Books

Prequel: The Way It Would Become

Release: February 17, 2023

Before the rise of the Quest of Freedom, their mothers and their fathers witnessed the darkening of the skies…

Riqeta, Princess of Zahacim, is the most powerful warrior to stalk across eastern and southern Icilia. Both her skill and her honor in war are legendary, and her defection to her new husband’s nation is an upheaval of their world’s political balance. Yet beneath her fierce veneer is a woman unsure of how to love.

Naman, Prince of Koroma, is renowned for his compassion and good heart, and his wedding to Riqeta renders him a political force to behold. Yet there is one flaw to his happiness — he cannot be sure whether Riqeta loves him.

Not long after their wedding, the king gives Riqeta and Naman a mission of dire importance: resolve the growing insurgency in the south before it poses a true threat to the crown. Riqeta’s martial prowess and Naman’s benevolent voice surely can resolve anything. So they set out, thinking success will not be too difficult to achieve.

But the evil festering in the south is unlike anything they could ever imagine… Will they even be able to see it to survive it?

Formerly available on Kindle Vella

Book One: The Bell Tolling

Release: December 15, 2021

The Blood-soaked Sorcerer tyrannizes the land of Icilia with every form of cruelty imaginable, dying his armor red in the blood of innocents. Crushed to pieces under such savagery, the people of Icilia abandon hope and begin to forget the gifts of civilization that had once been their dearest blessings.

Amid this darkness comes light in the form of Lord Lucian aj-Shehathar, the divinely appointed hero of Icilia, and Leader of the Quest of Freedom. Sheltered by love and educated in every ancient art, Lucian has the virtue, magic, and power necessary to cleanse evil from the land. But not alone, for Icilia is vast and the enemy’s claws have penetrated far beyond the surface. Answering the call of his sacred destiny, Lucian gathers four companions: Malika, Elian, Arista, and Kyros. Each has been forced to drink at the Blood’s well of suffering:

Malika, once crown princess, has spent years in the tyrant’s prisons and years more fleeing from his grasp. Elian cowers, tormented and alone, amid the remains of the long-ago murder of his parents at the Blood’s hand. Arista fears exploitation of the worst sort as she watches the Blood and his governors prey upon her family, the once mighty warrior princesses of the desert. Kyros gives everything to protect his sister from the abuse of his village in the years after the Blood’s massacre of his family.

Tortured, alone, broken—they are hardly the stuff of heroes. But Lucian chooses them, trusting in divine choice and in his own ability to protect them and build their confidence. With his four companions at his side, Lucian embarks on his journey to free his world. He is determined to restore the forgotten laws, heal the tormented, and unite the land behind his banner. But his companions seem too shattered to save anyone, while his people might be too blind to see the light…

Book One Anthology: The Resonant Bell

Release: May 10, 2022

The Blood-soaked Sorcerer is the undisputed master of the land of Icilia, his tyranny crushing countless hearts to pieces, his cruelty unchecked and unconstrained… Until the rise of the Quest of Freedom, who promise salvation to a people long deprived of every glimmer of liberty.

In Amena Jamali’s The Resonant Bell, a companion anthology to The Bell Tolling (Book One) and a part of the The Lord of Freedom series, we witness how the Quest’s ascension resonates across the land, bringing light, hope, and strength to both those close to them and those far away. Through alternate perspectives on the events of The Bell Tolling and narration of events that occur elsewhere during the same span of time, Darian, Tahira, Eligeo, Ciro, Elacir, Kalyca, Kanzeo, Revera, and Rosalla each reveal a different side to the Quest Leader and his companions as they tell their own stories.

As the first year of the Quest passes, courage is gained, choices are made, battles are fought, and the echo of the Quest’s coming starts the first quakes that crack the terror of the Blood’s reign.

But is it enough? There are many evils that still lurk in the shadows…

A note to remember is that this book is a companion to The Bell Tolling. It is ideally read either concurrently or subsequently to Book One, and it explores some dark themes in even darker shades than Book 1 itself does.

The Bell Tolling & The Resonant Bell Anniversary Edition

Release: December 16, 2022

In Celebration of a Year of Wonder…
Amena Jamali presents…

The Bell Tolling & The Resonant Bell Anniversary Edition

The Anniversary Edition combines the text of The Bell Tolling (Book 1 of The Lord of Freedom) and The Resonant Bell (A Complement to The Bell Tolling) into a cohesive whole that tells the story of the Quest of Freedom and their cherished family and vassals during the first year of their journey. Four bonus chapters from Malika’s perspective, appendices, a glossary of names, a family tree, a story map, an illustrated poem, and concept sketches offer a fresh entrance into the world of Icilia and the tale of the Quest of Freedom.

This is the poem that tells the story:
In a world shrouded in darkness… Appears a shining man.
There is no hope left… Save in the shining man’s eyes.
By the power of his will… His people come together.
Against the enemy’s cruelty… The call of justice sounds.
In the toll of the bell… Light returns to broken hearts.
Swords clash, blood spills, and, at last, one nation sees freedom.
But greater evil lies in wait. For are there some evils even the Divine cannot conquer?
In a world shrouded in darkness… Appears a shining man.

In celebration of her first year, Amena Jamali expands the first installment of her debut series, a haunting new adult fantasy tale of found family, strong heroines, and gentle heroes that ponders the meaning of freedom amid a clash of absolute good and absolute evil. Fans of The Lord of the Rings, The Chronicles of Narnia, and Eragon will savor this story of light springing forth from dark places.

Note: Because this Edition combines two books, it is over a thousand pages long.

Book Two: The Reverence Chosen

Release: May 10, 2024

With the reconquest of the nation of Nademan, some light has returned to the world of Icilia. The Quest of Freedom has been victorious in the first part of their war against the Blood-soaked Sorcerer, and now they look to the second.

But just as Lucian, Malika, Elian, Arista, and Kyros finally finish their preparations, a scream echoes through the night. A sign that the protections around Icilia’s most sacred places, the athar mountains of Asfiya, are breaking. And soon after arrives the news that the Blood-soaked Sorcerer is coming — with an army vast enough to blacken the plains.

Rushing west, the Quest finds a nation on the brink of madness. The hallowed cities are too filthy to endure, and the people they have come to save are more than lost — they are cruel themselves. Yet the Quest must save them — all of them — before the enemy reaches Asfiya. For, if they fail in the least degree, the cost will be in the currency of souls.

With such high stakes and such little time, they cannot escape the question: Does the Divine truly possess the power to defeat the encroaching darkness?