Battle Creek, MI -- (SBWIRE) -- 07/21/2014 -- The slower pace of midsummer means more time for book lovers to indulge in addictive series. Union of Renegades: The Rys Chronicles Book I draws readers into a magical world that the author, Tracy Falbe of Battle Creek, Michigan, has been creating since 1997.

Currently a free kindle fantasy book, Union of Renegades brings together a hero and heroine from vastly different backgrounds. The hero Dreibrand Veta is disillusioned with his role as an officer in a military empire. And Miranda, the heroine, is a slave and young mother fleeing the war machine about to crush her home. In an epic fantasy that explores how power corrupts, the two are drawn into a rebellion against the rys. The rys are a magical race that rules half the world. They are rare creatures that influence thoughts, kill from a distance, and even enslave the souls of the dead.

“I like to write characters that are bold and independent. People who don’t do what they’re told inspire me. Epic fantasy is a great genre to explore what it feels like to take risks. My characters pay heavy prices, but they also triumph,” Falbe said.

An excerpt from Union of Renegades:

Dreibrand looked around the inner sanctum of the temple. White columns lined the circular wall, and between the columns, rich frescoes of brilliant color filled the spaces. Each fresco featured a portrait of Onja in various settings. Sometimes she was the aloof Queen on her throne, in others she walked in lush meadows and seemed to beckon the bloom from the plants or she brushed her blue hands across the golden tops of ripening grain. In one pose, Onja stood over a mother and new infant, which immediately disturbed Dreibrand although he realized it was supposed to be appealing. In another portrait, only the starry night surrounded Onja, but no matter what the setting, she always bore the same beautifully indifferent face.

He counted twelve portraits and in the last space stood a statue instead of a painting. Carved from the blue stone of the Rysamand, her polished form was larger than life, and the glow from the orb on the pedestal reflected on the jewels set in her eyes.

“What do you think? Are you a believer yet?” Taischek said.

Dreibrand smiled. “No, King Taischek. But the art is quite good.”

Taischek laughed, seeming to find the comment particularly funny for his own reasons.

Union of Renegades begins The Rys Chronicles series that continues in The Goddess Queen, Judgment Rising, and The Borderlands of Power. Then Falbe created a prequel series called Rys Rising that is another four fantasy books. The Rys Rising series takes place over two thousand years before The Rys Chronicles and tells the story of how the rys came to power over the humans. Because rys live for thousands of years, the prequel presented their youth that was just distant history barely mentioned in The Rys Chronicles.

“Some readers have emailed me to say how they were surprised how I flipped their perceptions about some major characters in the prequel,” Falbe said.

She spent 17 years writing her epic fantasy novels that have received 5-star reviews at retailers around the world. Some of her most loyal fans buy her ebooks directly from her web store Brave Luck Books and have emailed her glowing feedback.

An example from a reader in Louisiana:

“I really did love your RYS books! I've read them twice! Veta and Shan are two of my favorite characters EVER! Thanks for putting them out there for us!”

As an author writing within a popular yet competitive genre, Falbe offers Union of Renegades as free kindle fantasy book to entice readers who have many choices into giving her fantasy series a chance. In addition to the Amazon’s United States store, Union of Renegades is free for kindle in Canada, the UK, Australia, and France.

“It’s so amazing how the internet and ebooks have allowed me to connect with people all over the world. And it’s opened up opportunities for readers to discover authors new to them,” Falbe said.