As omens and natural disasters assail Narida, people flock to the banner of Nari Reborn. Natan the God-King faces a battle for his birthright – and he doesn’t even know that the Golden is sailing for his shore intent on killing a god…
Orbit
Sig is a loner even by the standards of the remote island community she lives on the margins of. Haunted by guilt, she has cut herself off from friends and family. But when an older, darker sin is uncovered by an ignorant visitor, Sig must decide whether she is truly ready to turn her back on her world.
An arrogant foreigner funds an expedition north – or perhaps south – or maybe out – to find a mysterious Edifice that appears on no charts. As questions gather about what happened to the first ship to find it, the expedition’s doctor begins to recall events his crewmates assure him haven’t happened…
Touraine returns home to Qazāl intent on being the first colonial to achieve rank within the Balladairan army. Luca comes to Qazāl to prove her fitness for the Balladairan throne by defusing rising unrest against colonial rule. But the Qazāli have good reason to rebel. Touraine and Luca are determined to bring peace, but can they bear the cost?
In Vaskandar, everything boils down to power. As a Witchlord’s mage-marked granddaughter, Ryx is undeniably powerful. But her magic is flawed: it kills everything she touches. When she accidentally kills a visiting dignitary, she gives an ambitious neighbour a pretext for war… which is about to be the least of her worries.
The God-King of Narida has no heir. His sister can assassinate his rivals, but she is powerless to silence prophecies of a reborn God. Across the ocean, a deathless warrior is uniting the fierce Tjakorshi clans. The Brown Eagle clan has fled to Narida to make peace with townsfolk they have raided for generations – but how long can peace last?
On the eve of her coronation, the Bitch Queen Talyien murdered a man and mislaid her husband. Now the fragile peace of Jin-Sayeng may depend on whether she can bring him home. But the fugitive Dragonlord has ideas of his own…
Winter has come. The passes to Vaskandar are closed, holding Ruven at bay to brew his potion and cement his power. It’s time for Amalia to challenge the Empire and demand equality for the mage-marked. But snow is no barrier to a Witchlord…