Age of Ash and Blade of Dream

The Kithamer Trilogy

Book 1: Blade of Ash

Dust jacket illustration by Ed Fairburn.

Even before he gained world-wide fame as the co-author of the renowned, bestselling space opera series The Expanse, Daniel Abraham was beloved of critics and fans alike as the crafter of intricate, sweeping fantasy sagas such as The Long Price Quartet and The Dagger and the Coin. He’s now returned to his roots with Age of Ash, the long-awaited first volume in a new epic series, The Kithamar Trilogy.

Alys is a thief second and a sister first, but when her bravo of a brother is killed by an unknown assailant, she inherits a small fortune he should never have had, a magical candle that puts her in touch with people he should never have known, and a rune-inscribed dagger that half the great city of Kithamar is looking for. Her search for his murderer will shake the foundations of the city.

Sammish is the girl who nobody notices except Alys, but even Alys doesn’t know that Sammish is in love with her. By turns the member of a pickpocketing gang, an itinerant laborer, and, ultimately, a soldier in a secret war against scheming denizens of the upper strata of Kithamari society, Sammish fights against starvation as much as she does her foes, with divided loyalties threatening more than just her life.

These two women live out their lives, uncovering secrets and risking everything, in the ancient city of Kithamar, which sits astride a swift-running river that divides the rich from the poor, the sated from the starving, and the powerful from the powerless. Kithamar feels as real to the reader as the great cities of our own world. From the stinking alleys of Longhill to the perfumed avenues of Green Hill, and in all the other carefully drawn districts and neighborhoods besides, Alys and Sammish, along with their myriad friends, kin, and foes, bring this unforgettable place—this unforgettable novel—to life.

Here is New York Times bestselling author Daniel Abraham at his best. Here is a work ably demonstrating the caliber that has seen him nominated for the Hugo, the Nebula, and the World Fantasy Awards. Here is magic and romance, swordplay and intrigue. 

Here is the Age of Ash.

Book 2: Blade of Dream

Dust jacket illustration by Ed Fairburn.

In Blade of Dream, Daniel Abraham returns to the living, breathing city of Kithamar that he introduced in Age of Ash. The stakes remain high, the action gripping, and the atmosphere vital as we encounter the son of a merchant house, Garreth Left, and the daughter of the city’s prince, Elaine a Sal, each soon to be entangled in conspiracy and treason, even as they find themselves equally entangled with one another.

Garreth’s family is on its last legs, risking all on a trade relationship with another culture which will see their eldest son married to a foreign woman. Garreth’s relationship with his betrothed gets off to a rocky start—they do not even share a language—and only gets rockier after he meets Elaine.

Elaine’s father has inherited rulership of the city from his recently departed uncle, elevating Elaine to the position of heir apparent. Noble families with marriageable sons begin to circle like vultures. Elaine’s rebellion takes the form of a secret night out in the city with her cousin, a night that ends with her in the arms of a certain merchant’s son.

But the relationship of these two viewpoint characters is far from the only thread woven in the skillfully braided Blade of Dream. The blade of the title will be known to readers of Age of Ash. It is still missing, it is still hunted by gods and men, and it still poses an existential threat to the city. Garreth and Elaine get swept up in events they at first cannot understand, events related to this blessed, cursed blade.

In The Kithamar Trilogy, readers will fully inhabit this memorable city over the course of a single year, moving between sets of characters, as in this second volume Blade of Dream. Abraham is also one half of James S. A. Corey, author of the beloved bestselling novel and TV series The Expanse, and has been a finalist for the Hugo, Nebula, and World Fantasy Awards. In this series, he brings his considerable powers to the task of creating an unforgettable, fresh vision of epic fantasy.

Limited: 400 signed numbered hardcover copies