Showing results for "The Cycle" in Science Fiction & Fantasy

The cleric Chih finds themself and their companions at the mercy of a band of fierce tigers who ache with hunger. To stay alive until the mammoths can save them, Chih must unwind the intricate, layered story of the tiger and her scholar lover - a woman of courage, intelligence, and beauty - and discover how truth can survive becoming history.

The sellsword has been betrayed yet again by her ex-lover and separated from her dragon, Squid. And now she’s been turfed out of her last sanctuary. Lost without her dragon, her only comfort lies at the bottom of a glass of ale. Or nine. But as much as she might long for it, her death would only give the Emperor what he wants: the opportunity to bond with her dragon and use its power to become immortal. To mount a rescue, Des must cross a militarised border. When her oldest friend appears carrying permission to travel to Ascelin, she knows she’ll do whatever it takes to get her dragon back.

Smart, sassy, and sanguine. Des Mildue is a traveling sellsword in Rescalin, a dry and dusty kingdom full of rogues, opportunists, and thieves. She keeps her nose clean, brazens it out with a blade when she can’t, and keeps others at arm’s length where they can’t mess up her plans. That is until a sword fight gone wrong leaves her tied by blood to the first dragon hatched in centuries. Suddenly, Des has to contend with a new voice in her head: haughty, willful Esquidamelion. Des wants to leave Squid by the roadside, but the blood bond has other ideas.

Wandering cleric Chih of the Singing Hills travels to the riverlands to record tales of the notorious near-immortal martial artists who haunt the region. On the road to Betony Docks, they fall in with a pair of young women far from home, and an older couple who are more than they seem. As Chih runs headlong into an ancient feud, they find themselves far more entangled in the history of the riverlands than they ever expected to be.

Sellsword Des is traveling alone in a dry and dusty southern land after a spectacular bust-up with her best friend. She’s running low on coin, so when a former client, Karina, offers her a job leading her caravan’s security through brigand country, it feels like a gift. Des has done the route before, but she isn’t sure about leading solo. She recommends Cap, a rugged old mercenary, to head up the crew. Maybe she’ll even learn a thing or two about how to lead in between the delightful distraction of Karina’s flirtations and keeping the marauders at bay.