Suvudu Universe

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Jill over at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

This week's pre-publication "can't-wait-to-read" selection is:

Thornlost by Melanie Rawn
Expected publication: April 29th 2014 by Tor Books

The third book in Melanie Rawn’s superb new high fantasy series, that blends the worlds of magic, theater, art and politics!

Melanie Rawn returns to her rich high fantasy world in this sequel to Touchstone and Elsewhens. 

Cayden is part Elf, part Fae, part human Wizard—and all rebel. His aristocratic mother would have him follow his father to the Royal Court, to make a high-society living off the scraps of kings. But Cade lives and breathes for the theater, and he’s good, very good. He’s a tregetour—a wizard who is both playwright and magicwielder. It is Cade’s power that creates the magic, but a tregetour is useless without a glisker—an elf who can spin out the magic onto the stage, to enchant the audience. And Cade’s glisker, Mieka, is something special too. So is their fettler, Rafe, who controls the magic and keeps them and the audience safe. And their masker, Jeska, who speaks all the lines, is every young girl’s dream.

They are reaching for the highest reaches of society and power, but not the way Cade’s mother thinks they should. They’ll change their world, or die trying.


I admit, as much of a fan as I am of Melanie's fantasy novels, I've been a bit gun-shy about diving into this series. The Diviner, her prequel to the shared world novel The Golden Key, took 15 years to materialize; The Captal's Tower, her concluding novel in the Exiles trilogy, has yet to see the light of day; and, after a prolonged absence from writing, her Spellbinder saga was prematurely canceled by the publisher. Getting invested in a new multi-volume saga seemed a bit risky, but with the third book ready to land on the shelves, it just may be time to get reading.