The Ivory Tower is a richly woven fantasy novel of courtly intrigue, political manoeuvring, and dangerous secrets. The story follows Callum, a mild-mannered tutor from the hallowed halls of the world’s greatest university, thrust unexpectedly into the treacherous Royal Court. His assignment seems simple: educate the Young Queen, a newly crowned ruler whose father, the King, has been assassinated by the Reaver—a legendary supernatural spectre whose reappearance sends shockwaves through the realm. But as Callum soon learns, life at court is a battlefield far more dangerous than anything his books prepared him for.
The Queen's position is precarious, caught between rival factions vying for power. The Church, with its overreaching influence, seeks to control her through divine authority. The nobility, fractured by an inconclusive civil war against a rebel count, tests her resolve at every turn. Meanwhile, the Merchant Republic, a neighbouring power gaining influence through the betrothal of the Queen’s younger sister, plays its own enigmatic game. To the south, rumours spread of the resurgence of the Saurens, a race of draconic beings long thought extinct but now rising from legend into a looming threat.
As Callum’s unique perspective and intellect prove invaluable to the Queen, his stature within the court grows. But this elevation comes with dangerous visibility. Whispers of betrayal, assassinations, and forbidden sorcery swirl around the court, and Callum finds himself a pawn in games far beyond his understanding. Haunted by visions of the Reaver and burdened with cryptic clues about its origins, Callum must uncover which faction summoned the assassin and why. His loyalty to the Young Queen is tested as alliances shift, secrets come to light, and enemies close in from all sides.
The Ivory Tower is a masterful blend of political fantasy and character-driven drama. Through Callum’s eyes, it explores the tension between intellectual idealism and the brutal realities of power, weaving a gripping narrative of survival, loyalty, and the search for truth in a world on the brink of chaos.
