#FearlessWomen: Starless by Jacqueline Carey Spotlight & Exclusive Excerpt

Women are shining in every genre of speculative fiction, and it is no longer enough to say “Women arehere.” Instead, #FearlessWomen everywhere are taking a stand to say “Women will thrive here.”

Highlighting major titles from bestselling authors V.E. Schwab, Sherrilyn Kenyon, Jacqueline Carey as well as titles from acclaimed and debut authors such as Mary Robinette Kowal, Tessa Gratton, Sam Hawke, and Robyn Bennis, #FearlessWomen will be a coordinated social media celebration encouraging fans to start a dialogue about women in publishing, their worlds, their voices, and their unique stories.

Starless by Jacqueline Carey

Jacqueline Carey is back with an amazing adventure not seen since her New York Times bestselling Kushiel’s Legacy series. Lush and sensual, Starless introduces us to an epic world where exiled gods live among us, and a hero whose journey will resonate long after the last page is turned.

Let your mind be like the eye of the hawk…Destined from birth to serve as protector of the princess Zariya, Khai is trained in the arts of killing and stealth by a warrior sect in the deep desert; yet there is one profound truth that has been withheld from him.

In the court of the Sun-Blessed, Khai must learn to navigate deadly intrigue and his own conflicted identity…but in the far reaches of the western seas, the dark god Miasmus is rising, intent on nothing less than wholesale destruction.

If Khai is to keep his soul’s twin Zariya alive, their only hope lies with an unlikely crew of prophecy-seekers on a journey that will take them farther beneath the starless skies than anyone can imagine.

Exclusive Excerpt

We sparred atop the high, narrow arch, blades clashing, the drop looming beneath our feet, and a sense of exhilaration filled me. It was madness, but oh, what a glorious madness it was!

“That’s it!” Unexpectedly, Vironesh was grinning; a hard, fierce grin that showed all his teeth. “Channel it, harness it!” Pressed by my attack, he re-treated a step, then parried my follow-up blow with enough force that I nearly lost my balance, teetering on the stone bridge. I glanced down involuntarily and felt my heart leap into my throat at the sight of the ground far beneath me. “Don’t look down! You know damn well how far a fall it is. Keep your eyes on me!” I regained my balance and acknowledged him with a grim nod. His blade feinted and teased, hinting at openings that never quite materialized. “Let the wind guide you, Khai. Look for the spaces between things.”

“I don’t understand,” I said through gritted teeth.

“Oh, but you do.” His blade flicked mine away with one of those infuriatingly subtle parries. “Wind will blow through any chink it can find, flow around any obstacle in its course. Follow the wind’s example and let it guide you into those spaces. Between a strike and a parry, between a step and a turn, between a thought and its execution, between one breath and the next— ow!”

I’d caught Vironesh on the knuckles of his right hand with the blunt inner edge of my yakhan in a backward- sweeping blow. He dropped his blade out of sheer surprise, and it fell glinting through the sunlight to clatter onto the ground below.

About the Author

JACQUELINE CAREY is the author of the New York Times bestselling Kushiel’s Legacy series of historical fantasy novels, The Sundering epic fantasy duology, postmodern fables “Santa Olivia” and “Saints Astray,” and the Agent of Hel contemporary fantasy series. Carey lives in western Michigan.

Join the Conversation

Tor Books’ handles across Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram (@torbooks) will be using the hashtags #FearlessWomen (and #FearlessFantasy and #FearlessSF) to promote excerpts, exclusive content, quizzes and giveaways beginning in May. There will also be exclusive giveaways at BookCon, San Diego Comic-Con, and New York Comic Con. Follow Tor Books online, join the conversation – and get reading!

Be sure to also check out the other blogs on the #FearlessWomen tour to read more exclusive content and reviews!

This is a Metaphor | Dark Faerie Tales | Cherry Blossoms & Maple Syrup | Sci-fi Chick | Books, Bones, & Buffy | Tenacious Reader | Itching for Books | Across the Words | Fantasy Literature