Celeste, a card sharp with a need for justice, takes on the role of advocatus diaboli, to defend her sister Mariel, accused of murdering a Virtue, a member of the ruling class of this mining town, in a new world of dark fantasy from the New York Times bestselling author of Black Sun, Rebecca Roanhorse.
The year is 1883 and the mining town of Goetia is booming as prospectors from near and far come to mine the powerful new element Divinity from the high mountains of Colorado with the help of the pariahs of society known as the Fallen. The Fallen are the descendants of demonkind living amongst the Virtues, the winners in an ancient war, with the descendants of both sides choosing to live alongside Abaddon's mountain in this tale of the mythological West from the bestselling mastermind Rebecca Roanhorse.
"Too much description of her excellent plot would risk spoiling an inventive and propulsive narrative, but readers accustomed to Roanhorse's richly detailed characters and beautifully executed action sequences will not be disappointed. A superb dark fantasy." - Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
"Skillfully blending a noir atmosphere with western tropes and biblical mythology, bestseller Roanhorse crafts an immersive historical fantasy centered on ambition, privilege, and marginalization...The mystery plot is solidly entertaining and suits the atmosphere, but it remains fairly basic—even predictable—to the end. Instead, the worldbuilding is the real star here; readers will hope for a chance to explore it further in future outings." - Publishers Weekly
"Fans of 'Weird West' tales and angel-demon conflicts will find Celeste's world fascinating in Roanhorse's stand-alone novella." - Library Journal
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Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Rebecca Roanhorse is a NYTimes bestselling and Nebula, Hugo, and Locus Award-winning speculative fiction writer and the recipient of the 2018 Astounding (Campbell) Award for Best New Writer. Rebecca has published multiple award-winning short stories and five novels, including two in The Sixth World Series, Star Wars: Resistance Reborn, Race to the Sun for the Rick Riordan imprint, and her latest novel, the epic fantasy Black Sun. She has also written for Marvel Comics and for television, and had projects optioned by Amazon Studios, Netflix, and Paramount TV. She lives in Northern New Mexico with her husband, daughter, and pup. She drinks a lot of black coffee.

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