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Hot new releases and under-the-radar gems for adults and kids.
Staff Pick
Cautionary tales from a fantasy land, and what a well-built fantasy land this is! This quartet of stories has me hoping for more novels set in this class-driven world where the rich dominate and the poor must submit (or fight back!). The two authors' stories blend easily together, and strong feminist characters provide welcome perspective. Recommended By Tracey T., Powells.com
Told in four related parts, The Tangled Lands is a gripping story of resistance set in the last city of a crumbling empire, run by a tyrant and his henchman. They attempt to gather all the magic for themselves, but are met with an uprising. Recommended By Mary Jo S., Powells.com
Synopses & Reviews
From award-winning and New York Times bestselling authors Paolo Bacigalupi and Tobias Buckell comes a fantasy novel told in four parts about a land crippled by the use of magic, and a tyrant who is trying to rebuild an empire — unless the people find a way to resist.
Khaim, The Blue City, is the last remaining city in a crumbled empire that overly relied upon magic until it became toxic. It is run by a tyrant known as The Jolly Mayor and his devious right hand, the last archmage in the world. Together they try to collect all the magic for themselves so they can control the citizens of the city. But when their decadence reaches new heights and begins to destroy the environment, the people stage an uprising to stop them.
In four interrelated parts, The Tangled Lands is an evocative and epic story of resistance and heroic sacrifice in the twisted remains surrounding the last great city of Khaim. Paolo Bacigalupi and Tobias Buckell have created a fantasy for our times about a decadent and rotting empire facing environmental collapse from within — and yet hope emerges from unlikely places with women warriors and alchemical solutions.
About the Author
Paolo Bacigalupi is the New York Times bestselling author of The Windup Girl, Ship Breaker, The Drowned Cities, Zombie Baseball Beatdown, The Doubt Factory, The Water Knife, Plump Six and Other Stories, and The Tangled Lands. His writing has appeared in WIRED, High Country News, Salon, OnEarth Magazine, The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, and Asimov’s Science Fiction Magazine. He has won the Michael L. Printz, Locus, Hugo, Nebula, Compton Crook, and John W. Campbell awards.
Tobias Buckell is the New York Times bestselling author of Halo: The Cole Protocol and The Tangled Lands. His other novels and more than fifty short stories have been translated into seventeen languages. He has been nominated for the Hugo, the Nebula, the Prometheus, and the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Science Fiction Author. He lives with his family in Ohio.
Paolo Bacigalupi, Tobias S. Buckell on PowellsBooks.Blog
The Tangled Lands is a sequence of fantasy stories set in the city of Khaim. Khaim is a city besieged by bramble, cloying thorny vines that choke the land and cause any who touch them to sink into unending sleep. Worst of all, the bramble is caused by the inhabitants of the city itself. Every time they cast a magic spell, more tangling poisonous vines sprout up...
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