Book of Iron
A novella. Dust jacket illustration by Maurizio Manzieri.
Subterranean Press is proud to announce Book of Iron, the standalone prequel to Elizabeth Bear’s acclaimed novella, Bone and Jewel Creatures.
Bijou the Artificer is a Wizard of Messaline, the City of Jackals. She and her partner — and rival — Kaulas the Necromancer, along with the martial Prince Salih, comprise the Bey's elite band of trouble-solving adventurers.
But Messaline is built on the ruins of a still more ancient City of Jackals. So when two foreign Wizards and a bard from the mysterious western isles cross the desert in pursuit of a sorcerer intent on plundering the deadly artifacts of lost Erem, Bijou and her companions must join their hunt.
The quest will take them through strange passages, beneath the killing light of alien suns, with the price of failure the destruction of every land.
Elizabeth Bear
Elizabeth Bear is an author whose writing navigates the spaces where fantasy, science fiction, and historical fiction intertwine, creating worlds as complex and varied as the human condition itself. With a background deeply rooted in both science and the arts, her stories weave together elements of mythology, speculative thought, and philosophical exploration. Her ability to craft intricate worlds and layered narratives has earned her a devoted following among fans of thoughtful, boundary-pushing speculative fiction.
The Eternal Sky
Once, one hundred moons rose every evening with Mother Night across the Eternal Sky. Once there were one hundred sons and grandsons of the Great Khagan who ruled the Steppes from one edge of the world to the other. Now, the flame of civil war is burning, and Temur’s iron moon is one of only a handful remaining in the Eternal Sky. All the empires of the Celedon Highway have erupted into war, from Messaline to Song, and there is a hidden hand at work. Can a grandson of the Great Khagan and a Wizard of Tsarepheth bring about evil’s defeat?
The Eternal Sky consists of three primary books, and includes two additional books that complement the series but are not considered mandatory reads. The current recommended reading order for the series is provided below.
Related series The Lotus Kingdoms