Forest of Ancients Hardcover – March 21, 2026

Rain falls without mercy in Forest of Ancients, and from its very first breath, the world refuses to be still.S. J. Robertson draws readers into Utikar - a land where the forest is not merely a setting, but a living force, vast and watchful, stretching across miles of danger, memory, and buried truths. Here, survival is never guaranteed. Not for the elves who live within the safety of their walled city, set deep within the forest yet never fully in harmony with it, nor for the orcs who gather within its boundaries, driven by a purpose that grows harder to ignore.Among them stands Zurak Stormbringer, a chief forced to lead a people on the edge of collapse, hunted and with few options left. The orcs are growing tired of running. A final stand is coming - and not all threats wait beyond the trees.Born under a new moon, Gruuzak Greyskin should have been marked for greatness. Instead, he was cast aside by the very father he now seeks to prove himself to. Raised in the shadow of the tribe’s shaman, Kresh, and marked by the gray skin many believe to be a curse, Gruuzak must fight for a place among warriors who see him as something less, and possibly something dangerous.What begins as a single clash beneath a moonless sky unfolds into something far greater.Old tensions sharpen into open war. As the elves of Orlrius press their advantage and the orcs are pushed closer to the brink, survival becomes uncertain, and costly. For Gruuzak, the path to becoming a warrior is no longer about earning respect, but enduring the weight of battle, loss, and the choices that define who he will become.And in the background, quieter forces move with their own intent. Within the tribe, the shaman Karnok turns to darker forms of magic, not as legend foretold, but as a means to shape outcomes in his own favor.Robertson does not rush this world; he lets it breathe. Each step deeper into the conflict reveals characters forced to confront not only their enemies, but themselves.Forest of Ancients is a story of survival, of war, and of a boy born an outcast, fighting to decide whether he will become the future of his people, or a warning they were right to fear. Read more