Dancer's Lament is the first book in the early-empire trilogy, Path to Ascendancy, being written by Ian C. Esslemont. It was released in the UK on the 25th of February 2016.[3] It is expected to be released in the US on the 31st of May 2016.[4][5]
Publisher's summary
It was once a land ravaged by war, minor city states, baronies and principates fight for supremacy, and then the rival cities of Tali and Quon formed an alliance and so Quon Tali came into being.
However that was generations ago, that dynasty has collapsed and the regional powers are now clawing at each others' throats once more. But at the heart of Quon Tali lies the powerful city state of Li Heng which has for centuries enjoyed relative stability under the guidance of the powerful sorceress known as the “Protectress”. She is not someone likely to tolerate the arrival of two particular young men in her domain: one is determined to prove he is the most skilled assassin of his age; the other is his quarry - a Dal Hon mage who is proving annoyingly difficult to kill. The sorceress and her cabal of five mage servants were enough to repel the Quon Tali Iron Legions, so how could two such trouble-makers upset her iron-fisted rule?
And now, under a new and ambitious king, the forces of Itko Kan are marching on Li Heng from the south. His own assassins, the Nightblades, have been sent ahead into the city, and rumours abound that he has inhuman, nightmarish forces at his command. So as shadows and mistrust swirl and monstrous beasts that people say appear from nowhere, run rampage through Li Heng's streets, it seems chaos is come - but in chaos, as a certain young Dal Hon mage would say, there is opportunity . . .
Front matter
Dedication
For Gerri and the boys
Acknowledgements
I offer my deepest appreciation to A. P. Canavan, pre-reader and editor extraordinaire. Also, thanks as always to Simon Taylor and everyone at Transworld for their support; and to Peter and Nicky Crowther, and Howard Morhaim.
Maps
Dramatis Personae (as found in books)
- click here for extended Dramatis Personae
In Heng
- Shalmanat, A sorceress, given the title of ‘Protectress of Li Heng’
- Silk, A city mage
- Mister Ho, A city mage, also known as Hothalar
- Mara, A city mage
- Smokey, A city mage
- Koroll, A city mage
- Ullara, Daughter of a stabler, and a collector of birds
- Pung the child-stealer, A Hengan crime boss
- Greneth/Gren, Pung’s lieutenant
- Tran, One of Pung’s underbosses
- Urquart, A Hengan crime boss
- Rafalljara Undath'al Brunn, A Hengan master thief in Urquart’s gang, known as ‘Rafall’
- Rheena, A thief
- Shreth, A thief
- Loor, A thief
Of the Kanese Sword-Dancers
- Hallens, Captain of King Chulalorn the Third’s bodyguard
- Iko, A new recruit to the king’s bodyguard
- Yuna, A member of the king’s bodyguard
- Torral, A member of the king’s bodyguard
- Sareh, A member of the king’s bodyguard
- Rei, A member of the king’s bodyguard
- Yvonna, A member of the king’s bodyguard
Others
- Ryllandaras, The White Jackal, also known as the man-beast
- Sister Night, A powerful and ancient sorceress
- Dassem, An acolyte of Hood, named by some the ‘Sword of Hood’
- Liss, A resident mage of Li Heng
- K'rul, An elder god
Plot summary
Notes and references
- ↑ https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/1099815/dancer-s-lament/
- ↑ http://www.tor.com/2016/03/21/new-malazan-novel-fall-of-light-coming-april-26/
- ↑ https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/1099815/dancer-s-lament/
- ↑ http://us.macmillan.com/dancerslament/iancesslemont
- ↑ http://www.tor.com/2016/03/21/new-malazan-novel-fall-of-light-coming-april-26/