Aliya Whiteley

Before wars are won, they must be witnessed. Elize Janview is a soldier, one of the few survivors of an unimaginably terrible weapon, which ended the long détente between the North and the South and plunged them back into all-out war. She enlisted with a dream of finding those responsible, of somehow getting revenge for the deaths of everyone she knew, but was posted to guard the prison at Crag, the fortress of the South, which has never fallen to the enemy. Janview’s life is transformed when a rough wooden box is delivered to Crag, holding the performer and spy Marius Mondegreen, agent of the North: the Misheard Word, who can read minds, breathe fire, and make objects appear and disappear. Janview is to witness Mondegreen’s interrogation by his captor, the beautiful and cruel Allynx Syld, who promises the end of the war. As recorder – and by degrees participant – in the interrogation, Janview comes to question everything she knew about the war, and the very world she lives in…

A vibrant and emotional science fantasy about cousins trapped in mirrored worlds – the resplendent and verdant summer city and the ice-carved wastes of the winter city. For fans of Every Heart a Doorway and This is How You Lose the Time War. Welcome to Jamie Pike’s Fairharbour – a city stuck in perpetual winter, its windows and doorways bricked shut to keep out the freezing cold, its residents striving to survive in the arctic conditions. Welcome to Esther Pike’s Fairharbour – a city stuck in constant summer, its walls crumbling in the heat, its oppressive sunlight a relentless presence. Winter and Summer alike, have both fallen under the yoke of oppressive powers, that have taken control after the cataclysm. But both Fairharbours were once a single, united city. And in certain places, at certain times, one side can catch a glimpse of the other. As Jamie and Esther find a way to communicate across the divide, they set out to solve the mystery of what split their city in two, and what, if anything, might repair their fractured worlds.

In January 2314, Rowena Savalas – a curator of the vast archive of the twenty-first century’s primitive internet – stumbles upon a story posted in the summer of 2024. She’s quickly drawn into the mystery of the text: Is it autobiography, fantasy or fraud? What’s the significance of the recurring number 381? In the story, the protagonist Fairly walks the Horned Road – a quest undertaken by youngsters in her village when they come of age. She is followed by the “breathing man,” a looming presence, dogging her heels every step of the way. Everything she was taught about her world is overturned. Following Fairly’s quest, Rowena comes to question her own choices, and a predictable life of curation becomes one of exploration, adventure and love. As both women’s stories draw to a close, she realises it doesn’t matter whether the story is true or not: as with the quest itself, it’s the journey that matters.

MÍSTO, KDE MŮŽEME BÝT SAMI. SPOLU.Úkryt v nebesích je hostinec za vysokými zdmi Západního protektorátu. Bezpečné místo, kde se lidé scházejí, aby si vyprávěli příběhy z doby před válkou s Qitou. Ale v bezpečí před čím vlastně?Když Země zaútočila, Quita se bez dalšího okamžitě vzdala. Hostinští Jem a Isley, veteráni z obou stran, sice mají výčitky, ale jen velmi málo jizev. Nečekaná návštěva starého známého přináší připomínku zneklidňující minulosti a vyvolává otázky, které neměly být nikdy položeny. Opravdu lidstvo vyhrálo válku?

MÍSTO, KDE MŮŽEME BÝT SAMI. SPOLU. Úkryt v nebesích je hostinec za vysokými zdmi Západního protektorátu. Bezpečné místo, kde se lidé scházejí, aby si vyprávěli příběhy z doby před válkou s Qitou. Ale v bezpečí před čím vlastně? Když Země zaútočila, Quita se bez dalšího okamžitě vzdala. Hostinští Jem a Isley, veteráni z obou stran, sice mají výčitky, ale jen velmi málo jizev. Nečekaná návštěva starého známého přináší připomínku zneklidňující minulosti a vyvolává otázky, které neměly být nikdy položeny. Opravdu lidstvo vyhrálo válku?