Mala is a street thief with a knack for manipulating shadow. When the city's garrison is left empty after a terrible battle, the leader of Mala's gang decides to steal from it. Larger gangs might steer clear, fearing retribution from the Silver Spears, but Mala's crew is young and foolhardy, and the potential score is simply too big to pass up. After using her talents to steal into the garrison, Mala stumbles across Shohreh, an injured woman wearing a blood-red battle dress. Shohreh is a Kestrel, one of the elite swordswomen who serve the twelve kings of Sharakhai. Knowing Shohreh will be killed the moment the others learn of her, Mala helps her to escape through a secret door and into the city's catacombs. Near death, Shohreh is healed by the Crone, a near-mythical figure in Sharakhai and the leader of the Kestrels. After revealing a plot to kill Zeheb the Whisper King, the Crone commands Shohreh to save him and to kill Mala for having learned the...

The Last Days of Old Sharakhai is a Shattered Sands novella set near the end of A Desert Torn Asunder (Book 6 of The Song of the Shattered Sands) and answers the question: What happened to King Ihsan? King Ihsan, once thought invincible, is now a fugitive in the city he once ruled. Struck by the black mould, a deadly wasting disease, Ihsan knows his days of ruling Sharakhai are coming to an end. His goals are simpler now. He's focused on his daughter Ransaneh and her prospects when he's gone, and that means forging a lasting peace in the desert. When Ihsan's grandsons try to convince him to return Sharakhai to its former, authoritarian rule, he's left with a difficult choice. Siding with his grandsons and the city's old guard could easily rekindle hostilities and lead to a resumption of the devastating war with the desert tribes, while a refusal would instantly turn him and Ransaneh into targets for revenge. With very few friends left,...

Twelve Kings in Sharakhai marked the start of a bold new epic fantasy series for critically acclaimed author Bradley P. Beaulieu.In the Stars I'll Find You & Other Tales of Futures Fantastic features Beaulieu's science fictional work, from exploring far-flung worlds to finding what it means to be human through artificial intelligence to the cost of dividing ourselves—or ourself—through the use of technology.In this short story collection, you'll find eleven tales that explore our very human relationship with technology, some in print for the first time.

This 1st book in a new fantasy series from the author of the acclaimed Song of the Shattered Sands series follows an unlikely pair as they expose the secrets at the heart of the mountain city of Ancris.Lorelei Aurelius is the smartest inquisitor in the mountain city of Ancris. When a mysterious tip leads her to a clandestine meeting between the Church and the hated Red Knives, she uncovers a plot that threatens not only her home but the empire itself.The trail leads her to Rylan Holbrooke, a notorious thief posing as a dragon singer. Rylan came to Ancris to solve the very same mystery she stumbled onto. Knowing his incarceration could lead to the Red Knives’ achieving their goals, Lorelei makes a fateful decision: she frees him.Now branded as traitors, the two flee the city on dragonback. In the massive forest known as the Holt, they discover something terrible. The Red Knives are planning to awaken a powerful demigod in the holiest shrine in Ancris, and...

The fifth book in The Song of the Shattered Sands series—an epic fantasy with a desert setting, filled with rich worldbuilding and pulse-pounding action.The reign of the kings of Sharakhai has been broken. The blood mage, Queen Meryam, now rules the city along with the descendants of the fabled twelve kings.In the desert, Çeda has succeeded in breaking the asirim's curse. Those twisted creatures are now free, but their freedom comes at great cost. Nalamae lies dead, slain in battle with her sister goddess. Çeda, knowing Nalamae would have been reborn on her death, sets out on a quest to find her.The trail leads Çeda to Sharakhai where, unbeknownst to her, others are searching for Nalamae as well. Çeda's quest to find her forces her into a terrible decision: work with the kings or risk Sharakhai's destruction.Whatever her decision, it won't be easy. Sharakhai is once more threatened by the forces of the neighboring kingdoms....

With The Winds of Khalakovo, Bradley P. Beaulieu established himself as a talented new voice in epic fantasy. With his premiere short story collection, Beaulieu demonstrates his ability to weave tales that explore other worlds in ways that are at once bold, imaginative, and touching. Lest Our Passage Be Forgotten & Other Stories contains 17 stories that range from the epic to the heroic, some in print for the first time. Table of Contents “To the Towers of Tulandan”. A Lays of Anuskaya story, written exclusively for the collection. “Prima”. A Lays of Anuskaya story, written exclusively for the collection. “Unearthed”. A story set in Bradley P. Beaulieu’s new Bryndlholt world, written exclusively for the collection. “In the Eyes of the Empress’s Cat”. First printed in Orson Scott Card’s Intergalactic Medicine Show. “Lest Our Passage Be Forgotten”. First printed in Realms of Fantasy Magazine. “Sweet as Honey”. First printed in Orson Scott Card’s Intergalactic Medicine Show. “Shadows in the Mirrors”. First printed in Dimensions Next Door by DAW Books. “Parting the Clouds”. First printed in Time-Traveled Tales. “Flotsam”. First printed in Writers of the Future XX. “A Trade of Shades”. First printed in Alien Skin Magazine. “Good Morning Heartache”. First printed in Spells in the City by DAW Books. “Cirque Du Lumière”. First printed in Fellowship Fantastic by DAW Books. “How Peacefully the Desert Sleeps”. First printed in Orson Scott Card’s Intergalactic Medicine Show. “Foretold”. First printed in Steampunk’d by DAW Books. “From the Spices of Sanandira”. First printed in Beneath Ceaseless Skies. “An Instrument of War”. First printing. “Prey to the Gods”. First printing.

The final book in The Song of the Shattered Sands series closes the epic fantasy saga in a desert setting, filled with rich worldbuilding and pulse-pounding action.The plans of the desert gods are coming to fruition. Meryam, the deposed queen of Qaimir, hopes to raise the buried elder god, Ashael, an event that would bring ruin to the desert.Çeda and Emre sail for their ancestral home to bring the traitor, Hamid, to justice. To their horror, they discover that the desert tribes have united under Hamid's banner. Their plan? A holy crusade to annihilate Sharakhai, a thing long sought by many in the tribes. In Sharakhai, meanwhile, the blood mage, Davud, examines the strange gateway between worlds, hoping to find a way to close it. And King Ihsan hunts for Meryam, but always finds himself two steps behind.When Meryam raises Ashael, all know the end is near. Ashael means to journey to the land that was denied to him an age ago, no matter the cost to the...

Djaga Akoyo left the grasslands of her homeland long ago and rose to prominence in Sharakhai's fighting pits as the famed Lion of Kundhun. What Djaga revealed to no one, however, is the terrible secret that drove her to leave Kundhun in the first place. That secret is brought back to the fore when her sister tribeswoman, Afua, comes to Sharakhai unannounced and threatens to reveal her shameful past, a thing that would upend the life Djaga has worked so hard to build for herself.Djaga and Afua's pasts are linked. Afua tells her that with one final bout in the killing pits, both their demons will be excised. But Djaga has more to worry about than Afua's demons, or even her own. She has Nadín as well, a woman she hopes to share a life with once she's left the pits for good. But how can she start a new life with Nadín when the terrible acts she committed in her homeland still haunt her?Djaga must decide once and for all whether she'll face them, but in...

Among inhospitable and unforgiving seas stands Khalakovo, a mountainous archipelago of seven islands, its prominent eyrie stretching a thousand feet into the sky. Serviced by windships bearing goods and dignitaries, Khalakovo’s eyrie stands at the crossroads of world trade. But all is not well in Khalakovo. Conflict has erupted between the ruling Landed, the indigenous Aramahn, and the fanatical Maharraht, and a wasting disease has grown rampant over the past decade. Now, Khalakovo is to play host to the Nine Dukes, a meeting which will weigh heavily upon Khalakovo’s future.When an elemental spirit attacks an incoming windship, murdering the Grand Duke and his retinue, Prince Nikandr, heir to the scepter of Khalakovo, is tasked with finding the child prodigy believed to be behind the summoning. However, Nikandr discovers that the boy is an autistic savant who may hold the key to lifting the blight that has been sweeping the islands. Can the Dukes, thirsty for revenge, be held at bay? Can Khalakovo be saved? The elusive answer drifts upon the Winds of Khalakovo…This omnibus edition of The Lays of Anuskaya is comprised of the following novels:  The Winds of Khalakovo  The Straits of Galahesh  The Flames of Shadam KhorehAlso included are the following two Lays of Anuskaya novellas:  “To the Towers of Tulandan”  “Prima”

Street urchins have been turning up missing in the great desert city of Sharakhai. Few care until the son of one of the city's richest patrons goes missing as well.The apothecary named Dardzada wants nothing to do with it, but his shrewd mind and skills as an apothecary make him indispensable to his cruel half-brother Layth, the captain of the guard tasked with solving the mystery.When Layth insists he look deeper into the kidnappings, Dardzada is drawn into a struggle much larger than he ever anticipated, and he realizes it will take all his wits to get himself out again.

In the western reaches of the Great Shangazi Desert, the long-distance horse race known as Annam’s Traverse is about to begin. All is thrown in doubt, however, when Sukru the Reaping King arrives unannounced from Sharakhai and puts forth a champion of his own.For a young woman named Leorah, the more important matter is the fabled amethyst ring offered up as a prize. She knows of the ring, and becomes obsessed with winning the race. This horrifies her twin sister, Devorah, who knows more of the ring’s secrets than Leorah, and is desperate to hide them from the Reaping King.As the race unfolds, and King Sukru’s champion comes closer and closer to winning the prize, Devorah stumbles upon a secret that puts not only the ring’s future in doubt, but her sister’s as well.

The fourth book in The Song of Shattered Sands series—an epic fantasy with a desert setting, filled with rich worldbuilding and pulse-pounding action.When a battle to eradicate the Thirteenth Tribe goes awry, the kingdoms that border Sharakhai see an opportunity—a city ripe for conquest. Çeda, once a protector in service to the kings of Sharakhai, uses the growing chaos to gain freedom for Sehid-Alaz, the ancient, undying king of her people. Like all the people of her tribe on that fateful night four centuries earlier, Sehid-Alaz was cursed, turned into an asir, a twisted, miserable creature beholden to the kings of Sharakhai. But freeing him is only the beginning. As Sharakhai's enemies close in and the assault on the city begins, Çeda works feverishly to unlock the mysteries of the asirim's curse. Danger lies everywhere. Enemy forces roam the city, the Blade Maidens close in on her, one of the Kings wants Çeda to hang—any one...

Sharakhai, the great city of the desert, center of commerce and culture, has been ruled from time immemorial by twelve kings — cruel, ruthless, powerful, and immortal. With their army of Silver Spears, their elite ompany of Blade Maidens and their holy defenders, the terrifying asirim, the Kings uphold their positions as undisputed, invincible lords of the desert. There is no hope of freedom for any under their rule.Or so it seems, until Çeda, a brave young woman from the west end slums, defies the Kings' laws by going outside on the holy night of Beht Zha'ir. What she learns that night sets her on a path that winds through both the terrible truths of the Kings' mysterious history and the hidden riddles of her own heritage. Together, these secrets could finally break the iron grip of the Kings' power...if the nigh-omnipotent Kings don't find her first. From the Hardcover edition.

The final book in The Song of Shattered Sands trilogy—an epic fantasy with a desert setting, filled with rich worldbuilding and pulse-pounding action.Since the Night of Endless Swords, a bloody battle the Kings of Sharakhai narrowly won, the kings have been hounding the rebels known as the Moonless Host. Many have been forced to flee the city, including Çeda, who discovers that the King of Sloth is raising his army to challenge the other kings' rule.When Çeda finds the remaining members of the Moonless Host, now known as the thirteenth tribe, she sees a tenuous existence. Çeda hatches a plan to return to Sharakhai and free the asirim, the kings' powerful, immortal slaves. The kings, however, have sent their greatest tactician, the King of Swords, to bring Çeda to justice for her crimes.But the once-unified front of the kings is crumbling. The surviving kings vie quietly against one another, maneuvering for control over...