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The Price of Spring
Book 4 of The Long Price Quartet
352 pages
A melancholic and tense fantasy where desperate attempts to heal a broken world unleash an even more devastating magic.
What it feels like
Reading this book feels like standing in the ruins of a once-great world, watching desperate people try to rebuild only to accidentally set the rubble on fire. The mood is deeply somber and haunted by the ghosts of a devastating war, steeped in the heavy grief of a society facing a futureless existence. As political alliances are painstakingly forged to secure a new generation, the narrative pace steadily accelerates, driven by the dangerous, forbidden resurrection of a lost magic. The tone is tragic and urgent, exploring the terrible cost of guilt and the destructive power of unresolved trauma. It is a perfect read for fans of character-driven epic fantasy who crave stories where magic is dangerous, choices carry apocalyptic weight, and the quest for redemption can easily turn into a reign of terror.
- Mood
- somber
- haunted
- tense
- desperate
- Tone
- melancholic
- urgent
- tragic
- earnest
- Pace
- steady
- Themes
- consequences of war · weight of guilt · destructive grief · desperate redemption · dangerous magic
- The writing
- Deliberate and atmospheric, focusing on the heavy emotional burdens and political intricacies of a scarred world.
- The arc
- Moves from the heavy sorrow of a broken world to the terrifying urgency of an uncontrollable new threat.
- Who it's for
- Readers who love character-driven epic fantasy where magic has devastating consequences and political maneuvering is laced with deep personal tragedy.
Content notes
- war trauma
- grief
- infertility
- mass destruction
About the book
Fifteen years have passed since the devastating war between the Galt Empire and the cities of the Khaiem in which the Khaiem's poets and their magical power known as "andat" were destroyed, leaving the women of the Khaiem and the men of Galt infertile.
The emperor of the Khaiem tries to form a marriage alliance between his son and the daughter of a Galtic lord, hoping the Khaiem men and Galtic women will produce a new generation to help create a peaceful future.
But Maati, a poet who has been in hiding for years, driven by guilt over his part in the disastrous end of the war, defies tradition and begins training female poets. With Eiah, the emperor's daughter, helping him, he intends to create andat, to restore the world as it was before the war.
Vanjit, a woman haunted by her family's death in the war, creates a new andat. But hope turns to ashes as her creation unleashes a power that cripples all she touches.
As the prospect of peace dims under the lash of Vanjit's creation, Maati and Eiah try to end her reign of terror. But time is running out for both the Galts and the Khaiem.
Description from Open Library.
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