Blending vigilante justice with epic fantasy, student mage Veranix Calbert fights crime in the city of Maradaine in this fast-paced debut novel . "Veranix is Batman, if Batman were a teenager and magically talented." -Library Journal

Veranix Calbert leads a double life. By day, he's a struggling magic student at the University of Maradaine. At night, he spoils the drug trade of Willem Fenmere, crime boss of Dentonhill and murderer of Veranix's father. He's determined to shut Fenmere down.

To that end Veranix disrupts the delivery of two magical artifacts meant for Fenmere's clients, the mages of the Blue Hand Circle. Using these power-filled objects in his fight, he quickly becomes a real thorn in Fenmere's side.

So much so that soon not only Fenmere, but powerful mages, assassins, and street gangs all want a piece of "The Thorn." And with professors and prefects on the verge of discovering his secrets, Veranix's double life might just fall apart. Unless, of course, Fenmere puts an end to it first.

The Thorn of Dentonhill launches the Maradaine Saga: a fantasy epic like no other, with four series braided together into a thrilling larger narrative.

Marshall Ryan Maresca is a fantasy and science-fiction writer, author of sixteen novels, most of which are part of the Maradaine Saga: Four braided series set amid the bustling streets and crime-ridden districts of the exotic city called Maradaine. He is also the author of the standalone dieselpunk fantasy, The Velocity of Revolution. He is a five-time Hugo finalist as the co-host of the podcast Worldbuilding for Masochists, and has been a playwright, an actor and an amateur chef. He lives in Austin, Texas with his family.