Lion in Human Hide
A downloadable book
Declan is a student of the Bardic Arts with ordinary ambitions: make his family proud, study magic, and enjoy time with his friends. When he meets a homeless person behind his college dormitories, it is the most normal thing in the world to invite them into his circle of peers.
Until he learns that this person is a god.
The school is stained by secrets, hidden by both students and staff alike. Declan is no exception. As he and his friends uncover the net of fate tightening around them, they learn just how ensnared they are by forbidden magic, curses, and their families.
Declan knows what he desires, but he may not be able to stomach the Sun.
Lion in Human Hide is an urban fantasy set on an alternate-history Earth, with a tight-knit cast and its own unique mythos. Recommended for readers who enjoy academic magic, multiple sub-plots, and slow-burning framing mysteries.
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Development log
- Version 1.1 is out!66 days ago
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While very different in setting, tone, and execution, reading this brought to mind Ink in the Blood by Kim Smejkal. Taking place on an alternate-history Earth, Lion in Human Hide follows Declan, a college student of the Bardic Arts who, at a young age, was adopted into a prominent mage family. The internet is used alongside bags of holding, and near the Tonsillar lymph nodes sit glands responsible for the primary legal source of magical energy. Atoui incorporates a setting-specific array of myths and folklore, most notably the narrative of the God Dressed in Plague and the old alchemical adage of "A lion in human hide would devour even the Sun to further their goal". Declan is snared by a number of interconnected subplots, ranging from the legality of magic sources, demonic heritages, curses, time travel, barrier seals between realms, ghosts, wandering gods, imposter syndrome, and pervasive family drama, capstoned by the ever-present gun on the wall, the enigmatic Kal Matriarch. Satisfying repetition of prose carry a steady rhythm from beginning to end.