Loved the characters. Loved the world. Every moment felt epic or heart-breaking or had me smiling. This was so compelling and never lost its momentum. Looking forward to re-reading as much as I'm desperate for book two.
At the elite Catenan Academy, where students are prepared as the future leaders of the Hierarchy empire, the curriculum reveals a layered set of mysteries which turn murderous in this new fantasy by bestselling author of The Licanius Trilogy, James Islington.
Vis, the adopted son of Magnus Quintus Ulcisor, a prominent senator within the Hierarchy, is trained to enter the famed Catenan Academy to help Ulciscor learn what the hidden agenda is of the remote island academy. Secretly, he also wants Vis to discover what happed to his brother who died at the academy. He's sure the current Principalis of…
A novel that will stick with me. Characters to love and journeys, dark as they get, but which I look forward to experiencing again as the writing was just Too Damn Good.
Stuart Turton mysteries really have the most unexpected components to them. They require you to explore a world that is familiar and yet utterly bizarre. You have to be prepared for magic, science and/or a higher power. You cannot trust the perspectives you are given, and you're given many. Most crucially: don't expect to solve it.
"A gripping tale that reads like a Sherlock Holmes novel set in a broken future...Turton is an exciting writer with a knack for strange tales that push the envelope, and this strange story of murder, survival, and the importance of memory might be his best work yet." ―Gabino Iglesias for NPR
From the bestselling author of The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle and The Devil and the Dark Water comes an inventive, high-concept murder mystery: an ingenious puzzle, an extraordinary backdrop, and an audacious solution.
Solve the murder to save what's left of the world.
“Engaging and compelling . . .” ―Maria V. Snyder, New York Times bestselling author of The Study of Poisons “The classic magical orphan story gets a refreshing twist.” ―Kirkus Reviews
You can only teach your shadow one trick . . .
Adlai Bringer remembers going to the desert market with her father: The colorful tents, the wink of gold, and her father’s shadow, black as night, as it moved of its own accord and stole whatever trinket she wanted. He called it the Shadow Game.
After her father disappears, Adlai keeps going back to the market determined to find some trace of him and stealing what she can with her shadow. Until one day she picks the wrong mark―someone who knows her little trick and tries to take her shadow for himself.
Everything Adlai thought she knew about her shadow is turned upside down, and her father’s disappearance takes on a new light as she’s forced to flee the city or risk being hunted. From the desert to the shadow world to even more unlikely places, Adlai knows one thing for certain: her shadow is a gift worth killing for.
