(Neuerscheinung) "The City" von Stella Gemmel

Wie hier nachzulesen, wird am 25. April 2013 wird in englischer Sprache ein Roman von Stella Gemmel erscheinen. Die Ehefrau (und Witwe) des weltweit bekannten Fantasyautors David Gemmel veröffentlicht mit "The City" ihren ersten Debütroman.

Ganz unerfahren ist sie nicht, hat sie doch zusammen mit ihrem Mann an den Troja-Romanen gearbeitet:

Der silberne Bogen (Lord of the Silver Bow)

Der Donnerschild (Shield of Thunder)

Königssturz (Fall of Kings, 2007)

Simon Taylor, der die UK-Rechte an Gemmels Werk gekauft hat, sagte nach dem Lesen: "Stella has written a breathtaking epic fantasy that is not only going to get David’s fans reaching for their superlatives but also win her a legion of new readers in her own right."

Man darf also sehr gespannt sein.

Amazon:

Deep within the rotting bowels of The City, in its rank catacombs, crumbling sewers and ancient tunnels, society's dregs and dispossessed - and those who are fleeing punishment or who simply want to disappear - struggle to survive. Above ground, the streets and markets teem as people go about their daily lives, and the palaces of the privileged gleam in the sunlight. All seems well. But in truth, the City teeters on the brink of disaster. It is place of cruelty and fear, where the rule of its seemingly immortal and quite possibly insane ruler has brought his dominion to its knees through waging almost constant war over hundreds of years.
Amongst the outcasts living beneath are a brother and sister with no memory of their past and an old man who wishes to keep his secret. Disaster will separate them but years later, the memory of a tattooed corpse and something akin to fate will reunite them as players in a monumental conspiracy to liberate their world...

Goodreads:

The City is ancient, layers upon layers. Once a thriving metropolis, it has sprawled beyond its bounds, inciting endless wars with neighboring tribes and creating a barren wasteland of what was once green and productive.

In the center of the City lives the emperor. Few have ever seen him, but those who have recall a man in his prime, though he should be very old. Some grimly speculate that he is no longer human, if he ever was. A small number have come to the desperate conclusion that the only way to stop the war is to end the emperor’s unnaturally long life.

From the mazelike sewers below the City, where the poor struggle to stay alive in the dark, to the blood-soaked fields of battle, where few heroes manage to endure the never-ending siege, the rebels pin their hopes on one man—Shuskara. The emperor’s former general, he was betrayed long ago and is believed to be dead. But, under different aliases, he has survived, forsaking his City and hiding from his immortal foe. Now the time has come for him to engage in one final battle to free the City from the creature who dwells at its heart, pulling the strings that keep the land drenched in gore.