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A Betrayal in Winter (The Long Price Quartet)
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Product Description
As a boy, Otah Machi was exiled from his family, Machi’s ruling house. Decades later, he has witnessed and been part of world-changing events. Yet he has never returned to Machi. Now his father--the Khai, or ruler, of Machi--is dying and his eldest brother Biitrah has been assassinated, Otah realizes that he must return to Machi, for reasons not even he understands.
Tradition dictates that the sons of a dying Khai fall upon each other until only one remains to succeed his father. But something even worse is occurring in Machi. The Galts, an expansive empire, has allied with someone in Machi to bring down the ruling house. Otah is accused, the long-missing brother with an all-too-obvious motive for murder.
With the subtlety and wonderful storytelling skill of his first novel, Abraham has created a masterful drama filled with a unique magic, a suspenseful thriller of sexual betrayal, and Machiavellian politics.
Product Details
- Amazon Sales Rank: #325357 in Books
- Published on: 2007-08-21
- Released on: 2007-08-21
- Original language: English
- Number of items: 1
- Binding: Hardcover
- 320 pages
Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
Set 15 years after the events of 2006's A Shadow in Summer, Abraham's clever second novel follows the tribulations of Otah Machi, the sixth son of the Khai Machi. On the demise of the Khai, one son must dispose of all other contenders in order to become the new ruler. Exiled years ago for refusing to become a magic-wielding poet, Otah made his home far from Machi, changed his name to Itani, worked as a laborer and never interfered in affairs of state, hoping to escape the kill-or-be-killed tradition. Now the old Khai's death approaches, and Otah's oldest brother, Biitrah, has been smothered in his sleep. Whispered rumor—which may have been started by the Galts, an empire desperate to destroy the house of Machi—puts the blame for the murder on Otah. He returns to Machi, grimly acknowledging that he must kill his brothers to save himself. Mystery, love triangles and struggles with magical creatures called andat make for a slow-starting but well-rounded story.
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From Booklist
Setting and characters in the second Long Price Quartet volume are different from those in A Shadow in Summer (2006). In Machi, the khai, or lord of the city, is dying. Tradition enjoins his sons to fight one another to the last man, who becomes khai. These sons are reluctant. When they start dying anyway, suspicion falls on Otah, who fled the court years ago and now, in a distant city, is feeling torn. He doesn't want to go home, but his father has ordered one of Otah's few known friends to get him back. Someone in the empire of the Galts is conspiring with someone in Machi to overthrow the latter's ruling house. The world Abraham has created, in which poets who control andats (magical beings composed of thought) constitute an elite in a once-great empire, remains fascinating, not least because there's more of the andats and more intrapolitical bickering here as well as a collection of characters who keep one turning pages. Murray, Frieda
Review
"A Shadow in Summer is a thoroughly engrossing debut novel from a major new fantasist. A poignant human tale of power, heartbreak, and betrayal." --George R.R. Martin
"A Shadow in Summer is one of the most elegant and engaging fantasies I’ve read in years, based on an intriguing, original premise. I eagerly await the remaining volumes in Daniel Abraham's the Long Price Quartet." --Jacqueline Carey
“From the opening lines, A Shadow in Summer carries us into an exotic, fantastic, yet utterly convincing world. Bravo! I look forward to the next book in the series.” --Morgan Llywelyn
"Reader, be warned: If you open Daniel Abraham's A Shadow in Summer, he will lead you into a strange, seductive world of beatings and poets and betrayals, intrigues you do not fully understand and wars you cannot stop and places you are not sure you want to go. Intricate, elegant, and almost hypnotically told, this tale of gods held captive will hold you captive, too." --Connie Willis, Hugo Award-winning author of To Say Nothing of the Dog
"In a world of bloated fantasy clones, Abraham’s voice is fresh and startlingly new; not only is his worldbuilding original, but the characters who inhabit the universe he's created are both strange and fully human” --S. M. Sterling on A Shadow in Summer
"In addition to the creation of an architecturally-perfect fantasy world filled with a fascinating, highly distinctive set of characters, Daniel Abraham has introduced into fantasy one brilliant, stunning new idea, a magic system in which the Word is made Flesh." --Walter Jon Williams on A Shadow in Summer
Customer Reviews
summa cum laude
After having read Shadow in Summer, which was very good, I was not expecting the next installment in the series to be quite this good. I give it a summa cum laude rating - highest praise. It is hard to describe to those who haven't read it what makes this book so superlative, but it has to do with how the reader is kept on edge by the elements of intrigue and danger to the main sympathetic characters, while at the same time the author weaves in a deep sense of compassion and undestadning for ALL the characters, very much including the antagonists. In this installment the andats ('ideas made real' -- think ancient WMD), which are an important aspect of the series, play a relatively minor role. Expect that role to expand in the next installment with the start war between the Khaiem and the Galts (presumably). I can hardly wait.
Cannot wait for the third...
So often I read a book that I love the first and after that it goes downhill. This book was so good that I am even more nervous that the next will disappoint. To have the "good" and the "bad" characters both grow is so refreshing. And the depth and realness that is possible with the characters all using a common body language is ingenious. Probably five authors I would give five stars to, to some of their books. If you didn't get it by now, I'm just saying, I really liked this book.
Hugo Nominee for 2007
If you are member of Nippon (the 2007 Worldcon) or Denvention (the 2008 Worldcon) you are eligible to nominate novels on the Hugo Ballot. This novel is one of my choices to appear on the final ballot and I hope it does. It is the perfect blend of mystery and character study. It is even better than A Shadow in Summer, his first book. I know Daniel Abraham is a new writer, but twenty years from now wouldn't you love to say you "discovered" him now?
