The City of Silk and Steel

This is the tale of a city - like any other city, to begin with - and how it was lost and won, and lost again.

This is the tale of an unusual army and its extraordinary leaders: Rem, the librarian, whose tears are ink; wise Gursoon, who defines their conscience; and the silver-tongued thief, Anwar Das, who knows when to ignore that conscience. And it is the tale of the mysterious Zuleika, with her unexpected gift for violence. Without her, the city could not have been taken; because of her, it could not be held.

Most of all, this is the tale of Bessa, the city of silk and steel, as much legend as truth: its fate will haunt you for as long as stories are told . . .

“There's an intriguingly playful approach to the storytelling. There are rewards to be had for the patient reader.”

The Careys nest smaller tales within the larger story and often jump around in time; it's a good approach, backed by fast pacing and great characters ... a thrilling tale - PUBLISHERS WEEKLY

A masterful, engaging and utterly fascinating story by three wonderful writers. One can only hope they will collaborate again, as this project has proven how well they work together. The reader is really the winner here - SF REVU

Mike Carey is a comics writer, novelist and screenwriter who lives and works in London, England. He is best known for his work on the multiple EISNER-nominated series LUCIFER and for a critically acclaimed run on Vertigo's flagship title, HELLBLAZER. He is the author of the Felix Castor novels and is currently writing the monthly series THE UNWRITTEN for DC Vertigo. He has also written X-MEN, X-MEN LEGACY and FANTASTIC FOUR for Marvel Comics. His screenplay SILENT WAR, written for Slingshot and Intrepid Pictures, is about to go into production.

Linda Carey, writing as A.J. Lake, authored the Darkest Age fantasy trilogy. She has also written for TV, most notably for the German animation series Meadowlands, on which she shared the duties of lead writer.

Louise's Carey's previous writing includes THE DIARY OF A LONDON SCHOOLGIRL for the website of the London Metropolitan archive and the graphic novel CONFESSIONS OF A BLABBERMOUTH, co-written with Mike. She is a member of the Chicken Shed theatre company and has acted in their productions of ALICE IN WONDERLAND and GRIMM NIGHTS.

This is the tale of a city - like any other city, to begin with - and how it was lost and won, and lost again. This is the tale of an unusual army and its extraordinary leaders: Rem, the librarian, whose tears are ink; wise Gursoon, who defines their conscience; and the silver-tongued thief, Anwar Das, who knows when to ignore that conscience. And it is the tale of the mysterious Zuleika, with her unexpected gift for violence. Without her, the city could not have been taken; because of her, it could not be held. Most of all, this is the tale of Bessa, the city of silk and steel, as much legend as truth: its fate will haunt you for as long as stories are told . . .

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