This week brought 2 review copies, although I’ve already covered one of them since this is a finished copy of a book I have received as an ARC. If you are interesting in learning more about Theft of Swords by Michael J. Sullivan, I’ll direct you to this post on books snagged at this year’s BEA. I started it this week and should be reviewing it pretty soon, though! I’m 100 pages in now and am having a lot of fun with it so far.
And the other book is…
This is a fantasy debut novel and the first book in a new series, The Shattered Sigil. I’ve been hearing great things about this book since it came out this year and it has been on my wish list for a while. So when a publicist contacted me about reviewing it, I couldn’t resist that opportunity. It’s about a smuggler and it just sounds like so much fun. Plus I haven’t read nearly enough debuts this year (I’m considering dedicating next month to fantasy debut novels for that reason – I still haven’t read Indigo Eyes by Fel Kian or Low Town by Daniel Polansky or Miserere by Teresa Frohock, all of which look great!).
An excerpt from The Whitefire Crossing is available online. The second book in the Shattered Sigil series, The Tainted City, will be released in 2012.
Dev is a smuggler with the perfect cover. He’s in high demand as a guide for the caravans that carry legitimate goods from the city of Ninavel into the country of Alathia. The route through the Whitefire Mountains is treacherous, and Dev is one of the few climbers who knows how to cross them safely. With his skill and connections, it’s easy enough to slip contraband charms from Ninavel – where any magic is fair game, no matter how dark – into Alathia, where most magic is outlawed.
But smuggling a few charms is one thing; smuggling a person through the warded Alathian border is near suicidal. Having made a promise to a dying friend, Dev is forced to take on a singularly dangerous cargo: Kiran. A young apprentice on the run from one of the most powerful mages in Ninavel, Kiran is desperate enough to pay a fortune to sneak into a country where discovery means certain execution – and he’ll do whatever it takes to prevent Dev from finding out the terrible truth behind his getaway.
Yet Kiran isn’t the only one harboring a deadly secret. Caught up in a web of subterfuge and dark magic, Dev and Kiran must find a way to trust each other – or face not only their own destruction, but that of the entire city of Ninavel.
