In the Heart of a Soulless Vessel by Simon Batsman

"A pale, leafy light smoked out of the wand's tip, then seemed to fade into nothingness. Fjona could feel the energy latch on to the pebble like a fish caught on the line and she began to gently lift it off the ground."

Fjona Sarsen, now with a wand of her own, is one step closer to becoming a sage and aiding Perciville Harper in his quest to prevent the deadly Eight Afflictions from returning.

As they journey across the Arvum, the Sleeping Giant looming on the horizon, they find themselves entangled in the lives of those affected by the burgeoning threat: a scholar at the Archivus, a soldier of the Noble Guard, the leader of a dangerous cult.

Burdened with the fate of the world on her shoulders, the last thing Fjona expected was for the stakes to rise even higher...

Simon Batsman is the author of the Sarsen series. Much of his inspirations are drawn from his knowledge and experience in cultural heritage, having graduated from the University of Winchester with a First-Class degree in Archaeology. He has been working in the industry since 2017.

From a young age, his creative outlet was writing, though not in the form of literature. Songwriting, instead, was Simon's main passion as he emulated his favourite artists with a guitar or piano, composing a vast catalogue of music over a period of nearly 20 years. When living in Oxford, he became a regular fixture at several small venues across the city and nearby towns, sitting behind a piano and entertaining Friday night audiences with an electric set of popular covers and impassioned originals.