The City Imperishable, by Jay Lake
Originally published in Leviathan 4, “The Soul Bottles” is the novelette that provided the first glimpse of Jay Lake’s unforgettable decadent urban fantasy setting, The City Imperishable. His father branded a heretic and murdered before his eyes, his sister sold into slavery, his mother driven from the city, fourteen-year-old Jason has lost everything. Everything, that is, but his father’s mysterious collection of Soul Bottles…
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Trial of Flowers
Trial of Flowers, by Campbell Award-winning author Jay Lake, explores the City Imperishable. Gods long since laid to rest now spread terror in the night, while invading armies race the oncoming snows of winter to besiege the walls. The City Imperishable’s secret master and heir to the long-vacant throne has vanished from a locked room, as politics have turned deadly in a bid to revive the city’s long-vanished empire. The city’s dwarfs, stunted from spending their childhoods in confining boxes, are restive. Bijaz the Dwarf, leader of the Sewn faction among the dwarfs, fights their persecution. Jason the Factor, friend and apprentice to the missing master, works to maintain stability in the absence of a guiding hand Imago of Lockwood struggles to revive the office of Lord Mayor in a bid to turn the City Imperishable away from the path of destruction. These three must contend with one another as they race to resolve the threats to the city. A decadent urban fantasy in the tradition of Perdido Street Station, City of Saints and Madmen, and The Etched City, Trial of Flowers showcases one of speculative fiction’s hottest talents.
“This is a really intriguing book, a fantastic city, a wacked out and interesting culture. It’s beautifully written, and the characters are defined and interesting.” — Elizabeth Bear, author of Hammered and Blood and Iron
“Welcome to the teradome: an eternal, but decidedly unholy, city with a lavishly rendered cast of freaks, a decadent ‘City Imperishable’ haunted by ‘slobbering monsters from the noumenal world’ and threatened with barbarians at the gate.” — Richard Calder, author of Dead Boys/Girls/Things and The Twist
“The pacing is terrific, the imagery sharp, clear, and very, very weird.” — SF Site
“Jay Lake is hot… one of the bright new voices in the field.” — Paul Di Filippo, SciFi.com
“Lake is an up-and-coming sf writer to watch.” — Library Journal
“…a top-flight talent.” — Booklist
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Madness of Flowers
The battle has been fought and won, and all have been transformed by the struggle. Imago of Lockwood has become Lord Mayor of the City Imperishable, though at a price beyond his wildest imagination. Bijaz the Dwarf has been imbued with a godlike power and a responsibility he scarcely understands. And Jason the Factor, resurrected from death at the hands of his sister, the Tokhari sandwalker Kalliope, has become the sula ma-jieni na-dia, the fabled Dead Man of Winter.
When a beautiful mountebank named Ashkoliiz arrives in the City Imperishable, accompanied by a group of mercenary Northmen and an exotic and terrible ice bear, the mood of the City turns strange. Amid much pomp and showmanship, Ashkoliiz offers to lead an expedition to uncover the lost tomb of the Imperator Terminus, stirring up the mob with promises of treasure and imperial power… but what will her quest unleash?
Far south in Port Defiance, the rabble-rousing dwarf Onsiphorous endeavors to lure the city’s expatriate dwarfs, slashed and sewn alike, back home, even as corsair raids and a river blockade threaten to not only impede his progress, but cut off trade, communication, and transportation to the City entirely.
Meanwhile, the deadly political struggles in the City Imperishable take a turn for the worse, and Imago must use every ounce of his cleverness and guile in order to maintain power against the vengeful machinations of the corrupt assemblage of Burgesses, not to mention preserve his own life. Political intrigue, adventure, and all-out war await the principles and inhabitants of the City Imperishable. Though it all, the City may endure, but none will remain untouched by the Madness of Flowers…
In the tradition of Perdido Street Station, City of Saints and Madmen, and The Etched City, Campbell Award-winning author Jay Lake returns to the decadent urban fantasy first glimpsed in Trial of Flowers. The trial may be over, but the madness is just beginning…
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About Jay Lake:
(Photo © 2007 Adrienne Loska)
Jay Lake lives in Portland, Oregon, where he works on numerous writing and editing projects. His 2007 book Mainspring received a starred review in Booklist. His 2008 novels are Escapement from Tor Books and Madness of Flowers from Night Shade Books, while his short fiction appears regularly in literary and genre markets worldwide. Jay is a winner of the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer, and a multiple nominee for the Hugo and World Fantasy Awards.
