Sparrow Falling (34 page)
ONE GIRL AGAINST AN EMPIRE
Eveline Duchen is a thief and con-artist, surviving day by day on the streets of London, where the glittering spires of progress rise on the straining backs of the poor and disenfranchised. Where the Folk, the otherworldly children of fairy tales and legends, have all but withdrawn from the smoke of the furnaces and the clamour of iron.
Caught in an act of deception by the implacable Mr Holmforth, Evvie is offered a stark choice: transportation to the colonies, or an education – and utter commitment to Her Majesty’s Service – at Miss Cairngrim’s harsh school for female spies.
But on the decadent streets of Shanghai, where the corruption of the Empire is laid bare, Holmforth is about to make a devil’s bargain, and Eveline’s choices could change the future of two worlds...
‘Tremendous, pacy fun - perky heroines, mysterious men, vivid settings, dastardly plots and a steam powered dragon. What more could a girl want?’
Francis Knight, author of
Fade to Black
A heroine who really gets up close and personal!
Babylon Steel, ex-sword-for-hire, ex... other things, runs The Red Lantern, the best brothel in the city. She’s got elves using sex magic upstairs, S&M in the basement and a large green troll cooking breakfast in the kitchen, and she’d love you to visit, except...
She’s not having a good week. The Vessels of Purity are protesting against brothels, girls are disappearing, and if she can’t pay her taxes, Babylon’s going to lose the Lantern. She’d given up the mercenary life, but when the mysterious Darask Fain pays her to fi nd a missing heiress, she has to take the job. And then her past starts to catch up with her in other, more dangerous ways.
Witty and fresh, Sebold delivers the most exciting fantasy debut in years.
‘Ingenious, gripping, and full of pleasures on every level. Exceptional.’
— Mike Carey,
New York Times
Bestselling author of
The Unwritten
‘A pacy fantasy romp... an adventure painted in primary colours.’
The Guardian
on
Babylon Steel
Babylon Steel, owner of the Red Lantern brothel – and former avatar of the goddess of sex and war – has been offered a job.
Two
jobs, really: bodyguard to Enthemmerlee, a girl transformed into a figure of legend... and spy for the barely-acknowledged government of Scalentine. The very young Enthemmerlee embodies the hopes and fears of many on her home world of Incandress, and is a prime target for assassination.
Babylon must somehow turn Enthemmerlee’s useless household guard into a disciplined fighting force, dodge Incandress’s bizarre and oppressive Moral Statutes, and unruffle the feathers of a very annoyed Scalentine diplomat. All of which would be hard enough, were she not already distracted by threats to both her livelihood and those dearest to her...
‘Reading
Babylon Steel
is like having a refreshing chat with that hot, tall, slightly intimidating girl that always looks like she has a lot of fun in her life.’
Pornokitsch
on
Babylon Steel
‘Sebold has a flair for storytelling...
Babylon Steel
has a believable seaminess, while its tough lead has plenty of good reasons to be the way she is.’
SFX
on
Babylon Steel