Blackheart Man

Veycosi is training to become a griot, a historian and musician on the island of Chynchin. He wants to sail off and study the rare Alamat Book of Light, which would earn him a place on the Colloquium of scholars. Events keep him from making the trip.

Fifteen Ymisen galleons sail into the harbor to force a trade agreement on the island. Veycosi tries to help, hoping a bold move will prove his worth, and soon is far out of his depth.

Things darken further. Pickens (children) are vanishing, and an ancient invading army is waking. Island witches long ago froze these soldiers into statues of piche (tar). Their leader is a demon called the Blackheart Man.

This is Caribbean-inspired dark fantasy, with foreign conquest pressing from outside and something sinister rising within. Veycosi's polyamorous love life is also in trouble. As myth and history blur together, the question is how much damage one poor student can cause or endure on his own.