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Shadow in the Empire of Light
Shadow in the Empire of Light
Oct 22, 2024 9:41 AM

Author:Jane Routley,Natalie Buscombe

Shadow in the Empire of Light

Brought to you by Penguin.

Murder. Magic. Mayhem. But keep it in the family.

Shine's life is usually dull: an orphan without magic in a family of powerful mages, she's left to run the family estate with only an eccentric aunt and telepathic cat for company.

But when the family descend on the house for the annual Fertility Festival, a week of drink, drugs and debauchery, Shine is plunged into intrigue: stolen letters, a fugitive spy, and family drama, mixed with murder, sex and secrets.

As the festival draws to a close, Shine is forced to decide both her loyalties and future...

(P) Penguin Audio and Rebellion Publishing 2020

Reviews

Routley deserves credit for superior world-building and above average characterization... covering familiar ground with more aplomb than many of her colleagues.

—— Publishers Weekly on Aramaya

One of the genres bright new stars . . . Routley produces a fantasy that can be read for more than myth or pyrotechnics . . . While many fantasists simply add magic to political intrigue, Routley's are noteworthy for the natural and inevitable intertwining of the two. Well drawn backgrounds and characters add to the appeal.

—— Publishers Weekly on Mage Heart

A highly original romatic fantasy.

—— Cherry Wilder, author of Signs of Life, on Mage Heart

A superb entry into the realm of magic and demons . . . a wonderful addition to the fantasy genre.

—— Affaire de Coeur on Mage Heart

Blend of tragic, comic, nitty-gritty [and] glamorous.

—— Locus on Mage Heart

This second novel from Man Booker-longlisted McGuinness is a compassionate, funny and ultimately moving indictment of the gutter press, social media and boarding schools.

—— Phil Baker , Sunday Times

Throw Me to the Wolves could be described as a crime novel or as a State of the Nation novel. It fits into both those categories, but it offers much more than such convenient labels would suggest. It's a book seriously concerned with, and about, people who function on the fringe of society. Patrick McGuinness is an observant and reflective storyteller of a special kind.

—— Paul Bailey

A big, serious, elegantly written, darkly entertaining study of what school does to us, and how life afterwards can turn into a nightmare. McGuinness is a novelist of the old school, where the best and most lasting lessons were taught.

—— John Banville

Intelligent and troubling… [Throw Me To The Wolves] invites reflection about the state of morality today, about the lust for witch-hunts and the zeal to punish.

—— Allan Massie , Scotsman

Brilliant.

—— Strong Words

McGuinness plays… [the plot] out beautifully, allowing each aspect of the story to resonate meaningfully with the others… [he lets] the story unspool at its own pace while he explores all its facets in clean prose polished to the point of translucence.

—— Herald

McGuinness is an intelligent and thoughtful writer, and his portrait of detective Ander is fully of wry observations about modern life and societal change.

—— James Moran , Tablet, *Novel of the Week*

Thoughtful, sometimes provocative… at the heart of [Throw Me to the Wolves] is a moving meditation on childhood and the ways in which it lives on in all of us.

—— Peter Carty , i

Heaberlin knows how to build to a truly shocking twist, how to break a reader's heart and then begin mending it

—— Dallas Morning News

Praise for Julia Heaberlin

—— :

A beautifully written and extraordinary book

—— Sophie Hannah

A thriller to remember why you love thrillers

—— Observer

Strong characterisation, haunting images, a wonderful sense of place

—— Guardian

Rich, multilayered characters . . . I wanted to sit and savor her beautiful prose but the twisty plot and unexpected revelations propelled me through this spine-chilling novel . . . absolutely mesmerizing

—— Heather Gudenkauf, bestselling author of The Weight of Silence

The author of Black-Eyed Susans returns with an elegantly written tale, set in a world where women are vulnerable and men are dangerous, the finger of suspicion pointing at them all

—— Daily Express

An emotionally charged story . . . there are so many layers to Heaberlin's story which keeps the mystery going right up until the end

—— Culturefly

Praise for Julia Heaberlin

—— -

A thriller to remember why you love thrillers

—— Observer

Strong characterisation, haunting images, a wonderful sense of place

—— Guardian

A beautifully written and extraordinary book

—— Sophie Hannah

A timely and powerful literary thriller which makes for a thought-provoking and unsettling read

—— Hair Past a Freckle blog

Thought provoking and intelligent . . . I cannot recommend highly enough.

—— Amanda Duncan, My Bookish Blogspot

Offers a really interesting perspective on how women are represented in life

—— Varietats

It is insidiously unnerving in such a clever way . . . had me well and truly hooked!

—— Bookish Chat

Dark, unforgiving, suspenseful and thought-provoking

—— Emma's Bookish Corner

Campus novel satire and the high drama of a thriller combine in a fiendishly readable interrogation of the allure of violent fiction

—— SARAH MOSS, Guardian

One of the most believable heroines I've seen on the page in a long time. The final chapters deliver the heart-in-mouth genre denouement we’ve been waiting for

—— TLS

A brilliant portrayal of love and complex family relationships, with all the features of a Gothic mystery.

—— Psychologies

A lushly written, psychologically suspenseful narrative that's not easily forgotten.

—— Hephzibah Anderson , Mail on Sunday

A darkly disquieting thriller... The descriptions are vivid enough to stop you in your tracks, and the narrative draws to a psychologically apt conclusion.

—— Lucy Whetman , TalkTalk News

A multi-dimensional shocker, where everything is not as clear cut as it initially seems, leading to a devastating conclusion. Fans of the darker and more mysteriously menacing work of Stephen King or the contemporary horror of Andrew Michael Hurley will adore Sisters.

—— David Nobakht , Buzz Magazine

Johnson has cultivated a striking style with recurring images and themes... [her] stories contain minimal dialogue and very little straightforward narration. They are instead characterised by the accumulation of sensory detail, the gradual revealing of character, and a building sense of dread.

—— Anna Leszkiewicz , New Statesman

Johnson pulls off a great feat in this book. We are propelled by her story, even while we barely know what it is; absorbed by characters at once abstract yet fully drawn. She allows just enough clarity to pierce through, like flashes of an image amid white noise, until finally we can grasp and appreciate the whole picture that has so thrillingly eluded us.

—— Maria Crawford , Financial Times

Sisters echoes Brontë's Wuthering Heights not only in its gothic elements and sombre descriptions of English landscapes but also in the idea of doomed love, love which becomes an omnipotent, harmful power... Sisters is chilling and unrestful in a way many horror stories aren't, the world of the novel itself a disturbing and anxious place.

—— Elizaveta Kolesova , Upcoming

An absorbing tale of sibling love and envy.

—— Citizen Femme

It's hard to deny the uncanny thrill generated by Johnson's blend of horror, nature writing and magical realism... As dazzling as a photographer's flash.

—— Anthony Cummins , Literary Review

Held me rapt until the very end

—— Lucy Diamond

I didn't want to put it down

—— Katherine Webb

A beautiful and intriguing page-turner

—— Dinah Jefferies

Rich and atmospheric

—— Rachel Hore
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