Only in Tananen do people worship a single deity: the Deathless Goddess. Only in this small, forbidden realm are there those haunted by words of no language known to woman or man. The words are Her Gift, and they summon magic.
Mage scribes learn to write Her words as intentions: spells to make beasts or plants, designed to any purpose. If an intention is flawed, what the mage creates is a gossamer: a magical creature as wild and free as it is costly for the mage.
For Her Gift comes at a steep price. Each successful intention ages a mage until they dare no more. But her magic demands to be used; the Deathless Goddess will take her fee, and mages will die.
To end this terrible toll, the greatest mage in Tananen vows to find and destroy Her. He has yet to learn She is all that protects Tananen from what waits outside. And all that keeps magic alive.
Author
Julie E. Czerneda
An unabashed romantic and optimist, Julie E. Czerneda finds something remarkable wherevershe looks. Dragons and magic—and house toads—hold a special place in her heart—and in the heart of her Night’s Edge series. As a former biologist, her studies of the natural world heavily influence the imaginative landscapes in these books. A Turn of Light and A Play of Shadow—the first two books set in Julie’s magical world of Marrowdell—won international Aurora PrixAwards for Best SF/F novels. Shortly thereafter, she was awarded membership in the prestigious Canadian Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame. Julie sends her earnest thanks to you, her dedicated and kind readers, as well as to the tireless and passionate team at DAW Books who have shepherded both her fantasy and science fiction novels into bookstores for over twenty years. She is represented by Sara Megibow of Megibow Literary Agency and can be found wilderness camping, gardening, or online at: www.czerneda.com
Learn More about Julie E. Czerneda