Mortal Suns: A Novel

A princess born without feet must learn how to walk—and eventually how to rule—in this dark epic fantasy by an award-winning author.Acclaimed author Tanith Lee transports her readers to an ominous yet seductive alternate universe, as fully realized as Marion Zimmer Bradley’s Avalon, where fate organizes the forces of nature to bring to ruin those who dare to control it. Horrible screams pierce the night air as the Daystar, Queen Hesta of Akhemony, wrestles with the delivery of the King’s child. The baby is beautiful but has one heartbreaking deformity—she is born without feet. Consigned immediately to the world of death, the lame infant is dispatched to Thon, the underworld temple, and baptized Cemira, snake, the name she will bear throughout a lifetime of darkness. It is only at the behest of Urdombris, the Sun Consort, that the child is restored to her rightful place as heir to the throne on Oceaxis.Recounting a deadly battle for power, pitting the forces of man against the supernatural, her story is one that will captivate, shock, and terrify.Praise for Mortal Suns“Lee embellishes this reasonably simple plot with great richness of detail, and she makes Akhemony, though it calls to mind a number of places in our world’s history, a unique place. As is her wont, Lee weaves style, subject, and characters into a seamless whole.” —Booklist

From Booklist

Lee presents the marvelous world of Akhemony, where the sun is worshiped and the Heart Drum of the kingdom is never silent, lest the heart of the kingdom cease to beat. One of the queens of Akhemony struggles to give birth to the king's child, a beautiful but seriously crippled girl--she is born without feet. Her mother immediately consigns her to the Temple of Death. Yet, later, the girl is retrieved from doom, raised as a princess of the kingdom, and eventually chosen as consort to its king. From that station, she witnesses the downfalls of the kings and of traditional ways. Lee embellishes this reasonably simple plot with great richness of detail, and she makes Akhemony, though it calls to mind a number of places in our world's history, a unique place. As is her wont, Lee weaves style, subject, and characters into a seamless whole. Frieda MurrayCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

About the Author

Tanith Lee is one of the leading fantasy authors working today. She has written over 50 novels and short story collections, among them the bestselling Flat Earth Series. She has won the World Fantasy Award numerous times as well as the August Derleth Award.

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