Godburned

THE WEIGHT AND THE MEASURE, first in a sharp queer epic series in the vein of Martha Wells’s WITCH KING, about a man thrice-touched by the gods who is forcibly conscripted into an organization ostensibly standing for justice, only to unravel a much deeper corruption than he could have dreamed. 

The touch of a single god? A blessing. 

The touch of two gods? A miracle. 

Three gods? A damned curse. 

In the Jaosi Empire, the magic of the gods is a rare and prized gift, sought by the devout who wish for a higher calling. But sometimes the gods arrive uninvited. They did for Kas, twice, taking advantage of immense pain and fear to place their power in him while he could not resist. 

Kas has tried to keep his magic private. He wants only to live freely on his own terms, discreetly helping his friends and neighbors in the poorest parts of Jahovai. So when three neighborhood boys go missing, the city watch uncaring as usual, Kas is determined to track them down on his own. But the investigation goes devastatingly wrong, and Kas is left deathly ill from a third divine visitation before he is finally found and conscripted by the Measure—for the godtouched are required to serve. 

The Measure is dedicated to doing justice, even outside the constraints of law, but here, everything has a rule and all things have a cost. As part of his new role, Kas is partnered with Nema, a grieving nobleman who represents everything Kas despises. 

Nema, twice-touched himself, has served the Measure faithfully for over a decade as a peacekeeper and arbiter of justice. Attempting to win the trust of the scarred, snappish Kas, Nema offers to help find the missing teenagers. 

But the case soon turns ugly, pointing to corruption in the highest circles of Jaosi society, and calling into question the Measure’s commitment to justice. Kas and Nema must learn to cooperate, and fast: facing threats from outside the Measure—and perhaps within it as well—the more they uncover, the more they have to lose.