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Trash Panda Publishing

Pub date December 10, 2025

ISBN 979-8999979902

Print length 541 Pages

Price Price $32.29 (USD) Hardcover, $12.99 Paperback, $5.99 Kindle edition, $0.00 Kindle unlimited

James launches his Tales from Valla series with a measured, traditionally structured fantasy that favors consequence over spectacle. Told as a tavern tale by the gnome bard Wigfrith Foreverbloom, the story uses familiar genre elements to examine curiosity, responsibility, and moral order. At the center of the novel is Escala Winter, a pixie of the Court of Dreams whose impulsive interference in mortal affairs results in exile. Sent into the mortal realm under a deliberately vague mandate, Escala is not propelled forward by destiny so much as by uncertainty. 

James allows her to move slowly through the consequences of her actions. Her curiosity remains the engine of the plot throughout, shaping events consistently rather than being set aside for convenience. The worldbuilding is expansive. Valla, with its histories, grudges, and rules that exert real pressure on the characters, is rooted in authenticity. The Court of Dreams stands out as more than an ornamental setting; its hierarchies and expectations quietly define who Escala is allowed to be, lending emotional weight to her banishment. The novel’s length allows secondary characters room to develop, and relationships evolve gradually rather than snapping into place. Romantic elements are integrated into the larger narrative and never presented as the sole source of tension. Themes of exile, vengeance, forgiveness, and identity are treated with seriousness, and the consequences of magic are not easily undone. This will appeal to readers who favor classic fantasy shaped by ethical tension and consequence.

A page-turning debut that lays strong groundwork for what follows.

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