Invidious Verse (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9798600209008)

The Summer Sun comes to speak with Ysant, / In the foothills beneath glaciers in darkest winter. / There, silenced by the sound of snow falling, / By schemes of emperors and king's men, / She watches hapless mists drift towards disaster. // But around about, one sharp-eyed Raven flits, / At odds with cold, black-plumed and bold, / He tilts his eloquent beak to speak to her of light, / Of fire and of blood and justice, and of how / Under cover of snow truth lies untold. // And like the lady, so her taloned maid of prey, / Claims her selfsame sword-sworn sire, the officer, / While he meditates his perilous imperilled fate, / And whether the summer sun will warm Ysant, / In the foothills beneath glaciers of darkest winter. // - Invidious Verse reveals a quieted turning point in the history of a backwater city in the grips of a deep freeze of racial inequality. The ancient feud for global territory between the Griss, descendants of felines, and the Falaki, who resemble humans, could tear apart Ysant and its little kingdom. The Marble Empire, homeland of the Griss, poises to overpower it from the north, new technologies from the Falaki south promise miracles and social upheaval, but the true magic that would overcome this discrimination would be an awakening of goodwill between people. There are some in Ysant who still hope for such a thaw, but the prejudice keeps building up like snow. - An ambassador from the Grand Oligarchy of Tellurnica, an urban power from far to the south, appears in Ysant in the dead of winter seeking a mysterious business deal and finds only inaction and frustration. Chas, Coroner of the kingdom, reaches out to Lady Oriel of Tellurnica to form a dialogue, but he must negotiate his way through a murder investigation and prevent an impending lynching to do so. Poetry becomes their medium of diplomacy - and romance. Chas's friend Sir Melkath, the only Griss military officer in the kingdom, and Oriel's Griss bodyguard Iris, put their pet rivalry behind them to help Chas and Oriel organize a winter-themed poetry contest. But as clues accumulate and the nature of the backlash against the Griss in Ysant is uncovered, they must choose alliances before it's too late. - Invidious Verse, a Renaissance era science fiction novel that reads like dark fantasy will delight you with its depth of complexity and its complications that lead to unexpected outcomes. An array of flawed characters invites you to love and despise them. Well-crafted poetry weaves itself instinctively into the story as characters read and share verse. This winter, curl up with the beginning of an epic fiction series that is both intelligent and savory.

Author: A. Adams Elias
ISBN-13: 9798600209008
Publisher: Independently Published
Language: English
Published: 01/21/2020
Pages: 288
Format: Paperback
Weight: 0.85lbs
Size: 9.02h x 5.98w x 0.60d