The Worlds
of
Darren Joy
Step into the shifting realms of my dark epic fantasy — worlds shaped by fallen gods, ancient evils, and dark magic. Here you’ll find the plague‑scarred empire of A Viral Imperium, early glimpses of the emerging World Soul series, and a growing collection of tales bound by destiny, corruption, and the cost of power. This page gathers my books, series, and free reading in one place, offering a clear path into the worlds I’m building.
The Plagueborn Series
In a world steeped in darkness, where magic is as deadly as it is powerful, survival demands sacrifice. The Plagueborn series follows Threadfin Todder and those drawn into his orbit as they confront ancient forces, corrupted magic, and the unraveling of a plague‑scarred empire. Shadows whisper, battles rage, and no one escapes unscathed.
Explore the Plagueborn Series →
In the Imperium’s long, blood‑stained history, few figures shaped its fate more than Sarscha Todralan.
The Marshal, the Exile, the Imperatrix
Once the Imperium’s greatest marshal, Sarscha Todralan led the defence of Byrsa when all other commanders fell. Years later, broken by loss and hunted by ghosts of her own making, she rose again from the gutters of a dying city to face witches, revenants, and traitors who sought to tear the Imperium apart. She never wanted a crown — only a sword and an enemy — yet when the world began to fracture, it was Sarscha who stood in the breach, holding the line between her people and the darkness gathering beyond.
Sarscha Todralan
The World Soul Series
The World Soul Series explores a realm ripped in half — Rift, the world of mortals, and Ruin, the realm of souleaters. Long ago, the World Soul perished while trying to save creation from a terrible evil, leaving behind a corpse‑god buried across both halves of a shattered world.
Now, an ancient evil stirs once more, old hungers awaken, and the truth behind the world’s fracture begins to surface. As the balance between Rift and Ruin falters, unlikely figures are drawn into a struggle shaped by destiny, corruption, and the echoes of a long‑dead god.
The Truth of the World Soul
Before Rift and Ruin existed, the world had a vast spirit, silent, and unseen. When an ancient evil rose to devour creation, a mortal sorcerer awakened that spirit, giving breath to the World Soul.
That evil infected the world’s spirit and forced it into a colossal physical form, ripping the world in two unequal halves called Rift and Ruin. Dying but not defeated, the World Soul created the Soul Fall — a final act meant to separate the corrupted from the uncorrupted.
Yet, over generations, the Soul Fall became a ritual of offering, a way to keep the inhabitants of Ruin at bay for the World Soul’s death meant a god-corpse now formed a bridge between their worlds. Meanwhile, beings born from its death, twisted the balance. Their long, patient work now stirs the ancient evil that first broke the world into awakening.
What to Expect from the Series
- A world split by the forced birth and death of its own soul
- A protagonist who is neither mortal nor monster, but something in between
- Magic shaped by infection, sacrifice, and divine ruin
- The Soul Fall — a mercy turned into ritual
- Souleaters born from corruption and hunger
- Forces born from the World Soul’s death subtly shaping fate
- Ancient powers stirring beneath Rift and Ruin
- Epic scale bound to intimate, character‑driven consequences
