title: The Presence of Shadows: Book 1 The Chronicles of Kings and Dragons Series (Volume 1)
author:  Kara Howell 
description: Kara Howell lives in Aurora, Colorado with her husband and four children. She homeschools three of her children. Her love for youth, the Bible, learning, and teaching are what prompted her to write The Chronicles of Kings and Dragons. She also enjoys playing the drums, riding horses, playing video games, photography, and reading. She is also a huge Doctor Who fan. No seriously, with the help of her dad, she turned a kitchen cabinet into the tardis and hung it in her bathroom, right above the toilet.
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  ![Cover for A King’s Ransom](../images/9780698167179_cover.jpg)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Also by Sharon Kay Penman
  
  
  THE HISTORICAL NOVELS
  
  
  The Sunne in Splendour
  
  
  Here Be Dragons
  
  
  Falls the Shadow
  
  
  The Reckoning
  
  
  When Christ and His Saints Slept
  
  
  Time and Chance
  
  
  Devil’s Brood
  
  
  Lionheart
  
  
  THE MEDIEVAL MYSTERIES
  
  
  The Queen’s Man
  
  
  Cruel as the Grave
  
  
  Dragon’s Lair
  
  
  Prince of Darkness
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../images/9780698167179_title_page.jpg)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  A MARIAN WOOD BOOK
  
  
  Published by G. P. Putnam’s Sons
  
  
  _Publishers Since 1838_
  
  
  Published by the Penguin Group
  
  
  ![](../images/140660.jpg)
  
  
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  Copyright © 2014 by Sharon Kay Penman
  
  
  Excerpt from _The Land Beyond the Sea_ copyright © 2020 by Sharon Kay Penman
  
  
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