Callum Self

Callum is a UK-based writer with a background in games journalism, having written for outlets including IGN, PCGamesN, and Wargamer. He's the founder of Kanto Post, an independent site covering Pokémon TCG news and strategy, built from the ground up.

Shadeslingers is his first novel - the opening book in a planned dark fantasy trilogy about a scholar terrified of swords, a magic system built on raw emotion, and a world with more buried beneath it than anyone still living remembers.

The first book will be available in 2027. Subscribe below for exclusive looks at the novel and the trilogy, as well as up-to-date information on where to buy it.

The world is dying under an endless winter. The Everfrost has choked everything but a handful of walled cities and towns, with the only warmth left to those who can afford it.

Elek never wanted power. He’s a scholar who’d rather read about the world than fight for it. However, he stumbles upon something ancient and alive in the ruins near a village: a substance called the Shade. It reacts to fear. It answers to rage. And once it’s in your blood, it never truly leaves.

With his friends, Azel and Vayne, Elek is drawn into a centuries-old mystery surrounding a relic that could finally melt the frost for good, hidden deep inside the Emperor’s own vault. But the closer they get to salvation, the more Elek learns that some doors were sealed for a reason—and some monsters were never meant to wake up.