Battle Creek, MI -- (SBWIRE) -- 07/08/2014 -- Union of Renegades: The Rys Chronicles Book I had been flirting in the low 100s epic fantasy rankings at Kobo for a couple weeks. Then on Monday, July 7th, the novel finally moved to #99 in the epic fantasy category.

Union of Renegades is the opening book of The Rys Chronicles fantasy series. It introduces readers to Dreibrand Veta, a warrior scarred by bad deeds in the service of the Empire he was born to. But he’ll answer the call of a heroic cause after he enters a haunted Wilderness seeking a new destiny. He becomes embroiled in a power struggle between two magical beings known as rys. The saga is driven by sword and sorcery action, romance, political intrigue, and rebellion.

This excerpt from Union of Renegades shows Dreibrand grappling with the limits his imperial society imposes on him.

"Groaning with frustration, Dreibrand realized his ambition and success had blinded him. He had thought his bond with his commander would overcome the seniority of others and that was why exclusion from the expeditionary force had hurt so much. He understood now that he was not the senior officer, and worse than that, a Veta would not be included on the historic first expedition into the Wilderness. But despite this understanding, his anger rushed back mixed with despair. He felt like a whipped hound who had been shown his place in the pack.

And he remembered how hard he had worked to get to that place. Being accepted at the Darmar’s military academy had been difficult, and he had been constantly pressed to obtain the money for his tuition. Then, there had been the struggle to graduate at the top of his class. The social pressure to exclude him had been a constant obstacle. Now it seemed that no matter how far he got from Atrophane, he could not escape the stigma of his family. He felt ill when he considered that he had helped to make the Empire bigger."

About Tracy Falbe
The author, Tracy Falbe of Battle Creek, Michigan has been selling her novels at Kobo for three years. The ebook retailer operates in 190 countries and enjoys a significant market share in Canada where the company started in Toronto.

Falbe is the author of nine fantasy books. Union of Renegades is the first novel she ever published. The first chapters of it were written all the way back in 1997. Falbe has pursued her dream of being a novelist every since. She is part of the burgeoning indie author scene. Self published works now enjoy a respectable share of the ebook market.

She was selling The Rys Chronicles from her website before ebook reading became mainstream. Now all of her novels are sold online at major retailers like Amazon, iBooks, and Nook in addition to Kobo.

As an indie author, Falbe faces many challenges in gaining visibility for her novels. She has a minimal marketing budget and relies on people stumbling across her novels online.

“It’s exciting for me to see get some attention from the customers at Kobo. I’ve always had a steady trickle of sales for all of my titles there, but this is the first time I’ve gone up the rankings. Maybe I can hope for Union of Renegades to be the sleeper hit of the summer,” Falbe said.

She currently has nine fantasy novels available at Kobo

- Union of Renegades
- The Goddess Queen
- Judgment Rising
- The Borderlands of Power
- Rys Rising
- Savage Storm
- New Religion
- Love Lost
- Werelord Thal: A Renaissance Werewolf Tale