My query letter
It's been a decade since I had to write one of these!
I am seeking representation for VALOR, a 123,000-word adult epic military fantasy with crossover appeal for older YA readers. It will appeal to fans of Red Sister by Mark Lawrence, The Unbroken by C.L. Clark, and The Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie, blending a weaponized soldier’s struggle for identity with a character-driven exploration of violence, control, and humanity. I am querying you because [personalize the reason here].
An atheist general serves a deeply religious empire—until a war forces her to confront not her disbelief in the gods, but whether she has ever been a hero at all.
Valeria is the Empire’s most feared weapon—secretly an atheist, publicly a general in service to a deeply religious regime. Raised to serve the Solar Inquisition, she survives by suppressing her violent instincts and fragmented memories, convincing herself the Empire’s methods are necessary to protect the innocent.
That belief fractures in the Bloodwood, where a mysterious corruption transforms people into violent zealots beneath a false, unnatural sunlight. When Valeria finds Imperial weapons among the diseased Scorched, she suspects the Empire’s involvement. Her defiance deepens when she refuses orders to execute an infected girl, defying holy mandate and clashing with her second-in-command, Gideon Esthmus.
As Valeria hunts the source, suppressed memories resurface. At Shemesh Garrison, her superiors forced her into a violent frenzy that killed everyone she knew, including the mentor who sacrificed himself to stop her. The inhuman fury she has spent her life containing isn’t natural, but engineered.
Those revelations culminate when an ancient entity named Sorath emerges, tied to both the corruption and the girl Valeria spared. Sorath reveals that he and the Empire have been shaping events in the Bloodwood. Worse still, Valeria was engineered as a vessel for a force capable of reshaping the world. When Gideon unmasks himself as her handler, using a hidden device to neutralize her before abandoning her, Valeria must decide whether she is the Empire’s weapon or something more.
As Sorath lays siege to the frontier, Valeria is pushed beyond control for the final time. Instead of giving in to the destruction she was designed for, she chooses to fight on her own terms—anchoring her power not in rage, but in the people she refuses to abandon.
VALOR is a standalone novel with series potential. My dedication to building immersive worlds was previously demonstrated through FLOOR 21, a Scout contest winner and well-selling dystopian science fiction.
Per your submission guidelines, I have included [personalize request materials]. Thank you for your time and consideration.