Paperback of The Gray Sheep
Preorders will be signed and include art and map cards!
After her father’s retirement due to poor health, Cosette Argant proudly continued his trade, forging a reputation as Marenburg’s first female jeweler. But business flounders after Tearnan warships attack her coastal home, turning the narrow streets and ancient walled Quarters into brutal battlefields. When the rippling violence destroys nearly everything she and her family have built, Cosette fears losing her father as well and enacts a desperate plan to cross the war-torn city to reach him.
While smuggling herself through occupied territory, she is mistaken for a spy and captured by the Tearnan army. Now a prisoner, Cosette is caught in a struggle between enemy factions intent on using her for their own ends. Her only hope of release, and of reaching her father, is to cooperate with the invaders. But as the fighting intensifies, Cosette finds it increasingly difficult to cooperate without betraying the city—or the people—she loves, until she must make a choice she never expected to have to face.
Written with the feel of historical fiction but the immersive world-building and intrigue of an epic fantasy, the Lochsmith series is an intimate story of one ordinary woman’s experience with war and the impact a single civilian can have on a continent-wide conflict. Perfect for fans of Adrian Tchaikovsky’s Guns of the Dawn, S. A. Chakraborty’s City of Brass, or Hannah Kaner's Godkiller.
"A resounding opening novel—an epic historical fantasy about a headstrong woman facing the complex realities of her beliefs and of war"
-Independent Book Review (starred review)
"This dynamic world and cast of characters promise an engaging saga to follow."
-Kirkus Reviews
“S.M. Somerset offers an intricately imagined world that expands the standard boundaries of the fantasy genre."
-BlueInk Review
Orders must be placed by 11:59pm on May 4th, 2026 for it to be a preorder and for bonus art and map cards to be included.
Your order will be shipped in order to facilitate an arrival date as close to May 5th as possible. Orders placed after May 1st may take longer to arrive.
We are excited to ship books internationally! There may be additional customs fees or taxes that are not automatically calculated or added at checkout. International customers, feel free to Contact Us with any questions.