The Braided Path: An Omnibus Collection of the Acclaimed Fantasy
Chris Wooding
Language: English
Pages: 752
ISBN: 2:00177231
Format: PDF / Kindle (mobi) / ePub
The three books making up the richly textured, darkly evocative Braided Path trilogy are collected here: The Weavers of Saramyr, The Skein of Lament, and The Ascendancy Veil. The empire of Saramyr has relied on Weavers, a secretive sect of magicians, for far too long. Now the Weavers, manipulating space and time through the Weave of existence, are plotting the overthrow of the royal families. As the empire begins to crumble, the empress's daughter must race to rescue it, all the while concealing a deadly secret of her own. Full of explosive description and memorable young characters, this incredibly complex and exciting world is the ideal first adult fantasy for teenage readers.
right breast exposed, breathing hard and caught in surprise. A leer began to spread across Mamak’s face, and then Kaiku screamed, and he exploded. The surge of kana ripped through her like a stampede. The world switched from reality to the infinity of golden threads, warp and weft, a diorama of beautiful light that burned her from within like molten metal in her veins. Her irises darkened to a deep red, and she lashed out in reaction to the fear, the passion, the surprise. She saw the bright
able to walk. Cailin’s training had enabled Kaiku to shut off the flow before it drained her to such a state, but it would be some time before her kana would regenerate enough to allow her to manipulate the Weave again. She had not unleashed it so recklessly for years; but then, it had been years since she had been in such direct danger. Kaiku panted where she knelt, scanning the destruction for signs of movement. There was nothing except the slow drift of powdered debris in the air. Whoever had
seemed it might serve a useful political purpose as well. ‘Let me in, Xami,’ Mishani said. ‘You did not see me; you will not be blamed if I am caught. I promise you.’ Xami deliberated a few moments longer. Then, more because she feared somebody seeing them together than because she wanted to, she opened the gate fully. Mishani went in, and Xami slipped out and shut the gate behind her. Mishani found herself in a narrow, vine-laden passageway that led around to the back of the main house, where
in danger there. You are the wife of the Lord Protector; there are many who could kill or kidnap you, use you as a bargaining chip against me.’ ‘Would you bargain for me, then?’ she murmured. ‘If I was captured?’ ‘Of course. You are my wife.’ ‘Indeed,’ she said. ‘But we have no love.’ She glanced at him again, her face half-hidden by her hair. ‘Would you sacrifice for me?’ ‘Of course,’ he said again. ‘Why?’ He gazed at her strangely. He could not see why she was finding this difficult to
breaking whatever spell held the beast in check. Lucia’s eyes were rolled up in her head and flickering with movement. ‘Gods, what has happened here?’ she whispered, though she said it more to herself than to anyone else, and expected no response. Lucia surprised her. ‘It is an emissary,’ she said, the words barely formed as if she spoke them in a dream. Kaiku thought for a moment. ‘Of the Xhiang Xhi?’ she asked. ‘Leave our dead,’ Lucia murmured, ‘and follow.’ Kaiku closed her eyes. She had