[Fate and the Wheel 01] • A Time of Ashes

' One of the most interesting and exciting new writers to emerge north of the border since Iain Banks * ' - Gary Gibson, award-nominated author of Angel Stations , Against Gravity and Stealing Light*.

' *Rudy Rucker on drugs * ' - BestSF

What do you do when the end of the world is at hand and not even a god can help you any more?

Perfect for fans of George R. R. Martin's A Game of Thrones , or books by Liani Taylor, China Miéville, Patrick Rothfuss, Josiah Bancroft or Peter Flannery.

Before the Corruption came , Murrin Kentle lived in a world where the largest island could be walked across in a day, and humans traded and fished in bladeships made from the bones of the gigantic and bizarre sea monsters patrolling its stormy, bottomless oceans. As a truthkeep of the Brotherhood of the First Mind, it’s been his duty to fight the decay of knowledge with religious fervour. A fervour he’s increasingly struggled to maintain.

Before the Corruption came, Sheehan hahe Seeheeli was a carefree countess of the Shi’iin. Amphibious and matriarchal, her people have maintained an uneasy coexistence with the human scholars dominating the islands. Then an emissary of the gods brings news of an impending catastrophe. Now, she and Murrin must embark on a desperate voyage in the hope of salvation, although both the subject of their search and the path they must take remain stubbornly obscure.

Before the Corruption came, a wild young man named Coll grew up in a desert town, consumed by rage over what was done to his mother. His thirst for retribution will set in motion a train of events not even the gods could fully have foretold.

Now the Corruption is here , and nothing in Murrin's world, nor any of the worlds of the Sundered Realm, will ever be the same.

BY TURNS TOUCHING, humorous, tense and horrific, with elements of fantasy, SF and steampunk, A Time of Ashes is a thrilling and wildly imaginative tale of existential discovery: the first part of Fate and the Wheel , a beautifully written epic tale of friendship, loss, revenge, war, and survival against crushing odds.

' The rumble of the approaching fire was like something physical. It made his bones vibrate, more insistent by the second until he thought his ears would rupture. Those left on deck not preoccupied with trying to keep the rigging from flying apart watched their nemesis with pop-eyed incantations or yells of terror. '

' Chet knew this rootless, prickling sensation in the pit of his gut. How could he forget? It had consumed him that day on the dais. His first meeting with Murrin – his first real view of the man, his cognast friend Gald’s old-man scrawniness making Murrin seem even more absurdly, enduringly massive. He had seemed like something built to last forever. '

Readers are saying:

' * * * I loved this. It's extremely well written in a very visual style – almost cinematographic – and the characterisation is fantastic. The individuals may be flawed but they're all very relatable. I quickly got very invested in their story ... It seems like a classic quest story but although it's a page-turner there's a depth to it which hints than there's a lot more to the story than meets the eye. ' Suzi Baker, GoodReads July 2018

' * * * A marvellously clever and inventive read. Can't wait to read the next one. A total original. ' Maggie Irvine, Kobo, August 2018