A Strange and Stubborn Endurance: 1 (Tithenai Chronicles)

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An emotionally gripping, delightful queer fantasy filled with political intrigue, family dynamics, and tender moments that will grab readers' hearts and minds.”— Library Journal, starred review He broke off, and we shared a certain fond, pained expression at all that the absence entailed. “I know,” I said softly, and left it at that.

Agent Hannah Bowman said, “I couldn’t imagine a better artistic fit of author and editor than Foz and Claire, and we’re delighted to have found such a perfect home for this book.” My thanks,” he whispered. And then, as though he feared the answer, “Can you take me to him? I know there are other things to discuss, but Markel’s mute—he won’t be able to speak if I’m not there, and Tar Raeki might not think to tell the healers.”Which, thanks to the unusual emptiness of the courtyard, left Cae alone with Velasin. The injured tiern took a step forward, paled and almost fell over, remaining upright seemingly through sheer stubbornness. Only then did Cae realise the extent of the problem: Velasin’s left thigh was wet with blood, the dark stain spreading across his breeches. Most likely, he’d pulled his stitches open. Hissing in dismay, Cae moved to help him. That’s one way of putting it. “Yes, Father,” I said, though how I kept my voice steady, I’ll never know. “I—I was not expecting him. He must have sought me out.” Please, please send him away. But I couldn’t ask for it; not without raising questions, and I felt too stupid to lie. A complete joy to read. From the love story, to the slow healing of the main character, to the intricate mystery of the plot, Meadows has constructed a world to get lost in and this is a book to savour.”—Everina Maxwell, author of Winter's Orbit

Now, though, she favoured me with a smile I was inclined to think genuine, holding out her hands for me to take and kiss, which I did. By the standards of women of our class, she’d come late to marriage and motherhood both, but inasmuch as I was placed to judge, they both looked well on her. Many a reader longing for a sense of homecoming in the realm of romantic fantasy will find it in A Strange and Stubborn Endurance." - Jacqueline Carey My reply was forestalled by the sudden appearance of the man himself, trailed by a nursemaid carrying baby Jarien. Remarriage certainly suited Father; I hadn’t seen him so hale in years. His paunch was gone, new muscle firming his arms and shoulders, eyes bright, skin clear. Even before the awful wrangling of what was now called the Dissension, the decade or so in which a loose cadre of antagonistic nobles had stoked political strife within Ralia, and which had finally ended, somewhat anticlimactically, with the exposure of Lord Ennan vin Mica’s plans for rebellion and the arrest, imprisonment and/or execution of his various co-conspirators, my mother’s death had wearied him on a level I’d been too young to fully comprehend, for all that I witnessed it daily. But not even civil peace had eased him as Lady Sine did; or perhaps that was Jarien’s doing, if not the two in combination. Either way, his positive transformation threw into sharp relief my own, inverse trajectory, and in that moment, had he asked for the truth, I would have confessed to everything—even, perhaps, beyond my culpability. With an unknown faction willing to kill to end their new alliance, Vel and Cae have no choice but to trust each other. Survival is one thing, but love—as both will learn—is quite another.

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Reminiscent of Ursula K. Le Guin, An Accident of Stars will take you to a lush, magical new world.” – Laura Lam