher reinvents gothic horror for the contemporary reader.

Limited Edition Features:

• 6 x 9 trim size
• Printed offset in two colors (black and Pantone®) on 60# archival quality paper;
• Full-color dust jacket art by John Jude Palencar
• One full-color interior illustration, and two full-page grayscale illustrations;
• Smyth-sewn binding
• 424 pages

Lettered: 26 signed copies, specially bound, housed in a custom traycase

Limited: 400 signed numbered hardcover copies

Table of Contents:

• What Moves the Dead
• What Feasts at Night
• What Stalks the Deep