The Tangled Lands

Description

Khaim clings to life. Flooded with refugees and slowly starving, the last city of a once-great empire is surrounded by a choking thicket of toxic bramble. This is a world poisoned by magic. Every time a spell is cast, the bramble advances, sprouting in tilled fields and roof beams, thrusting up from between cobblestones and bursting forth from sacks of powdered spice. A bit of magic, and bramble follows. A little at first, and then more - until whole cities are dragged down under tangling vines. Armies hack and burn... but in a world that can't give up magic's sweet succour, the bramble can't be stopped. Or can it? After ten years of research, an alchemist believes he has found a potent new weapon to wield against the bramble. His invention promises freedom from fear, freedom from hunger, freedom from the rule of Khaim's tyrant, the Jolly Mayor. But these are twisted times - there are no easy answers, only unforeseen consequences... Award-winning authors Paolo Bacigalupi and Tobias S. Buckell have created a radical and darkly relevant fantasy, conjuring the collapse of a civilization, smothered by its addictions. This is a world of glittering memories and a desperate present, where everyone uses just a little magic... and someone else always pays the price.

Paolo Bacigalupi is the bestselling author of The Windup Girl. Tobias Buckell is the bestselling author of Halo: The Cole Protocol. Between them, they have either won or been nominated for the Locus, Hugo, Nebula, Compton Crook, and John W. Campbell awards.

'A story cycle of high life and low, woven by two authors at the top of their game' Daily Mail. 'An absorbing and sensitive fantasy' Guardian. 'A fascinating exercise in world-building; each story within the wider structure offering an explanation of a different part of Khaim' SciFiNow. 'The Tangled Lands has no right to be as good as it is. Conceptual, morally ambiguous, and incredibly timely, [it] explores well-wrought narratives of feminism and environmental justice in a beautifully crafted fantasy world that drips with rich lore and details at every turn' The Oberlin Review. 'The two writers do a wonderful job of maintaining the same style, creating a coherent, rounded world peopled with imperfect, believable characters ... [it] is well worth the investment' SFX, featured book.