AustLit

'Rielle is now the Maker, restorer of worlds. She has lost count of the number of worlds she has been sent to save.

'Tyen has cast off his old identity. No longer a spy, he now attempts to teach new sorcerers and find ways to counteract the war machines that are spreading throughout the worlds.

'But when an old enemy brings news of something worse than magically dead worlds and dangerous sorcerers - a threat unlike anything the worlds have faced before - Rielle and Tyen must reunite if they are to have any chance of saving humanity.' (Publication summary)

'A woman with magical powers has violated the norms of her society and been punished by having to rebuild her means of living. She’s done this by taking up the job of miniature portraiture which is ordinarily not very magical and is appropriate for women’s work. However, when a married couple who helped her out in her time of need has marital problems, she finds herself in the middle, trying to repay the favor. Things only get worse though, and when the woman is asked by the wife to provide a means to spy on the husband, which would entail having the woman twist her portrait art in an illegal and darkly magical way, matters come to a head.'

Source: Tangent Online (https://tangentonline.com/e-market-quarterly/grimdark-magazine/grimdark-19-july-2019/). (Sighted: 13/02/2020)

'Tyen is teaching mechanical magic at a school respected throughout the worlds. News arrives that the formidable ruler of all worlds, long believed to be dead, is back and enforcing his old laws - including the one forbidding schools of magic. As teachers and students flee, Tyen is left with no home and no purpose... except the promise he made to Vella, the sorcerer imprisoned in a book. Tyen must decide what he is willing to do to free her.

'After five years among the tapestry weavers of Schpeta, Rielle's peaceful new life has been shattered by a local war. As defeat looms, the powerful Angel of Storms appears and invites Rielle to join the artisans of his celestial realm. But what will he require in return for this extraordinary offer?' (Publication summary)

'A brand new series from the bestselling new fantasy author of the last decade

'In a world where an industrial revolution is powered by magic, Tyen, a student of archaeology, unearths a sentient book called Vella. Once a young sorcerer-bookbinder, Vella was transformed into a useful tool by one of the greatest sorcerers of history. Since then she has been collecting information, including a vital clue to the disaster Tyen's world faces.

'Elsewhere, in a land ruled by the priests, Rielle the dyer's daughter has been taught that to use magic is to steal from the Angels. Yet she knows she has a talent for it, and that there is a corrupter in the city willing to teach her how to use it - should she dare to risk the Angels' wrath.

'But not everything is as Tyen and Rielle have been raised to believe. Not the nature of magic, nor the laws of their lands.

'Not even the people they trust.' (Publication summary)

'The Third Doctor and Jo Grant arrive for a well-deserved holiday of sun and ‘blokarting’ on a salt lake in Australia in 2028. Weird sculptures adorn the landscape – statues carved from the salt. People have been leaving them in the salt lakes for years – but these look different. Grotesque, distorted figures twisted in pain. They don’t last long in the rain and the wind, but they’re just made of salt... Aren’t they?'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

Five years have passed since the Rebels confronted the Raen. Five years, in which the boy Rielle rescued, Qall, has safely grown up among the Travellers. Five years, in which Tyen has made a new home for himself, hidden from those who call him a traitor and the Spy.

Five years of chaos in the world, barely contained by Baluka and the Restorers. Worlds are at war, some overrun by machines, some drained of magic as sorcerers seek immortality.

As war threatens Rielle and Tyen's hard-won peace, and Qall comes of age, loyalties will be decided and tested. The promises they have made could change everything. Qall's very existence depends on them.

Because Dahli has the means to restore the Raen to power, and he will stop at nothing to succeed. (Synopsis)

A disillusioned solider comes to harbour worrying suspicions about the camp follower in his tent.

'Relieved that Lorkin is coming home, Sonea prepares to meet with the Traitors on behalf of the Guild. Then bad news arrives: the Sachakan king has imprisoned her son.

'As the Sachakan king tries to force Lorkin into betraying the Traitors, Dannyl questions his friendship with Ashaki Achati. Can he trust the Sachakan? Not at all, if Tayend is right. But do Tayend's suspicions spring from good political instincts, or jealousy?

'Easily evading capture by the Guild, the Rogue knows only one obstacle lies between him and his ambition to rule the underworld: Cery. Forced into hiding, protected by Lilia, Cery must wait for the Guild to find his enemy. But is Black Magician Kallen purposefully failing in his task?

'And Lorkin must decide where his loyalties lie, for whatever choice he makes will require a great sacrifice.' (Publisher's blurb)