A Thirst for the Trail

The Adventures of Tia and Ketz

Advance Reader Copy

Genres

Dark Fantasy, Dark Humor, Fantasy Adventure, Pulp, Sword & Sorcery, Grimdark Fantasy, and Short Stories

Trigger Warnings

Death, Profanity, Sex, Violence, and Abuse

Type of Ending

AI Usage^Beta

Series

First in series

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Publication Date

Nov 10, 2026

Page Length

317 pages

Available Formats

ePub and PDF

A Thirst for the Trail

The Adventures of Tia and Ketz

Advance Reader Copy

Blurb

Tia and Ketz have answered the call of the trail… and the lands have been nervous ever since.

Ketz never quite fit in, back home in the Nagga Mountains… a renowned swordsman, yet also a lifelong student of ancient arts usually considered “women’s business” by his people. His sister Tia is just too cranky to lasts long in any one place. Ever inseparable, the twins explore the haunted lands of Deschemb as scouts, bandits, swords-for-hire, and overall magnets for trouble.

This collection features eight previously published tales of sharp-toothed action, savage humor, and otherworldly weirdness, along with an all new Tia & Ketz piece.

Perfect for fans of the old-school pulp sword and sorcery of Howard, Moorcock, Leiber, plus modern masters such as Anna Smith Spark, Joe Abercrombie and Mark Lawrence, but with the ribald, hard-boiled, darkly funny attitude of Joe R Lansdale's Hap & Leonard.

Details

Genres

Dark Fantasy, Dark Humor, Fantasy Adventure, Pulp, Sword & Sorcery, Grimdark Fantasy, and Short Stories

Trigger Warnings

Death, Profanity, Sex, Violence, and Abuse

Type of Ending

AI Usage^Beta

Series

First in series

Author Prefers A Review On

Goodreads, Amazon, BookBub, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Google Play, or Apple Books

Reader Spots Remaining

Number of days to read

Publication Date

Nov 10, 2026

Page Length

317 pages

Available Formats

ePub and PDF

Author

Matt Spencer is the author of the novels The Night and the Land, Summer Reaping on the Fields of Nowhere, Cult of the Stars (illustrated by Deirdre Burke) and The Drifting Soul (illustrated by Stephen R. Bissette), as well as numerous novellas and short stories (including award-winners The Red Duke and Petticoat Lane), and the collection, Story Time With Crazy Uncle Matt.

Mister Spencer has been a journalist, New Orleans restaurant cook, factory worker, radio DJ, and a no-good ramblin’ bum. He’s also a song lyricist, playwright, actor, and martial artist. As of this writing, he lives in Brattleboro, Vermont.

Publisher

Dark Fire Press