Four stories of courage, compassion, and endurance celebrate: The young man chosen to die in the place of a hero who can never lose. The secret at the core of a marriage society approves. The woman who built a forbidden flying machine, and the woman who loved her. Resilience under terrible odds. These are the things no regime can entirely repress—and they can make anyone a hero.
Six stories explore the ways and the price of survival when everything seems lost: An astrologer loses her stars but not her faith in them. A woman watches as her lover and her planet transform with new life—or die with it. A young man seeks revenge for unwelcome mercy granted in a world where every breath is agony. A group of artists discovers the strange loveliness which is all that remains...
An epic, tragic, bewitching tale of strange spells and unexpected loyalties. To Hethan A'Manth, it seemed like a routine enough mission: one more message to deliver. Certainly, this time it was to a rebel queen, but he knew to keep his head down as he passed through the affairs of monarchs, armies, and sorcerers. Yet he becomes beguiled, entangled in the last stand of southern kingdom against...