Arthur C. Clarke winner andSunday Timesbestseller returns to a world steeped in magic—and the Tyrant Philosophers' campaign to bring reason, logic and “perfection” to it.Eres Ffenegh—“the City on the Back of a Crab”—is the next state slated for conquest by the Palleseen, but its citizens won’t give up sovereignty easily, and the siege has now dragged into the harsh Eresi winter. The defenders—both locals and Pal renegades, hold an easy alliance against the enemy at the gates, while the Pal army is constantly looking over its shoulder for the next self-destructive dictate of their government back home.Within the city, Devil Jack is the apprentice to the notorious conjurer and bawd known as the Widow, a good man driven to bargaining with hell to get back what he’s lost. Meanwhile Kiffel ea Leachan is the city’s champion, a child of privilege who’s just lost everything to the invaders. We follow the ups and downs of both as they try to survive the siege and make their own destinies in a w
