It is 400 years in the future, and the world is much changed. Inside Minuithar, the City of Midnight, the people are ignorant of the outside world. Minuithar, known to its inhabitants merely as "the City," is encased in an impenetrable energy shield, barring the City from outside sources, and blocking out the light of the sun.

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This is the setting for The City of Midnight, my latest novel. It is a place of darkness, danger, and intrigue. The City of Midnight is a dark, gothic place with huge, foreboding towers which loom over the City like enormous stone monoliths. The streets of the City are full of treacherous, shady people who will sell anyone and anything at the right price. Their comings and goings are constantly hampered by the Patrol, a group of vigilante-like policemen who cause more trouble than they stop. Not a very inviting place, but such a cesspool of darkness and corruption is the perfect setting for a gothic adventure novel.

Of course, this seedy setting will have to have some colorful, seedy characters to go with it. Here are a few of the main ones:


Cameron Bane

Mercenary, warrior-for-hire, soldier of fortune, he is the dark, moody protagonist of this dark, moody book. Tall, dark, and vengeful, his loyalties are few, but deep. His comrades, Paladin and Blades, are the only people he trusts. Although hired first by the Resistance to aid Hafe's team, then by Hafe to help rescue Elyna, the three mercenaries are extremely cautious of Hafe and Valentin.


Elyna Dafoe

Hafe's protege, and an amazingly skilled CyberThief, she is one of the key spies of the Resistance. She is the only bright personality in the group, characterized by her light-colored hair. Very young, about nineteen, Elyna is not a very good fighter and is extremely dependent on Hafe's protection. One of the initiators of the plot to overthrow the Hierarchy, she is quite intelligent, but sometimes her inadequacy at battle makes her oblivious to extremely dangerous situations.


Paladin Dyrke

The leader of the small group of mercenaries, Cameron is his closest friend and right-hand man. Dyrke is very slow and thoughtful, a good quality to compromise Cameron's roiling temper and Blades' tendency to rush into things. Stout and solid, he is a good man to have in a fight, and a good tactician due to his insufferable patience. His only weakness is in his singlemindedness and his uncharacteristic over-kindness. The only nonhuman member of the group, Paladin is an Arc, an intelligent, winged man created through the genetic experiments which later produced the Patrol's mindless but powerful Sentinels.


Garyn Hafe

Hafe is tough, resourceful, and a powerful enemy. He is Elyna's sworn protector, and he sometimes takes this duty to an uncalled for extreme. His lust for vengeance and justice also sometimes gets the better of him, and he cannot always be trusted to keep control of himself. Hafe is, however, an excellent fighter.


Blades Starr

The third member of Cameron & Dyrke's mercenary team, Blades is a sometimes erratic, sometimes fierce fighter whose personal loyalties are a bit hazy. As long as he doesn't go absolutely psychotic, Paladin accepts him as part of the team, despite his tendencies to go out of control.

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