Elizabeth Bear’s The Lotus Kingdoms, a new fantasy trilogy set in the same world as The Eternal Sky, in which a brass automaton with a soul, the disenfranchised servant of a dead Caliph, and a priest with one golden eye are drawn into a high stakes political game involving two queens and the fate of their kingdoms, to Beth Meacham at Tor Books by Jennifer Jackson.
Re Temur, exiled heir to his grandfather’s Khaganate, has finally raised his banner and declared himself at war with his usurping uncle. With his companions—the Wizard Samarkar, the Cho-tse Hrahima, and the silent monk Brother Hsiung—he must make his way to Dragon Lake to gather in his army of followers.
Temur has many enemies, and they are not idle. The sorcerer who leads the Nameless Assassins, whose malice has shattered the peace of all the empires of the Celedon Highway, has struck at Temur’s uncle already. To the south, in the Rasan empire, a magical plague rages. To the east, the great city of Asmaracanda has burned, and the Uthman Caliph is deposed. And in the hidden ancient empire of Erem, Temur’s son has been born, and a new moon has risen in the Eternal Sky.
Publishers Weekly: The espionage potential of magical illusions sets the stage for Kowal’s fourth alternate-Regency caper (after Without a Summer). Lady Jane and Sir David Vincent, both accomplished at the art of spinning strands of magic into the sounds and images called “glamour,” leave England to visit Venice and Murano. Their plan is to work with Murano’s glassmakers, under the guise of visiting Vincent’s friend Lord Byron, and capture glamour in glass so that it can be moved from place to place. After their ship is attacked by “a Barbary corsair,” Vincent is injured and the pirates relieve the pair of their valuables. They arrive in Venice sans papers and discover Byron is away; their straits are dire. A banker offers lodging and monetary assistance, but their relief turns to dismay when they begin to suspect his motives. Jane and Vincent’s affectionate but never anachronistic relationship, and Kowal’s clever incorporation of period artifacts into the schemes, are of particular note.
Kirkus: Combining history, magic and adventure, the book balances emotional depth with buoyant storytelling. Kowal continues her creative Regency-set Glamourist Histories series with a clever, captivating plot that culminates in a magical heist storyline. Before we get there, though, we are treated to a touching examination of a loving marriage under duress and the connections and collaborations these extraordinary partners must create and reaffirm with each other and those around them in order to thrive. Continue reading »
Hugo Award winning author Mary Robinette Kowal’s untitled short story collection, to Paula Guran at Prime Books by Jennifer Jackson.
Jay Lake’s and Ken Scholes’ THE WINGS WE DARE ASPIRE, a collection of related novellas in the award-winning Metatropolis setting, to Kevin J. Anderson at WordFire Press by Jennifer Jackson.
Hugo Award winning author Elizabeth Bear’s ANCESTRAL NIGHT plus a sequel, launching a new space opera series following Haimey Dz and her partner Connla Kurucz, as they pilot their tiny ship into the scars left by unsuccessful White Transitions, searching for the relics of lost human – and alien – vessels, to Simon Spanton at Gollancz by Jennifer Jackson.
Booklist: Bear concludes the epic begun in Range of Ghosts with her usual subversive flair. The world of the Eternal Sky is a gorgeously fleshed-out one, and the characters without exception fascinating, sometimes maddening, and complex. This is a pleasing conclusion to an epic; it ties up the major threads but leaves many open questions about how the world will move forward. Temur and his companions begin this volume in the city of Reason, exploring ancient places and magics; they must make their way to Dragon Lake to declare Temur Khagan and gather an army against the terrible forces of Al-Sepehr. Continue reading »
MURDER OF CROWS debuts at #75 on the USA Today Best-Selling Books list!
After winning the trust of the terra indigene residing in the Lakeside Courtyard, Meg Corbyn has had trouble figuring out what it means to live among them. As a human, Meg should be barely tolerated prey, but her abilities as a cassandra sangue make her something more.
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Publishers Weekly: Bear’s stellar conclusion to her Mongolian-flavored fantasy trilogy (after Range of Ghosts and Shattered Pillars) is a satisfying mix of traditional epic fantasy elements, flavored with original magic and grounded with mundane details that make the fantastic seem entirely possible. As the skies shift, reflecting the mortals in power and their associated gods, forces align to support or challenge wizard al-Sepehr as he wages war in the name of the Scholar-God. Warrior Re Temur and his allies travel to Dragon Lake to rally the opposition with Temur’s declaration of his assumption of the position of Khagan, heir to his grandfather’s empire. Continue reading »