A Royal Hunt, A Dark Past. The Adventure Deepens!

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

SEPT. 30, 2025 (PORTLAND, OR) — The mystery thickens!

Papercutz, an imprint of Mad Cave Studios, invites readers back into the award-winning world of daring heists and heart-pounding escapes crafted by two-time Eisner Award nominee and Joe Shuster Award winner Scott Chantler (Squire & Knight, Bix, Two Generals, Northwest Passage, Three Thieves) with THREE THIEVES VOL. 4: THE KING’S DRAGON!

With Dessa’s leg broken and the Queen’s Dragons in hot pursuit, the odds are stacked against the three thieves. Captain Drake recalls his early days as a knight in the service of King Roderick. In tracking down a stolen letter for the king, young Drake is drawn into a web of intrigue that includes a plot against the throne and cryptic clues involving Greyfalcon and Dessa. Does the key to capturing the three thieves lie in Drake’s own dark past? Could this spell the end of Dessa’s quest to find her long-lost twin brother?

Author Scott Chantler relished the chance to change things up:

“I’d set up a pattern with the first three books, one that I had fun breaking in this fourth one,” said Chantler. “The King’s Dragon is where the series really took a turn, became a bit darker, a bit deeper. It answers a few questions from earlier books and raises new ones, setting the stakes for books five, six, and seven.”

Forward contributor and founder of The Dragon comics and game store in Guelph, Ontario, Jennifer Haines (MA, B.Ed. OCT) added, “Reading Chantler’s work, you can feel the love—love of the subject, love of the line, love of giving something to his reader. Being able to put these books into kids’ hands is a true honour.”

Running 120 pages, The King’s Dragon continues the series’s all-ages appeal for readers 7-12. Three Thieves Vol. 4: The King’s Dragon will be available in both paperback and hardcover, and is available now for preorder through your favorite book shop, or from Papercutz directly.

This exciting new tale goes on sale February 3, 2026.