A Chorus of Fire - Tor/Forge Blog

Excerpt: A Chorus of Fire by Brian D. Anderson

June 24, 2020March 20, 2024Rachel Taylor

A Chorus of Fire is the second installment of the Sorcerer’s Song fantasy adventure series from Brian D. Anderson, bestselling author of The Godling Chronicles and Dragonvein.

Mariyah, clinging to the hope of one day being reunited with Lem, struggles to attain the power she will need to make the world safe again. But a power like this is not easily acquired and will test the limits of her mind and body. She will need to look deep inside herself to find the strength to achieve what even the Thaumas of old could not.

Lem continues his descent into darkness, serving a man he does not trust in the name of a faith which is not his own. Only Shemi keeps his heart from succumbing to despair, along with the knowledge that he has finally found Mariyah. But Lem is convinced she is being held against her will, and compelled to do the bidding of her captors. He is determined to free her, regardless the cost.

Their separate roads are leading them to the same destination. And once they arrive they will have to confront more than the power of Belkar. They will have to face themselves and what Lamoria has forced them to become.

Please enjoy this free excerpt of A Chorus of Fire, on sale 8/04.

CONFESSIONS AND PORTENTS

Forgiveness is the sustenance that feeds the soul. Even the darkest heart is not irredeemable in the eyes of Kylor.

Book of Kylor, Chapter Eight, Verse One

Lem crouched in the shadow of the low hedge. Not more than twenty feet away, yet another victim of the Blade of Kylor awaited his fate. Lord Britanius Mauldin was alone in the garden, as was his custom on cool, clear evenings. It had taken only a few simple inquiries to learn his habits. Though typically there were a few guards nearby, for some reason they had stopped coming a week prior. Not that guards would have saved him. Still, it made Lem’s job far easier. The polished red stone path was a fitting color—almost identical to fresh blood in the dancing torchlight.

The rear of the manor was set off about a hundred yards away. Like most in the smaller Malvorian towns, it was a single-story structure. Cylindrical dome-capped towers climbing twenty feet above the roof on each corner gave it the appearance of a stronghold, made more pronounced by the massive gray stone blocks of the façade.

The garden was in full bloom, and Lem took a moment to enjoy the aroma of the rose, lavender, and gardenia that dominated the area where his target took his ease. Mauldin was tearing loose small pieces of bread and tossing them into a tiny pond where the multicolored bartlefish thrashed about, jockeying for position to gobble them up the moment they struck the surface of the water.

“I know you’re there,” Mauldin said. “I’ve been waiting.” His voice was deep and commanding despite his advanced years.

Lem caught his breath. He hadn’t made a sound, and the tingle of shadow walk in his stomach told him that he had not been spotted. He remained perfectly still, hand gripped tightly around his vysix dagger.

“Please don’t make me wait. If I am to die, let it be now, while I still have the courage to face it.”

“How did you know I was here?” Lem asked, still not moving from the concealment of the hedge.

“I knew Rothmore would be sending you. I was a fool. And it’s time to pay the price.”

Lem considered using the dart in his pouch. The HighCleric had wanted a bloody kill. But he was not about to risk his life over details. “Is that why you left your guards behind?”

Mauldin continued tossing in bread as if this were any other evening, rather than it being moments before he would draw his final breath. “I would not have them killed for nothing. And as you are the Blade of Kylor, I’m sure that’s what would have happened. I’ve committed enough crimes for one lifetime.”

“So you know who I am?”

“Of course.” He turned his head slightly in Lem’s direction. “You can come out. I’m defenseless and have no intention of running. Allow me to look upon the face of my killer.”

Lem took careful stock of his immediate surroundings, listening for signs of anything out of the ordinary. He’d been sure that no one else had entered the garden with Mauldin and had arrived early enough to know if anyone were lying in wait.

Drawing his dagger, he stepped from behind the hedge and onto the path. The man looked bent and frail, shoulders sagging, and the deep lines carved into his face were more pronounced than they’d been only a few days ago when Lem had seen him sitting at this very same spot during his final preparations.

Lem stood beside the bench, hands at his side, ready to strike at the first sign of this being some sort of deception.

Mauldin shifted to face him, his languid expression turning to sorrow. “How could Rothmore place such a dark burden on the soul of one so young? How old are you?”

“Does it matter?”

He paused, shaking his head, and turned back to the pond to toss in another piece of bread. “I suppose not. Do you know why you were sent to kill me?”

“No,” Lem replied.

“Would you like to?”

“There is nothing you can say to change what will happen.”

“I know,” he said, placing the bread beside him. “You are the Blade of Kylor. I remember well the stories: The Blade cannot be reasoned with nor bribed. Once marked, death is certain. For the vengeance of Kylor has been loosed upon you.” He let slip a soft chuckle. “Of course, that is more than just a story. Am I right?”

“I cannot be bribed,” Lem affirmed. “I will carry out my instructions. As for Kylor’s vengeance, I know nothing of that. I was sent here by a man, not a god.”

Mauldin cocked his head and raised an eyebrow. “You’re not of the faith?”

“No,” he replied. “I serve the High Cleric, but I am not a follower of Kylor.” To lie to a dead man was pointless. Though this was the first time he had spoken to a victim.

“It makes sense, in a way,” Mauldin said. “When I heard a new Blade had been appointed, I felt pity for whoever had been chosen. The thought of murdering in the name of the god you love . . . repulsive.”

“Doing it in the name of a man you don’t is no better.”

He offered a mirthless smile. “No. I imagine it isn’t.” Leaning back, he regarded Lem closely. “I didn’t see it before, but I do now. The pain. The loss. It weighs on your heart.”

His voice was kind, but Lem would not be lulled into carelessness. “My pain is my own. You asked to see me. Here I am.”

“I sent my wife and daughter away when I learned you were coming. I would not want them discovering my body. You see, I had thought to make you my confessor. But seeing you now . . . perhaps I’m to be yours. Perhaps that is the way to my redemption. Tell me what troubles you. And through your confession, may we both receive Kylor’s grace.”

The words struck Lem unexpectedly, causing him to take an involuntary step back. “I . . . I told you. I don’t believe in Kylor.”

“Should that matter? I am here and about to die. And as I am willing to listen, why not unburden your heart?” He cracked an odd little grin. “Surely even the Blade of Kylor has one. Besides, who will I tell?”

Lem was dumbstruck. Before him was a man whose life he was about to end, and rather than pleading for mercy or cursing him as his killer, he offered kindness. The dagger nearly fell from his grasp. “I have taken scores of lives,” he said, before he realized he’d spoken. “All to save one person. I tell myself they are wicked; deserving of death. But I often have no idea if that’s true.”

Mauldin nodded thoughtfully. “And this one you are trying to save . . . a spouse? A lover?”

“She was my betrothed.”

“I can see why you are pained. To slay so many for the benefit of one, even one you love dearly, exacts a heavy price. And you fear she will not love you in return once she learns what you have done on her behalf?”

Lem nodded, a single tear spilling down his cheek. “How could she? Every step I take leaves behind weeping children and mourning loved ones. Is that a man deserving of love? A bringer of death and misery?” The tear that now spilled down Mauldin’s cheek shook his resolve to its foundation, and Lem felt his legs weaken.

“You are everything you described. You kill in the name of a cause in which you have no faith, at the behest of a man for whom you have no love. For these things, it is just that you suffer. If you did not, it would make you a monster. But if the love of your betrothed for you is half of what yours is for her, she will forgive your deeds, no matter how dark and terrible. I have committed dreadful crimes, and yet I know my wife would forgive me were they revealed to her. And were my life not at its end, I assure you I would. But better not to add to her sorrow, I think.”

Though not cleansed of the stain of his deeds, Lem felt as if some of the burden had been lifted. He wiped his face, the strength in his legs returning. “And what are your crimes?”

Mauldin looked away and stared down at his lap. “I betrayed my faith for the promise of immortality. Youth and power: the ultimate prize for the weak and selfish. I allowed myself to be deceived through my own lack of courage.”

“Who could promise immortality?” Lem asked. “Nothing lives forever.”

“Who indeed? A question all of Lamoria will be posing soon enough.” Reaching inside his shirt, Mauldin produced a folded parchment sealed with black wax. “I had intended on sending this to the High Cleric. But as I will not see the morning, perhaps you could give it to him.” He placed it on the bench and slid it to the opposite end.

Lem eyed it warily. There were many forms of deadly magic that could be infused into an innocent-looking parchment. “It will be checked first. So if this is an attempt at treachery, it will fail.”

Mauldin tilted his head. “I hadn’t thought of that. But then I’m not an assassin.” He picked it up and broke the seal. “Read it if you wish. There is nothing written that won’t be known to everyone soon enough.”

He replaced the parchment and then picked up the bread, tearing apart the remainder and spreading it randomly over the pond. The fish thrashed frantically, fighting for the offerings, the melee drawing a smile from the old man. “I’ll miss this almost as much as I’ll miss my family.”

“So you’re ready?”

“Is anyone?”

Lem stepped in front of Mauldin. “No. I don’t supposethey are.” He took a breath, releasing it slowly. “Hold out your hand. I promise it will be painless. Over before you know that it happened.”

Mauldin shut his eyes and muttered a prayer. “If it’s within your power, save your love soon.” He extended his hand, palm up. “Time is running out . . . for everyone.”

Lem reached out and touched the blade to Mauldin’s flesh. A moment later, the lord slumped onto the bench and fell over on his side.

A bloody kill; those were his instructions. Clearly intended to send a message. But to whom? And to what end? Lem rarely contemplated these things. Not for a while now. As he opened Mauldin’s throat, he felt glad that his family would not be there to discover the body.

Pre-Order Your Copy

Lists / New Releases / What's New

Every Tor Book Coming This Summer

June 3, 2020May 6, 2024Rachel Taylor

It’s almost time for summer weather and that means…SUMMER BOOKS! Due to COVID-19, we shuffled some of our on sale dates around, so check here for the most up to date list of when you can get your hands on some of the most highly anticipated books of the season:

June 16

The Unconquered City by K. A. Doore

Seven years have passed since the Siege—a time when the hungry dead had risen—but the memories still haunt Illi Basbowen. Though she was trained to be an elite assassin, now the Basbowen clan act as Ghadid’s militia force protecting the resurrected city against a growing tide of monstrous guul that travel across the dunes. Illi’s worst fears are confirmed when General Barca arrives, bearing news that her fledgling nation, Hathage, also faces this mounting danger. How much can she sacrifice to protect everything she knows from devastation?

Glorious by Gregory Benford and Larry Niven

Audacious astronauts encounter bizarre, sometimes deadly life forms, and strange, exotic, cosmic phenomena, including miniature black holes, dense fields of interstellar plasma, powerful gravity-emitters, and spectacularly massive space-based, alien-built labyrinths. Tasked with exploring this brave, new, highly dangerous world, they must also deal with their own personal triumphs and conflicts.

June 23

The Angel of the Crows by Katherine Addison

In an alternate 1880s London, angels inhabit every public building, and vampires and werewolves walk the streets with human beings in a well-regulated truce. A fantastic utopia, except for a few things: Angels can Fall, and that Fall is like a nuclear bomb in both the physical and metaphysical worlds. And human beings remain human, with all their kindness and greed and passions and murderous intent. Jack the Ripper stalks the streets of this London too. But this London has an Angel. The Angel of the Crows.

June 30

Interlibrary Loan by Gene Wolfe

E. A. Smithe is a borrowed person, his personality an uploaded recording of a deceased mystery writer. Smithe is a piece of property, not a legal human. As such, Smithe can be loaned to other branches. Which he is. Along with two fellow reclones, a cookbook and romance writer, they are shipped to Polly’s Cove, where Smithe meets a little girl who wants to save her mother, a father who is dead but perhaps not. And another E.A. Smithe… who definitely is.

July 7

Unconquerable Sun by Kate Elliott

Princess Sun has finally come of age. Growing up in the shadow of her mother, Eirene, has been no easy task. The legendary queen-marshal did what everyone thought impossible: expel the invaders and build Chaonia into a magnificent republic, one to be respected—and feared. But the cutthroat ambassador corps and conniving noble houses have never ceased to scheme—and they have plans that need Sun to be removed as heir, or better yet, dead.

Or What You Will by Jo Walton

He has been too many things to count. He has been a dragon with a boy on his back. He has been a scholar, a warrior, a lover, and a thief. He has been dream and dreamer. He has been a god. But “he” is in fact nothing more than a spark of idea, a character in the mind of Sylvia Harrison, 73, award-winning author of thirty novels over forty years. But Sylvia won’t live forever, any more than any human does. And he’s trapped inside her cave of bone, her hollow of skull. When she dies, so will he.

Little Brother & Homeland by Cory Doctorow

Cory Doctorow’s two New York Times-bestselling novels of youthful rebellion against the torture-and-surveillance state – now available in a softcover omnibus

July 14

In the Kingdom of All Tomorrows by Stephen R. Lawhead

Conor mac Ardan is now clan chief of the Darini. Tara’s Hill has become a haven and refuge for all those who were made homeless by the barbarian Scálda. A large fleet of the Scálda’s Black Ships has now arrived and Conor joins Eirlandia’s lords to defeat the monsters. He finds treachery in their midst…and a betrayal that is blood deep. And so begins a final battle to win the soul of a nation.

The Relentless Moon by Mary Robinette Kowl

Elma York is on her way to Mars, but the Moon colony is still being established. Her friend and fellow Lady Astronaut Nicole Wargin is thrilled to be one of those pioneer settlers, using her considerable flight and political skills to keep the program on track. But she is less happy that her husband, the Governor of Kansas, is considering a run for President.

July 21

Trouble the Saints by Alaya Dawn Johnson

Phyllis LeBlanc has given up everything—not just her own past, and Dev, the man she loved, but even her own dreams. Still, the ghosts from her past are always by her side—and history has appeared on her doorstep to threaten the people she keeps in her heart. And so Phyllis will have to make a harrowing choice, before it’s too late—is there ever enough blood in the world to wash clean generations of injustice?

The Sin in the Steel by Ryan Van Loan

Buc and Eld are the first private detectives in a world where pirates roam the seas, mages speak to each other across oceans, mechanical devices change the tide of battle, and earthly wealth is concentrated in the hands of a powerful few. It’s been weeks since ships last returned to the magnificent city of Servenza with bounty from the Shattered Coast. Disaster threatens not just the city’s trading companies but the empire itself. When Buc and Eld are hired to investigate, Buc swiftly discovers that the trade routes have become the domain of a sharp-eyed pirate queen who sinks all who defy her.

Quantum Shadows by L. E. Modesitt, Jr.

On a world called Heaven, the ten major religions of mankind each have its own land governed by a capital city and ruled by a Hegemon. That Hegemon may be a god, or a prophet of a god. Smaller religions have their own towns or villages of belief. Corvyn, known as the Shadow of the Raven, contains the collective memory of humanity’s Falls from Grace. With this knowledge comes enormous power. When unknown power burns a mysterious black image into the holy place of each House of the Decalivre, Corvyn must discover what entity could possibly have that much power. The stakes are nothing less than another Fall, and if he doesn’t stop it, mankind will not rise from the ashes.

Uranus by Ben Bova

Humans can’t live on the gas giants, making instead a life in orbit. Kyle Umber, a religious idealist, has built Haven, a sanctuary above the distant planet Uranus. He invites ”the tired, the sick, the poor“ of Earth to his orbital retreat where men and women can find spiritual peace and refuge from the world. The billionaire who financed Haven, however, has his own designs: beyond the reach of the laws of the inner planets Haven could become the center for an interplanetary web of narcotics, prostitution, even hunting human prey.

I Come With Knives by S. A. Hunt

Robin – now armed with new knowledge about mysterious demon terrorizing her around town, the support of her friends, and the assistance of her old witch-hunter mentor – plots to confront the Lazenbury coven and destroy them once and for all. Robin must handle new threats on top of the menace from the Lazenbury coven, but a secret about Robin’s past may throw all of her plans into jeopardy.

July 28

Deal with the Devil by Kit Rocha

Nina is an information broker with a mission—she and her team of mercenary librarians use their knowledge to save the hopeless in a crumbling America. Knox is the bitter, battle-weary captain of the Silver Devils. His squad of supersoldiers went AWOL to avoid slaughtering innocents, and now he’s fighting to survive. They’re on a deadly collision course, and the passion that flares between them only makes it more dangerous. They could burn down the world, destroying each other in the process…Or they could do the impossible: team up.

The Baron of Magister Valley by Steven Brust

The salacious claims that The Baron of Magister Valley bears any resemblance to a certain nearly fictional narrative about an infamous count are unfounded (we do not dabble in tall tales. The occasional moderately stretched? Yes. But never tall). Our tale is that of a nobleman who is betrayed by those he trusted, and subsequently imprisoned. After centuries of confinement, he contrives to escape and prepares to avenge himself against his betrayers. A mirror image of The Count of Monte Cristo, vitrolic naysayers still grouse? Well, that is nearly and utterly false.

Automatic Reload by Ferrett Steinmetz

Meet Mat, a tortured mercenary who has become the perfect shot, and Silvia, and idealistic woman genetically engineered to murder you to death. Together they run for the shadiest corporation in the world… and realize their messed-up brain chemistry cannot overpower their very real chemistry.

August 4

The Living Dead by George A. Romero and Daniel Kraus

In a Midwestern trailer park, a Black teenage girl and a Muslim immigrant battle newly-risen friends and family. On a US aircraft carrier, living sailors hide from dead ones while a fanatic makes a new religion out of death. At a cable news station, a surviving anchor keeps broadcasting while his undead colleagues try to devour him. In DC, an autistic federal employee charts the outbreak, preserving data for a future that may never come. Everywhere, people are targeted by both the living and the dead. We think we know how this story ends. We. Are. Wrong.

Space Station Down by Ben Bova and Doug Beason

When an ultra-rich space tourist visits the orbiting International Space Station, NASA expects a $100 million win-win: his visit will bring in much needed funding and publicity. But the tourist venture turns into a scheme of terror. Together with an extremist cosmonaut, the tourist slaughters all the astronauts on board the million-pound ISS—and prepares to crash it into New York City at 17,500 miles an hour, causing more devastation than a hundred atomic bombs. In doing so, they hope to annihilate the world’s financial system.

Sorcery of a Queen by Brian Naslund

Driven from her kingdom, the would-be queen now seeks haven in the land of her mother, but Ashlyn will not stop until justice has been done. Determined to unlock the secret of powers long thought impossible, Ashlyn bends her will and intelligence to mastering the one thing people always accused her of, sorcery. Meanwhile, having learned the truth of his mutation, Bershad is a man on borrowed time. Never knowing when his healing powers will drive him to a self-destruction, he is determined to see Ashlyn restored to her throne and the creatures they both love safe.

A Chorus of Fire by Brian D. Anderson

A shadow has moved across Lamoria. Whispers of the coming conflict are growing louder; the enemy becoming bolder. Belkar’s reach has extended far into the heart of Ralmarstad and war now seems inevitable. Mariyah, clinging to the hope of one day being reunited with Lem, struggles to attain the power she will need to make the world safe again.Lem continues his descent into darkness, serving a man he does not trust in the name of a faith which is not his own. Only Shemi keeps his heart from succumbing to despair, along with the knowledge that he has finally found Mariyah. But Lem is convinced she is being held against her will, and is determined to free her, regardless the cost.

August 11

The Tyrant Baru Cormorant by Seth Dickinson

Baru’s enemies close in from all sides. Baru’s own mind teeters on the edge of madness or shattering revelation. Now she must choose between genocidal revenge and a far more difficult path—a conspiracy of judges, kings, spies and immortals, puppeteering the world’s riches and two great wars in a gambit for the ultimate prize. If Baru had absolute power over the Imperial Republic, she could force Falcrest to abandon its colonies and make right its crimes.

The Last Uncharted Sky by Curtis Craddock

Isabelle and Jean-Claude undertake an airship expedition to recover a fabled treasure and claim a hitherto undiscovered craton for l’Empire Celeste. But Isabelle, as a result from a previous attack that tried to subsume her body and soul, suffers from increasingly disturbing and disruptive hallucinations. Disasters are compounded when the ship is sabotaged by an enemy agent, and Jean-Claude is separated from the expedition.

By Force Alone by Lavie Tidhar

Everyone thinks they know the story of King Arthur and his knights of the Round Table. The fact is they don’t know sh*t.

Arthur? An over-promoted gangster. Merlin? An eldritch parasite. Excalibur? A shady deal with a watery arms dealer. Britain? A clogged sewer that Rome abandoned just as soon as it could.

The Shadow Commission by David Mack

November 1963. Cade and Anja have lived in hiding for a decade, training new mages. Then the assassination of President Kennedy trigger a series of murders whose victims are all magicians—with Cade, Anja, and their allies as its prime targets. Their only hope of survival: learning how to fight back against the sinister cabal known as the Shadow Commission.

The Wizard Knight by Gene Wolfe

A young man in his teens is transported from our world to a magical realm consisting of seven levels of reality. Transformed by magic into a grown man of heroic proportions, he takes the name Sir Able of the High Heart and sets out on a quest to find the sword that has been promised to him, the blade that will help him fulfill his ambition to become a true hero—a true knight. Inside, however, Sir Able remains a boy, and he must grow in every sense to survive what lies ahead…

August 25

The Memory of Souls by Jenn Lyons

Now that Relos Var’s plans have been revealed and demons are free to rampage across the empire, the fulfillment of the ancient prophecies—and the end of the world—is closer than ever. To buy time for humanity, Kihrin needs to convince the king of the Manol vané to perform an ancient ritual which will strip the entire race of their immortality, but it’s a ritual which certain vané will do anything to prevent. Including assassinating the messengers.

Architects of Memory by Karen Osborne

Terminally ill salvage pilot Ash Jackson lost everything in the war with the alien Vai, but she’ll be damned if she loses her future. Her plan: to buy, beg, or lie her way out of corporate indenture and find a cure. When her crew salvages a genocidal weapon from a ravaged starship above a dead colony, Ash uncovers a conspiracy of corporate intrigue and betrayal that threatens to turn her into a living weapon.