“A wondrous lucid dream…laced with a vivid sensuality.”Jacqueline Carey,New York Timesbestselling author ofKushiel’s Dart

A talented heretic must decide betweenthe pursuit of forbidden magic, or the ecstasy of forbidden love, in the start of a sweeping, romantic epic fantasy trilogy byNew York Timesbestselling author Tessa Gratton.

Can an empire trip and fall on a mere strand of silk?

Iriset is a prodigy and an outlaw. The daughter of a powerful criminal, she dons her alter ego Silk to create magical disguises for those in her fathers organization, but she longs to do more with her talent: to enhance what it means to be human by giving people wings, night-sight, and other abilities; to unlock the possibilities of gender and parenthood; to cure disease and even to end mortality itself.

Everything changes when her father is captured and sentenced to death. To save him, Iriset must infiltrate the palace and the empires fanatical ruling family. There, she realizes she has a chanceand an obligationto bring down the entire corrupt system. She’ll have toentangle herself in the lives of the emperor and his sister, getting them to trust and even to love her. But love is a two-way street, and Irisets own heart holds the most mysterious and impenetrable magic of all.

“A beautiful, elegant, passionate novelas intricate and beguiling as a spider’s web. A triumph and a delight from start to finish.”Antonia Hodgson, author ofThe Raven Scholar

“Expertly balances one of the coolest magic systems of the decade, twists that had me gasping out loud, gloriously messy relationships, and the soaring ambition of the architectural genius at its heart. Immersive, riveting, and sexy as hell. P. H. Low, Locus- and Rhysling-nominated author of These Deathless Shores