A Taste of Gold and Iron

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Zeliha had waved off any further need for rest and recovery from childbirth when she’d heard what the Oissic merchant had been arrested for, declaring that she would attend to that matter herself so that Kadou could give his full attention to the Shipbuilder’s Guild. The khayalar are so complex, and I loved how much detail went into building the political elements of the world, because it made all the tropes the author included work.

He bit his lip and occupied himself with fussing over the wrinkles and folds of Eyne’s swaddling cloths. When he’d looked, she’d held up a coin—perfect, round and shining as the sun, with a little picture of Grandfather on it in profile, wearing his crown.Kadou slid into my heart within the first few pages, and I knew I was going to be in serious trouble if anything ever happened to him. He still had that altın somewhere, and even now, part of the signature for coin gold as he experienced it—proper coins, that is, genuine ones—was the clear, bell-like chime of a hammer striking a die. I have rarely (possibly never) seen such well-handled casual queer representation or such realistic anxiety in a character.

Witty, clever, and often extremely funny, Rowland’s tale of a prince who doesn’t want power but has it anyway—and must survive all the risks that brings with it— somehow manages to be both soft and hard-edged, clever and kind. He’d been tugged along by the will of the gods and his own fear for his whole life, and here they were, two ships on a dark cloudy night whose only point of reference was each other. For help with these queries or to submit general questions, comments or feature requests, try Goodreads Help or use the Contact Us form.

Kadou, the shy prince of Arast, finds himself at odds with one of the most powerful ambassadors at court—the body-father of the queen’s new child—in an altercation that results in his humiliation. They’d been up to their elbows in documents when Siranos had come in, demanded to know what Kadou thought he was doing, and had not-quite-accused him of making his move against Her Majesty and his new daughter. Alexandra Rowland is the author of A Conspiracy Of Truths, A Choir Of Lies, and Finding Faeries, as well as a cohost of the Hugo Award-nominated podcast Be the Serpent. Most people in his position, Kadou supposed, wouldn’t have been joyfully happy to find themselves a step further away from the throne.

Alexandra Rowland is the author of several fantasy books, including A Conspiracy Of Truths, A Choir Of Lies, and Some by Virtue Fall, as well as a Hugo Award-nominated podcaster (all sternly supervised by their feline quality control manager).Rowland delivers a breathtakingly intimate narrative in this gorgeous fantasy, in which the political intrigue of a kingdom serves as backdrop to a romance between the softest of hearts. Authors, if you are a member of the Goodreads Author Program, you can edit information about your own books. Seliha was the queen I was hoping for, and everyone would have been doomed if it weren’t for Eozena’s cunning political movements.

He enlists the help of his newly appointed bodyguard, the coldly handsome Evemer, who seems to tolerate him at best. Tone and style-wise, Alexandra Rowland’s new novel feels like a cross between The Goblin Emperor and Winter’s Orbit. This slow-burn romantic fantasy with a heavy dose of political intrigue is rich in world-building and emotional angst.

She set down the hammer, took off the top part of the thing she’d hit, and—there was Grandfather’s picture again, as if by magic. I needed a break and some fresh air and entertainment, and there’s really nothing more entertaining than watching a bunch of fussy people traipse around on their ponies and try to kill things without getting their hands or their hems dirty. But when he plucked it off Zeliha’s palm and rubbed it between his fingertips, savoring the metal as closely as he could, he could just barely distinguish other differences. Kadou, the shy prince of Arasht, has no intention of wrestling for imperial control with his sister, the queen.