"Three sisters join the hunt for a stolen magical artefact in the start of this Gilded Age fantasy duology. Perfect for fans of heists, skullduggery and stolen kisses, and authors such as Nghi Vo and M. A. Carrick.
Ottilie Rushforth hides from the mighty Sorcerer's Guild as secretary to a has-been detective. She is Entwined - threads of magic run beneath her skin, and the Guild would trap her in service.
But Ottilie has a plan to escape the Guild forever with her estranged fiancé, the enigmatic poet, soldier and smuggler Lewis Illing. All she must do is track down a mysterious artefact, claim the bounty, and leave the city forever. But Ottilie's sisters - Pretoria, a quick-witted sorceress and thief recently emerged from exile, and Madge, a guild mage to the core, appear to make equally unwelcome offers. A new life at the cost of everything she has ever wanted, or prestige and safety in a gilded cage.
With her life on the line, Ottilie must track down the artifact in a city torn apart by prejudice and violence, and choose between the two sides of herself - the fugitive and the Entwined."
"In the wake of the events of Black Tide Son, Hart flees into pirate-infested waters to shelter on the island where former rogue James Demery and the Fleetbreaker, Anne Firth, now rule.
Reeling from their discoveries about the truths of the Mereish-Aeadine war, Mary and Samuel hover on the precipice of a terrible, world-altering choice—they can stay silent and maintain their good names, or they can speak out and risk igniting total war across the Winter Sea.
Meanwhile, Benedict captains The Red Tempest, a lawless ship of deserters and corrupted mages in search of an Usti spy with incendiary stolen documents. Benedict is determined to make the truth known, consequences be damned.
As rumours spread of a new Ghistwold sprouting in the Mereish South Isles, Mary and Samuel sail once more into intrigue, espionage and an ocean on the brink of exploding into conflict. They must chart a course toward lasting, final peace, at the heart of the age-old battle for power upon the Winter Sea."
"Samuel and Mary are thriving as privateers on the Winter Seas. As they navigate the complexities of their growing bond, in a world that would see Mary as chattel to be traded, the pair are forging a better way to live, under the sails of Hart.
But when their latest prize brings tales of Benedict’s capture by Mereish forces, they must make an impossible choice: to serve their nation or save Samuel’s brother.
Thrust into a mission of intrigue and infiltration, they seek to break into the most secure prison on the Mereish Coast. But as they sail deep into enemy territory, they find themselves hunted by a cunning and mysterious new foe—an enemy who seems to know their every secret, and who will kill to keep their own.
As the Black Tide rises, and fleets take to the water, Samuel, Mary, and Benedict are on a desperate race for survival—both their own, and the free nations of the Winter Seas.
“Daring escapes and high stakes on the high seas—half piratical fantasy, half familial intrigue, and all impossible to put down.”—Allison Epstein, author of Let the Dead Bury the Dead"
"Yske, a healer and daughter of the warrior priestess Hessa, holds the balance of power in a world—shattering war of the gods, in this thrilling, mythical and emotional epic fantasy saga.
The enthralling conclusion to the HALL OF SMOKE saga, perfect for fans of Ragnarök, Claire LeGrand, Margaret Owen, V. E. Schwab and Melissa Caruso Yske, daughter of the legendary warrior priestess Hessa, has dedicated her life to medicine and pacifism in service to Aita, the Great Healer. When her twin brother Berin, hungry for glory, gathers a party to investigate rumors of strange sightings in the Unmade—shadows in the darkness at the end of the world—Yske joins the mission, to keep him safe.
Their journey east takes them through primal forests, walking paths last trod when gods were at war and ancient, powerful beasts were defeated and bound.
And the closer they get to the Unmade, the more strange and terrible things haunt them from the shadows, corruptions in nature and monstrous creatures of moss and bone.
Earning the respect of Berin and his warriors, Yske must forge a place for mercy and healing in a world of violence and sacrifice. She must survive murderous ambushes and brutal sieges and take her place at the center of the oldest war of all.
Thrust into a desperate conflict of survival, Yske and Berin will wage the final warwith the gods—in the shadow of a vast and ancient tree, the fate of creation is about to be decided."
"Mary Firth is a Stormsinger: a woman whose voice can still hurricanes and shatter
armadas. Faced with servitude to pirate lord Silvanus Lirr, Mary offers her skills to
his arch-rival in exchange for protection—and helping send Lirr to a watery grave.
But her new ally has a vendetta of his own, and Mary’s dreams are dark and full of
ghistings, spectral creatures who inhabit the ancient forests of her homeland and
the figureheads of ships.
Samuel Rosser is a disgraced naval officer serving aboard Hart, an infamous
privateer commissioned to bring Lirr to justice. He will stop at nothing to capture
Lirr, restore his good name, and reclaim the only thing that stands between
himself and madness: a talisman stolen by Mary.
Finally, driven into the eternal ice at the limits of their world, Mary and Samuel
must choose their loyalties and battle forces older and more powerful than the
pirates who would make them slaves."
"Thray is the Last Daughter of Winter, haunted by the legacy of her blood. When offered a chance to visit the northern land of Duamel, where her father once ruled, she can’t refuse—even if it means lying to the priesthood she serves and the man she loves.
In Duamel, Thray’s demi-god siblings rule under the northern lights, worshipped by an arcane cult. An endless winter night cloaks the land, giving rise to strange beasts and terrible storms. The people of Duamel teeter on the edge of violence, and Thray’s siblings, powerful and deathless, stand with them on the brink.
To earn her siblings’ trust and find the answers she seeks, Thray will have to weather assassination attempts, conspiracies, and icy wastelands. And as her siblings turn their gaze towards the warmer, brighter land she calls home, she must harness her own feral power and decide where her loyalties lie.
Because when the spring winds blow and the ice breaks up, the sons and daughters of Winter will bring her homeland to its knees."
"After a brutal war between the gods, Hessa—High Priestess of the Eangen—has brokered a fragile alliance between warring tribes and bought peace to her home.
But a new threat is growing in the remnants of the once-great Arpa Empire. Three factions are vying to take the throne, the vast well of raw magical power only accessible to the Emperor. Hessa knows she cannot let this chance pass by—she must intervene, to protect her peoples’ hard-won future.
With the peace she has sacrificed so much for at stake, Hessa must lead an army of Algatt and Eangen warriors into the heart of enemy territory. But warring Arpa factions are not the only danger—a sinister new cult is on the rise, one that sucks the life from everything it touches.
With enemies on every side and the fragile peace beginning to waver, Hessa must decide who to place on the throne—no matter what it may cost her.
“One of the great new voices in epic fantasy … bold characters, shocking twists, and heart-pounding action.”—M.J. Kuhn, author of Among Thieves"
"Hessa is an Eangi: a battle-hardened priestess of the Goddess of War, with the power to turn an enemy’s bones to dust with a scream. Banished for disobeying her goddess’s command to murder a traveller, she prays for forgiveness—but while she is gone, raiders burn her town to the ground.
Grieving and alone, Hessa—the last Eangi—must find the traveller and atone for her weakness. As clans from the north and legionaries from the south tear through her homeland, slaughtering everyone in their path, Hessa strives to win back her goddess’s favour.
Beset by zealot soldiers, deceitful gods, and newly-awakened demons at every turn, Hessa burns her path towards redemption and revenge. But her journey reveals a harrowing truth: the gods are dying and the High Halls of the afterlife are fading. Soon Hessa’s trust in her goddess weakens with every unheeded prayer.
Thrust into a battle between the gods of the Old World and the New, Hessa realizes there is far more on the line than securing a life beyond her own death.
Bigger, older powers slumber beneath the surface of her world. And they’re about to wake up.
'Vivid and compelling.'—Lucy Holland, author of Sisterlong"
