Seasons of War

SEASONS OF WAR
    PRAISE FOR DANIELABRAHAM
     
    ‘Daniel Abraham is one of the reasons the fantasy genre continues to haunt my dreams. Abraham is fiercely talented, disturbingly human, breathtakingly original and even on his bad days kicks all sorts of literary ass. Welcome to the world of the andats , of the haunted extraordinary poets, a world where men enslave ideas, where these slaves scheme to avenge themselves, where every bad deed spawns more, a world where after the treachery, the conspiracies, the journeys, all that’s ever left in the end are the consequences. Welcome to Daniel Abraham. If you are meeting him for the first time I envy you: you are in for a remarkable journey.’
    Junot Diaz, winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction
     
    ‘Daniel Abraham gets better with every book. A Shadow in Summer was among the strongest first novels of the last decade, and A Betrayal in Winter was a terrific second book, but in An Autumn War , Abraham puts both of them in the shade. This book really blows the top off, taking the world of the andat and the poets in new and unexpected directions. An Autumn War will keep you turning pages and break your heart in the bargain. If there’s any justice, this should be a contender for all the major awards.’
    George R. R. Martin
     
    ‘There is much to love in the Long Price Quartet. It is epic in scope, but character-centred. The setting is unique yet utterly believable. The storytelling is smooth, careful and - best of all - unpredictable. The first two books impressed me, but An Autumn War surpassed them, leaving me stunned and wondering where Abraham will take me in the fourth book.’
    Patrick Rothfuss
     
    ‘I already knew Daniel Abraham was an excellent writer. An Autumn War is his best novel yet: his quiet compassion for humanity slams hard against his clear-eyed depiction of the ruthless progress of war and the bitter choices people must often make to protect their own. Highly recommended.’
    Kate Elliott
     
    ‘Abraham’s series gets more mind-expanding with every book. An Autumn War ratchets up the tension and then delivers a stunning ending that will leave you gasping for breath, wondering what bowling ball jut slammed you in the skull.
    Yes, it is that good.’
    Walter Jon Williams

BY DANIEL ABRAHAM
    The Long Price
Shadow and Betrayal
Seasons of War

 
 
 
     
Seasons of War
     
     
DANIEL ABRAHAM
     
 
Hachette Digital
    www.littlebrown.co.uk

 
Published by Hachette Digital 2010
     
Copyright © 2008 by Daniel Abraham
     
     
The moral right of the author has been asserted.
     
     
All characters and events in this publication, other than those clearly in the public domain, are fictitious and any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
     
     
All rights reserved.
     
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of the publisher, nor be otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.
     
     
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
     
    eISBN : 978 0 7481 2077 2
     
     
This ebook produced by JOUVE, FRANCE
     
Hachette Digital
     
An imprint of
     
Little, Brown Book Group
     
100 Victoria Embankment
     
London EC4Y 0DY
     
     
An Hachette Livre UK Company

To Scarlet

Acknowledgements
    Once again, I would like to extend my thanks to Walter Jon Williams, Melinda Snodgrass, Emily Mah, S. M. Stirling, Terry England, Ian Tregillis, Ty Franck, George R. R. Martin and the other members of the New Mexico Critical Mass Workshop.
    I also owe debts of gratitude to Shawna McCarthy and Danny Baror for their enthusiasm and faith in the project, Jim Frenkel for excellent advice, and to my family for supporting me through this very long project.

The World

    The Cities of the Khaiem

BOOK THREE: AN AUTUMN WAR

PROLOGUE
    T hree men came out of the desert. Twenty had gone in.
    The setting sun pushed their shadows out behind them, lit their faces a ruddy gold, blinded them. The weariness and pain in their bodies robbed them of speech. On the horizon, something glimmered that was no star, and they moved silently toward it. The farthest tower of Far Galt, the edge of the Empire, beckoned them home from the wastes, and without