Heresy

In this first volume of The Aquasilva Trilogy, we are introduced to a world as well realised as that of Dune – and an author who is one of the genre's most exciting new voices.

On the storm-wracked waterworld of Aquasilva, supreme religious power is held by the Domain, dedicated to the element Fire. But this must change. One of the agents of change – albeit unwillingly – is Cathan, son of a count, who travels to inform his father of the discovery on a cache of iron in their territory. But on the way to the clan congress which his father is attending, Cathan stumbles upon a plot to unleash a new age of fundamentalism. As new alliances are made, Cathan and his allies also discover dissidents ("heretics" in the Domain's eyes) and begin to see the truths behind the political and religious beliefs which drive their land – and their world. All across the world, change is being fought and ruthlessly suppressed by the Domain and its holy warriors, the Sacri. A weapon must be forged to fight them, and Cathan discovers at first hand how long and difficult that struggle will be.

An outstanding fantasy novel, with echoes of Frank Herbert's Dune sequence, introduces one of the genre's most exciting voices of the new millennium.