Friday, March 25, 2011

Upcoming: Amanda Downum’s “Kingdoms of Dust” (Orbit)

I’m a big fan of Amanda Downum’s Necromancer Chronicles, which have thus far been dark, gothic and evocative fantasies, set in an exotic world where the lines between the living and the dead are blurred. (It’s reminiscent of Gail Z Martin’s world, although I have to say I much prefer Downum’s creation and writing.) Both of the previous volumes in the series have been reviewed on CR, and if you haven’t yet checked either out, I would certainly recommend it!

The Drowning City was a good start to the series, not without some faults, but showed great promise for the future; while The Bone Palace was a superb, slow-burning supernatural fantasy and thriller, and fulfilled that promise.

Today, Orbit announced the artwork (by Larry Rostant) for the third book, Kingdoms of Dust:

Downum-KingdomsOfDust

The new artwork sits nicely alongside the previous two novels’, with a more sandy-palette to suit the setting. I think it’s a pretty good cover, if a tiny bit derivative, but it does the trick.

[Please Note: After the break, there are some spoilers in the synopsis]

And, because no artwork post would be complete without an accompanying synopses, so…

With her master dead and her oaths foresworn, necromancer and spy Isyllt Iskaldur finds herself in exile...

Hounded by assassins, she seeks asylum in Assar, the empire she so recently worked to undermine. There, warlords threaten the Empire’s fragile peace, and the empress is beset by enemies within the court. Even worse, darkness stirs in the deep desert. Ancient spirits are waking that could destroy Assar faster than any army.

Isyllt must travel into the heart of the desert to lay the darkness there to rest once more. But first she must stop an order of mages that will do anything to keep the Empire safe – even raze it to dust.

Kingdoms of Dust will be published in all territories in December 2011 – so, some gothic fantasy reading to add contrast to the Christmas cheer, perhaps?

I’m really looking forward to this.

Here’s the artwork for all three books, together:

Downum-TheNecromanderChronicles

Amanda Downum’s Website

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