The Modern World

In the third of the Castle novels, Steph Swainston takes the reader ever deeper into a world of beauty and terror. . .

The endless war for survival against the merciless Insects has reached yet another stalemate for the Circle, the immortals who serve the Emperor of the Fourlands. The building of a massive dam has driven the Insects back, but it's only a matter of time before they find another way to advance.

Jant, the Emperor's winged Messenger, is called away from battle to find the daughter of fellow immortal, Lightning. Cyan has gone missing in the city of Hacilith, and Lightning wants him to bring her back. But Jant knows better than anyone just how much trouble a teenager can get into in Hacilith's underworld . . .

So begins a hectic quest. A quest that will take Jant back to his past, back to the bizarre world of the Shift and, eventually, back to the Fourlands. Just as it faces a terrifying new threat.

“Swainston's third novel is an impressive illustration of how fantasy does not have to be imitation Tolkien. - The Guardian The Modern World is another welcome glimpse into a fantasy world so aggressive it could knock seven shades of Hell out of most entries in the genre. We can't recommend it highly enough. - SFXSteph Swainston's writing is as elegantly superior to most other fantasy as a samurai sword is to a flint daggerHonest-to-god unputdownable. A blistering debut (THE YEAR OF OUR WAR)”

Swainston's third novel is an impressive illustration of how fantasy does not have to be imitation Tolkien. - The Guardian

The Modern World is another welcome glimpse into a fantasy world so aggressive it could knock seven shades of Hell out of most entries in the genre. We can't recommend it highly enough. - SFX

Steph Swainston's writing is as elegantly superior to most other fantasy as a samurai sword is to a flint dagger

Honest-to-god unputdownable. A blistering debut (THE YEAR OF OUR WAR)

Steph Swainston is a qualified archaeologist with a degree from Cambridge and a research degree. She worked as archaeologist for six years, working on the dig that researched the oldest recorded burial site in the UK, before working as an information scientist. Her Castle novels have been highly praised by authors and critics alike. She lives in Wokingham.

In the third of the Castle novels, Steph Swainston takes the reader ever deeper into a world of beauty and terror. . . The endless war for survival against the merciless Insects has reached yet another stalemate for the Circle, the immortals who serve the Emperor of the Fourlands. The building of a massive dam has driven the Insects back, but it's only a matter of time before they find another way to advance.Jant, the Emperor's winged Messenger, is called away from battle to find the daughter of fellow immortal, Lightning. Cyan has gone missing in the city of Hacilith, and Lightning wants him to bring her back. But Jant knows better than anyone just how much trouble a teenager can get into in Hacilith's underworld . . .So begins a hectic quest. A quest that will take Jant back to his past, back to the bizarre world of the Shift and, eventually, back to the Fourlands. Just as it faces a terrifying new threat.

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