Eridani's Crown — Alex Shvartsman

When Eridani's parents are murdered and their kingdom is seized by a traitorous duke, she plans to run. After she suffers yet another unendurable loss, the lure of revenge pulls her back.Eridani's brilliance as a strategist offers her a path to vengeance and the throne, but success may mean becoming everything she hates. To survive, she must sway religious zealots, outwit ambitious politicians, and confront bloodthirsty warlords, all with few allies and fewer resources. Yet the most menacing obstacle she must overcome is the prophecy uttered by a powerful sorceress:

Everyone you know and trust will come to betray you.

With a world as intricate as the titular magical artifact and a cast of characters as morally complex as figures from real history, Eridani's Crown is a nuanced examination of the drive to acquire power and its distorting influence on our ideals. This epic fantasy will have you turning the pages deep into the night and move you in the manner only the grandest of tragedies can.

-- Ken Liu, Hugo Award-winning author of The Grace of Kings

A gripping tale of empire and conquest and the crumbling of good intentions in the pursuit of power. Shvartsman takes all your expectations and turns them on their head.

-- David Walton, Campbell Award-winning author of Three Laws Lethal

Neither grimdark nor heroic, Eridani's Crown is a unique mix, with just as much heart as it has pitiless depiction of human failings and foibles.

-- Charles E. Gannon, Nebula and Dragon Award-nominated author of Marque of Caine