A Clatter of Chains (The Waking Worlds Book 1)

A well-meaning priest performs unsanctioned magic to cure a wild boy's madness. What he suppresses instead is a dark creature from the distant past.Despite his blessed life at Temple, novice Marco is prone to bad luck. When the tides of Imperial politics sweep him off on a diplomatic mission, he finds himself far out of his depth.Jiminy, a sneak thief, is hounded from his desert home by preternatural pursuers. Ending up in the empire was not the plan. But it seems the priests may have a career-making commission for him.As ancient magic slowly seeps back into the world, long-forgotten threats worm through the cracks.

From the Back Cover

Marco is just another child acolyte in Helia's Temple, looking forward to the peaceful, scholarly life he would not otherwise have had. He has no idea yet of the political truths of his tiny world or of the violent, expansionist nature of the Empire. Nor does he suspect the deeper secret of his origins, blanked from his mind by his mentor. His innocence and ignorance come under assault when the tide of Imperial ambition drags him along on a diplomatic mission. Jiminy is the most famous thief in all the Purlian desert cities. At least, he would be if anyone knew he existed. But when his eventual infamy does not turn out to be all that he had hoped, he flees his home, relentlessly pursued by an impossible creature. When circumstances force him to sell his services in return for his safety, he finds himself wondering whether he can steal his way out of his predicament. The world has slumbered, long out of reach of the evil that once tried to claim it. When it wakes, a long forgotten gamble will play out. And the odds are not in our favor.

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