Life has not shaped up the way Grynne expected it to. A talented, bright child from one of the five noble and magically talented families of Alabast, he never thought to end up where he was. While good at what he does - finding people, dead or alive - he has been exiled from high society and forced to collect bounties to put together enough coin to pay rent and . Yet, his life has not yet finished taking unimagined turns it seems, as a beautiful young noble from one of the five magical families of Alabast has come to seek his services in tracking down the Queen’s favorite niece. The niece had shown talent in more of the Kabalic magics than is typically expressed by the residents of the continent of Kyrelle, and the Queen thought it to be prudent for her to train in these arts amongst those most well trained in their practice. However, whilst under the custody of the Monsante family, the cousin has mysteriously gone missing. Unlike any bounty Grynne’s has been hired for before, this job will lead him through the betrayals and schemes of the aristocracy he had left behind. On the way, he will encounter creatures long though dead and vanquished, learn of mystic arts long forgotten, and reveal conspiracies unimaginable.

James Poole is not an author by trade, rather a therapist in training with a love for fantasy and story telling. Though fantasy novels are his bread and butter, he also harbors a great passion for noir and the classic detective novel. With The Five Families, he seeks to create a fantasy exposition blended with a strong noir flavor. Some of the book aims to mimic that trope; the femme fatale, the hard boiled conversation, the series seemingly unrelated (but of course clearly related) run ins with shady characters. Yet, at the same time, it seeks to do so within a magical fantasy setting, using the Kabalic magical system to bend and add flavor to a typical noir story. While easily existing as a single story, I intend to extend this story into three further novels, taking the characters tangled up in the current world events and expanding their adventures and intrigues into a greater and higher stakes epic to save the continent of Kyrelle.