Children of Earth and Sky
CBC Books | | Posted: March 13, 2017 3:24 PM | Last Updated: July 16, 2019
Guy Gavriel Kay
From the small coastal town of Senjan, notorious for its pirates, a young woman sets out to find vengeance for her lost family. That same spring, from the wealthy city-state of Seressa, famous for its canals and lagoon, come two very different people: a young artist travelling to the dangerous east to paint the grand khalif at his request — and possibly to do more — and a fiercely intelligent, angry woman, posing as a doctor's wife, but sent by Seressa as a spy.
The trading ship that carries them is commanded by the accomplished younger son of a merchant family, ambivalent about the life he's been born to live. And further east, a boy trains to become a soldier in the elite infantry of the khalif — to win glory in the war everyone knows is coming.
As these lives entwine, their fates — and those of many others — will hang in the balance, when the khalif sends his massive army to take the great fortress that is the gateway to the western world... (From Viking)
- Guy Gavriel Kay: 6 books I love
- Guy Gavriel Kay on what his tombstone will say
- 100 writers in Canada you need to know now
- Guy Gavriel Kay on why writing fantasy fiction about destiny, dominion and deceit will never go out of style
From the book
The clock had been half a year in the making. It was of ivory and mahogany, inlaid with precious stones. It showed the blue and white moons in their proper phases. It predicted eclipses of the sun. A Jaddite warrior came forth on the hour to smite a bearded Osmanli on the head with a mace.
The device made a steady ticking sound when properly adjusted. Faleri had brought a man with him who knew how to achieve that. He believed this man was also tasked with spying on him. there was always someone spying. There wasn't much you could do about it. Information was the iron key to unlock the world.
From Children of Earth and Sky by Gay Gavriel Kay ©2016. Published by Viking.