Flight is freedom, but death hangs in the skies….
Taya soars over Ondinium on metal wings. She is an Icarus, a courier privileged to travel freely across the city's sectors and mingle indiscriminately amongst its castes. But even she cannot outfly the web of terrorism, loyalty, murder, and intrigue that snares her after a daring mid-air rescue. Taya finds herself entangled with the Forlore brothers, scions of an upper-class family: handsome, brilliant Alister, who sits on Ondinium's governing council and writes programs for the Great Engine; and awkward, sharp-tongued Cristof, who has exiled himself from his caste and repairs clocks in the lowest sector of the city. Both hide dangerous secrets, in the city that beats to the ticking of a clockwork heart.
"Pagliassotti has brought forth a terrific novel, one that embodies a bold new direction in the fantasy genre. For those who enjoy the work of China Mieville or D.M. Cornish…" (Drew Bittner, SFRevu)
Dru Pagliassotti is a professor of communication at California Lutheran University, where she teaches media theory and practice. She published and edited The Harrow, an online literary magazine for fantasy and horror, from 1998 to 2009. As a long-time roleplayer, Dru worked at About.Com's Guide to roleplaying games from 1998 to 2001, writing weekly columns about roleplaying and reviewing hundreds of RPG systems and supplements; she had a brief appearance in About.Com's very first commercial, dressed as a swordswoman in a black doublet and pantaloons. Her martial arts training in judo, ju-jitsu, and aikido comes in handy when writing fight scenes.
"Pagliasotti has brought forth a terrific novel, one that embodies a bold new direction in the fantasy genre. For those who enjoy the work of China Mieville or D.M. Cornish..." — Drew Bittner, SFRevu.
"Escape to the fantastic and captivating three-tiered city Pagliassotti has created. The plot is intricate and has multilayered characters who perplex, entertain, and gratify. This is a wonderfully written book — one for the keeper shelf." — Romantic Times
"I must say, my little steampunk heart is just thrilled with this newest offering. It's an off-world story and the author has done a fantastic job with the worldbuilding." — Elizabeth Headrick, BookFetish.Org
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