Consorts of Heaven

Jaine Fenn

Language: English

Publisher: Gollancz

Published: Jun 10, 2009

Pages: 387
ABC: 4

Description:

When a naked, amnesiac stranger is found outside a remote highland village, he is taken in by Kerin, a widow whose unconventional ways are tolerated because her son Damaru is "skytouched." All skytouched are able to affect matter, and are tested by the Beloved Daughter, the living goddess who rules the world from the City of Light. If he is found worthy, Damaru will become a Consort of the skymothers, the gods themselves. Kerin and the stranger—nicknamed Sais—accompany Damaru to the City, but as Sais recovers his memory, he realizes that the world does not work the way everyone else assumes it does. As Kerin and Sais uncover the true nature of the world, they discover the unimaginable fate of the Consorts, a fate Kerin will do anything to stop her son from sharing.

Review

"After a solid debut with Principles of Angels, Fenn's second offering is altogether stranger and more ambitious. A beautifully paced quest, a novel that doles out its revelations slowly yet confidently. The characters are well-drawn and believable. There's more than enough here to suggest that British SF has a major new talent in its midst." -- Jonathan Wright SFX "...the mutually dependent relationship between Kerin and the stranger is sensitively drawn, as is the depiction of a society kept in ignorance by a religious elite." -- Eric Brown THE GUARDIAN "it is a book that provides plenty of entertainment. The basic idea and the meshing of the genres works very well and the character development and the way that is accomplished is certainly better than in many such books. The pacing may be a little uneven, but whilst this is a minor annoyance, the aspects of the book that set it apart from many across both genres are ultimately what win out and make this a curious, but worthwhile read." THE BOOKBAG "Consorts of Heaven is an enjoyable novel with a stronger central premise than its predecessor, and the pace of revelation is really well judged by Fenn. I look forward very much to journeying once again in to Jaine Fenn's universe." BOOKGEEKS

About the Author

Jaine Fenn is the author of Principles of Angels, and has had short stories published in such magazines as Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine and On Spec.