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Cover art by Dave Laabs

 Book One of the Enemy Glory trilogy

“Then live and be damned.”

Llewelyn is a brilliant young evil magician who is dying in extreme agony at the foot of his archenemy, the good and lawful King Walworth of Threle. Enemy Glory is Llewelyn’s astonishing deathbed confession, his alarmingly passionate and strangely lyrical account of his heartbreaking decision to embrace evil, told with wry humor and trenchant irony against an epic backdrop of magic, the gods, betrayed friendship, unrequited love, war, and the rise and fall of empires.

Let’s play a game of choice and consequences.  What if you had to destroy everything you ever loved or suffer eternal damnation?

Enter the dark.

Read a sample.


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Reviews and Notice

Enemy Glory was one of the books that received the most votes for the Locus Award for Best First Novel.

Enemy Glory was chosen for Locus‘s Recommended Reading List of Best First Novels.

“A colorful, broad-ranging fantasy, with unusual twists.”
— Samuel R. Delaney

“A complex, colorful saga.”
— David Drake

“Epic, mythic, and yet grounded in real emotion, Enemy Glory is the best kind of fantasy, a sprawling, multi-layered saga of war, gods, intrigue, and magic.  Karen Michalson creates worlds within worlds and manages to light them all with loving detail.  This is a writer ready to explode on the fantasy scene.  Disconnect the phone, cancel your appointments, and stock the fridge for the long haul: Enemy Glory will make you want to wallow in the pure joy of reading, all over again.”
— Jack O’Connell

“This well-crafted first novel about a wizard’s education, a sort of Harry Potter on downers, strives for a baroque density reminiscent of the Gormenghast saga . . . . Readers who enjoy wallowing in opaquely introspective gloom will have a field day.”
Publishers Weekly

“Karen Michalson is definitely not lacking in imagination, and some of her writing is nothing less than pure poetry. . . . Enemy Glory is at once the story of Llewelyn’s life, his progression through the magical arts and the search for personal identity, and a story of political corruption, betrayal and intrigue. . . . I was most impressed with the author’s grasp of feudal economics. In fact, Karen has dotted her literary landscape with scraps of social commentary that alternately made me smile, giggle, and clap in appreciation.”
— Cristy, Score! Magazine

“Michalson’s debut effort deserves praise for her wonderful characters. Llewelyn is multidimensional, and may not even rightly deserve the title of villain. Michalson demonstrates considerable skill in showing the reader his side of the story, so that evil no longer seems so black and white. . . . With a main character that could talk Hannibal Lecter into becoming a vegetarian and liking it, Michalson’s series promises to grow more interesting as it progresses.”
— Kristin Chin, The Davis Enterprise

“Within the pages of Enemy Glory, I think there really is something for everyone who has ever questioned the morality of authoritarian institutions and those who run them — churches, schools, governments, armies, the IRS, etc. If you’re taken in by the purity of those intellectual ivory towers, think again. Michalson effectively smashes carefully crafted illusions with resounding clarity and reality. . . . Enemy Glory is a thoughtfully crafted piece of language art that demands to be devoured, delectable piece by delectable piece. This novel isn’t for speed reading fanatics, but for those wanting some serious questions and issues to mull over while enjoying a multitude of unusual images and some convincingly manipulative characters. It’s a great book for igniting discussions about tough issues. Michalson demands the engagement of your intellect when you enter her intensely enjoyable world that mirrors ours in sooo many ways.”
— Eva Wojcik-Obert, Fantastica Daily Full review archived here.

“This twisted, compelling fantasy is intriguingly different . . . . the first in a very promising series.”
— Carolyn Cushman, Locus