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But never more so than now. The city chafes under the heavy hand of the Palleseen occupation, the choke-hold of its criminal underworld, the boot of its factory owners, the weight of its wretched poor and the burden of its ancient curse.
What will be the spark that lights the conflagration?
Despite the city's refugees, wanderers, murderers, madmen, fanatics and thieves, the catalyst, as always, will be the Anchorwood—that dark grove of trees, that primeval remnant, that portal, when the moon is full, to strange and distant shores.
Ilmar, some say, is the worst place in the world and the gateway to a thousand worse places.
Ilmar, City of Long Shadows.
City of Bad Decisions.
City of Last Chances.
Arthur C. Clarke winner and Sunday Times bestseller Adrian Tchaikovsky triumphantly returns to fantasy with a darkly inventive portrait of a city under occupation and on the verge of revolution.
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Creators
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Publisher
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Release date
January 31, 2023 -
Formats
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OverDrive Listen audiobook
- ISBN: 9781705096819
- File size: 571311 KB
- Duration: 19:50:13
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Languages
- English
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Reviews
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February 20, 2023
The theft of a rare magical amulet becomes the catalyst for revolution in the shady city of Ilmar in this well wrought fantasy from Arthur C. Clarke award winner Tchaikovsky (Children of Memory). A high-ranking official of the Palleseen occupation, which seeks to bring “perfection” to the world, dies during the amulet’s theft, and the occupiers will not rest until order is restored. Tchaikovsky seamlessly alternates between a large cast as an academic, a refugee sorcerer, a petty criminal, and a noble scion become entangled in a frantic search for the amulet. The captivating magic systems of this world’s many cultures come to the fore as the Palleseen crack down on Ilmar: workers in factories powered by demons, the mysterious residents of the last grove of a magical forest, and a district abandoned to the emaciated victims of a virulent curse all chafe against the oppressive regime. The different resistance factions soon face a choice: rise as one to overthrow the Palleseen or stay separate and be crushed forever. The rich, inventive worldbuilding and nuanced intrigues will have fantasy readers on the edges of their seats. Agent: Simon Kavanagh, Mic Cheetham Literary.
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