"Mad Max" meets "Dune" in this gripping, fast-paced grimdark novel which meditates on the pain and conflict that resides deep in the human spirit
Young woman Ilda, better known as The Splinter, is a Bootbreaker, a guide that shepherds travellers across The Border, helping them steer clear of the dangers that roam this desert. Her world is run by the kraes, warlords who had been living peacefully since the last civil war.
However, when she comes back from one of her last missions across The Border, she discovers one of the kraes has died without descendants and war has broken out again. Worst of all, she gets winds of her father, The Cross, the best Bootbreaker to ever have trodden this godforsaken dust, has been killed. Long time ago, Ilda left her home as a way of running from a past that torments her. However, the strong bond that; despite all the pain, despite all the lies; still unites her to The Cross makes her coming back determined to take revenge on his father’s murderers. As she finds her way back home, Ilda won’t just have to come to terms with the dangers posed by the war, the burning desert, the daimons and devastated villages, but all the stories her father told her which turn out to be lies. Ilda embarks on a journey between two worlds and two times, forcing her to come face to face with the little girl she once was and, perhaps, find echoes of her true self.
Ilda is a refreshing protagonist, unbound by the genre stereotypes and capable of encapsulating all the emotion and contradiction that being human entails to reveal her complex past and her heart of steel.
With a memorable, multifarious cast of characters, Asier Moreno’s elegant prose and mesmerizing use of the language reflects on the ambiguous border between the heroic and monstrous in times of war and scarcity.
“Ilda is a refreshing main character who breaks the mould of genre stereotypes. She is unforgettable human with all the emotions and contradictions that being human entails, with a complex past and a heart of steel. The author has done an admirable job in creating a world that is difficult to survive and even more difficult to forget.” - Tiffany Calligaris, author of Lesath trilogy
“A powerful grimdark fantasy that drags us into an exciting and heartbreaking adventure in a devastated world to talk about the strenght of family bonds. A
demystifying and tremendously powerful vision of the hero’s journey which shows the reader the terrible price we pay for fighting for what we consider valuable.” - Daniel Garrido, Jury of the 2023 Minotauro Award
“A solid narrative is accompanied by an intriguing fantasy plot.” - Víctor Conde, author of Horizon of Stars
“A dark and gritty fantasy novel that reflects on the blurred boundary that exists between heroes and monsters in times of war and scarcity.” - Consuelo Abellán, Jury of the 2023 Minotauro Award
A dark and bloody fantasy novel in the style of Joe Abercrombie, Steven Erikson or George R.R. Martin which throws the reader into a post-apocalyptic yet magical world, where rifles are fired alongside spells and demons whisper in the shadows of cities buried by dust.
Not only a story of revenge but also a story of forgiveness and redemption which encourages the reader to find light even in the darkest moments.
The novel is composed by different layers. Just in its intense and poetic ending, all the pieces of the puzzle finally fit together to reveal the most heart-breaking of the truths.
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