Between Dragons and Their Wrath
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- £5.49
Publisher Description
'Wildly inventive - a world of glass and magic, filled with characters who each hold their own breathtaking secrets. Shifting alliances, revelations and relationships full of love and lust make this a compelling read' Andrea Stewart, author of The Bone Shard Daughter
Three people in a shattered empire become entangled in a looming revolution in this sweeping epic fantasy full of dragons, alchemical magic, political scheming and forbidden romance.
Conquest built the Celes Basin. But when enemies once more threaten its borders, the Lord Reacher declares himself supreme ruler to enforce unity. Old angers erupt, threatening to tear the basin apart from within.
Tesha, a glassblower's apprentice, becomes a tribute bride as part of a desperate political plot. In the Reacher's court, she's perfectly placed to sabotage him, but her heart has other plans.
Naili is laundress to an eccentric alchemist, a job that has left her with strange new abilities that are slowly consuming her - and attracting the notice of the city's underground rulers. With time running out, she'll have to gain power by any means if she wants to survive, let alone change the world.
And in the desolate Shield Mountains, sharp-shooting dragon rider Ashadi protects the basin from the monsters of the Sands beyond, but when an impossible shot pierces his dragon's glass scales, he becomes the hunted one.
As chaos sweeps across the land, Tesha, Naili, and Ashadi must fight to survive political enemies, long-buried secrets, and monsters both within and without.
Praise for Devin Madson:
'Madson hooked me into this layered, fascinating world of sand and glass, poisons and plant magic, politics and secrets, and didn't let go. Brilliantly clever and inventive'
Sam Hawke, author of City of Lies
'This is a tale that hits all the right spots. Imaginative world-building, a pace that builds perfectly to a heart-pounding finale and captivating, believable characters. There's a lot to love here. Highly recommended' John Gwynn on We Ride the Storm
'Breathtakingly triumphant . . . it has become one of my favourite books of all time . . . a gripping, evocative hurricane of emotions that constantly took my breath away'
Petrik Leo on We Ride the Storm
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Madson (the Reborn Empire series) launches a new series with this tense and intricate political fantasy. When sharp-tongued Tesha's home country of Learshapa is forcibly annexed by the Emoran empire, Tesha agrees to serve as an "insult bride," a commoner passed off as noble in a political marriage in hopes that the eventual exposure of the truth will force a renegotiation of the terms of the annexation. But as she gets caught up in spycraft, her plan evolves to include poisoning the emperor. Meanwhile, in the capital, perceptive laundress Naili Billette's alarming new ability to grow plants by touch pushes her to confront the alchemist whose laundry has affected all of her fellow servants. And on the outskirts of civilization, haughty Lord Ashadi Romm trains to become a dragon rider. After he is shot down by a bullet that penetrates supposedly bullet-proof dragon scales, his persistent questioning of the senior dragon riders leads them to fire his assistant and would-be lover, Manalaii, and banish Ashadi. This first installment serves mainly to lay the groundwork—the three protagonists' paths don't cross until the very end—but each individual's complicated maneuvering still excites. Replete with backstabbing, secrets, and political intrigue, this is a promising start.
