In a remote mountain academy, the politically expendable younger sons of the Great Houses study for an extraordinary task. Most will fail, some will die, but the reward for the dedicated few is great: mastery of the andat, and the rank of Poet. Thanks to these men - part sorcerers, part scholars - the great city-states of the Khaiem enjoy wealth and power beyond measure, and the greatest of them all is Saraykeht: glittering jewel of the Summer Cities. There are those in the world, however, who envy such wealth. There are great riches to be had in the Summer and Winter Cities, and only the threat of the andat unleashed holds the enemies of the Khaiem in check. Conflict is brewing in the world. Alliances will be broken and friends betrayed. The lowly will be raised up, the mighty will fall and innocents will be slaughtered. And two men, bound to each other by an act of kindness and an act of brutality, may be all that stands between the civilised world and war. War and something worse ...
Reviews
'Enjoyable, intelligent, original fantasy' Starburst 'One of the most elegant and engaging fantasies I've read in years, based on an intriguing, original premise. I eagerly await the remaining volumes in Daniel Abraham's The Long Price Quartet' Jacqueline Carey 'In addition to the creation of an architecturally-perfect fantasy world filled with a fascinating, highly distinctive set of characters, Daniel Abraham has introduced into fantasy one brilliant, stunning new idea, a magic system in which the Word is made Flesh' Walter Jon Williams on A Shadow in Summer 'There's something genuinely new here... Fascinating' Locus 'Beguiling ... The world-building is immaculate' Deathray 'A compelling, emotionally brutal and edgy fantasy that's genuinely worthy of comparison with genre heavyweights like George R.R. Martin ... exceptionally well-written' SFX 'Ambitious and brilliant ... The ideas on which Abraham has built this series are original and thought-provoking, in a genre where cliche can be rife ... surely one of the brightest stars to come into the genre for quite a while.' The BookSwede 'A thoroughly engrossing debut novel from a major new fantasist. A poignant human tale of power, heartbreak, and betrayal' George R.R. Martin '[An] impressive first novel ... The long outcome should be the addition of Daniel Abraham to the pantheon of major fantasy authors' Locus
Author Biography
Daniel Abraham's short stories have been nominated for the Nebula award and included in Gardner Dozois's Year's Best Science Fiction anthology. He lives in New Mexico with his wife and daughter.
