Crystal Cities

The Most Powerful Magician in the World… Can't Do Magic. Devon Alamort has failed his mathematics challenge for the School of Science at the Lyceum twice already. He now has one last chance to pass so that he can escape his life of crime as a gang member in the lower levels of the Crystal City of Iandolo, a life his mentor saved him from after a job for his gang leader went sour and landed him in prison. Except he's fresh out of new ideas. In desperation, he turns to his newest-and possibly only-friend… Lane Illea is a mage student who can't seem to master the most basic sigil forms needed to create magic, no matter how hard she tries. Daughter of one of the Councilors that rule Iandolo, she's not used to failure. But when Devon approaches her with a strange new way to view the magical system she's struggling with, she discovers that it's not her ability that's been blocking her…but something-someone-else entirely. As a War student at the Lyceum, Dalton Trent has wanted nothing more than to graduate and become part of the Iandolan army, where he will work to protect the mages who keep Iandolo in power. He has only a few more months left before his dreams will come true. But then he meets Devon…and suddenly the world isn't as simple, concrete, and stable anymore. Because the Crystal Cities aren't all color and glamour and shimmer. The crystal has cracked, the glow dimmed. And when it finally shatters, all three will be caught up in the shards of destruction that follow: a deadly insurrection that could bring the entire delicate balance of the Crystal Cities to a crashing end! "Magic. The politics of war. A small band of Heroes. This year's best Epic Fantasy. A magic school, a magic war, and betrayal. This book is a nail-biting page turner! A splendid book you simply MUST read." --Faith Hunter, New York Times Bestselling Author of the "Jane Yellowrock" series "Crystal Lattice is the electrifying opening to a new epic fantasy series set in a world of forgotten science, dying light, and the math-based magic that could save them all." --Jean Marie Ward "I'm a sucker for a smart, cynical, good-hearted underdog. Throw in a fascinating magical world and six layers of conspiracies, uprisings, and good old fashioned mage battles, and I was hooked. When does book two come out?" --Jim C. Hines "In a world that's an inventive blend of SF and fantasy, characters we will readily relate to face intriguing, potentially deadly challenges. Fast-paced, fluent and fascinating." --Juliet E. McKenna

Awesome Power Comes With… Deadly Repercussions Devon Alamort, Lane Illea, and Dalton Trent have been forced to flee the massive city of Iandolo for the barren and deadly Flatlands. After the battle on the Lyceum grounds that ended the Brovettan coup, everyone with any power within the city wants to use them and the raw magic they revealed with the collapse of the Warding. The Mage Proctors want to know of the structure behind the magic Devon discovered while studying as a mathematics student at the college. The Iandolan Council members want to contain Lane and Dalton, because their power over the Crystal Cities relies on their control of the mages themselves. Even Carbolen, the leader of the consolidated gangs within the Lower City, wants to wield the magic they exposed to break the Council and free the city. But Devon and Lane want nothing to do with any of it. They had to escape, or be subjugated…or worse. Unfortunately, the Council has declared war on Brovetto. Not just the insurgent city, but anyone who bears any ties to it as well. Brovettans within Iandolo are being targeted for vicious, brutal, and sometimes fatal attacks. Tensions between the two cities and their citizens escalate and, in response, the Council begins to round up all Brovettans in Iandolo and places them into "protective" quarantine zones throughout the city. The persecution and violence is intolerable…and is only growing. Devon and Lane cannot simply stand by and do nothing. But if they intervene, they are exposing themselves and risking the secrets about the magic that they carry. And those secrets could destroy the Crystal Cities themselves.

Rebellion Brings With It… Daunting Responsibility Devon Alamort, Lane Illea, and Dalton Trent have escaped the city of Iandolo, hoping to find refuge in Brovetto…with the Iandolan army on their heels. When they arrive, they find the city controlled by Prefect Raias Burdock, who attempts to arrest the entire group of refugees at the gate. But after being captured and imprisoned in Iandolo-with Lane sent to be executed and Devon tortured for the knowledge he possesses about how the magic within the Crystal Cities works-the two are willing to die rather than be retaken. Realizing that Lane could destroy him, even with his own Iandolan mages on hand, Burdock agrees to a stalemate, allowing Lane and the refugees into the city unmolested…but taking her parents, Dalton, and others as hostage. Devon knows what the Iandolans are capable of when it comes to the treatment of their prisoners, and Lane has no intention of leaving her mother in Burdock's hands for long. Both of them know it's only a matter of time before Councilor Havvelan, Proctor Favian, and Prefect Arctus lead the Iandolan army down the wayfare to attack Brovetto. After the riots incited in Iandolo, those from Iridesque plan to wipe the rebellious city and all of its people out, no matter the cost. Lane, Devon, and the citizens of Luminesque have only a short time to prepare. But Brovetto is a shell, a mining city depleted of its resources by the voracious Council. Only three of its levels have running water, one entire section is a burned-out husk, and almost none of its lucent works. Lane and Devon face an impossible task: Defend a city already half deserted with a handful of untrained mages and ordinary citizens as an army.