Jennifer Jackson – Literary Agent

Kingdoms of Dust by Amanda Downum

Necromancer Isyllt Iskaldur, exiled and forsworn following the events of 2011’s The Bone Palace, takes refuge with her mercenary comrade Adam at the court of the Assari empress. Stalked by agents of rival factions of Quietus, a fast-shrinking order of mages dedicated to containing ancient spirits of entropy, Isyllt and Asheris al Seth, a jinn bound in human flesh, venture into the burning desert in search of the ancient city of Qais and the source of the destructive ghost winds that threaten Assar’s very existence. Downum leavens the fast-paced fantasy adventure with the anger and despair of those bound, sometimes brutally, to preserve humanity’s safety and the moral dilemma the situation presents for Isyllt. This magnificent and multifaceted work, set against a richly detailed quasi-Arabian background, confirms Downum’s Necromancer Chronicles as a top-notch fantasy series. –Publishers Weekly, Starred Review

The Bone Palace (The Necromancer Chronicles) by Amanda Downum

In a spectacular freestanding sequel to 2009’s The Drowning City, Downum jumps a few years forward to find forensic necromancer Isyllt Iskaldur investigating the death of Forsythia, a young prostitute with stolen royal jewelry sewn into her clothes, in the haunted city of Erisin. As Isyllt follows the trail of death and theft to the sewers and their vampiric inhabitants, Savedra Severos, the crown prince’s beautiful transgender mistress, struggles to defeat assassins and unravel plots involving her own uncle and a demonic sorceress mysteriously allied with Isyllt’s mentor and former lover, the spymaster Kiril. Finely drawn characters love and betray with enthralling passion and pain, and the taverns and gardens of plague-ridden Erisin and the titular ruined palace at its center make a dark and richly detailed background for this complex and bloody tale of sorcery, madness, and intrigue. –Publishers Weekly, Starred Review

Also available: The Drowning City (The Necromancer Chronicles)

The Drowning City (The Necromancer Chronicles) by Amanda Downum. Orbit, $7.99 (384p) ISBN 978-0-316-06904-5

Downum effectively combines action, magic, police procedure and political intrigue in this complex and striking debut. Isyllt Iskaldur, a Selafaïan forensic necromancer, travels to the monsoon-soaked canal city of Symir, capital of Sivahra. Her plot to undermine the occupying Assari Empire before it can invade Selafai is complicated by her attraction to handsome Imperial fire-mage Asheris. Isyllt’s bodyguard Xinai, a Sivahran native, despises the empire for its brutal destruction of her clan; young apprentice mage Zhirin Laii struggles between love for a guerrilla leader and loyalty to her mother, a respected politician. Refreshingly, Downum treats necromancy as an unclean but necessary defense against evil and nicely handles the complex nuances of a quasi-Westerner fomenting revolution in a quasi-Asian country occupied by quasi-Arabs. A strong (if not happy) conclusion still leaves plenty of room for sequels. — Publishers Weekly

As reported on Publishers Marketplace:
Amanda Downum’s THE DROWNED CITY, set against the backdrop of a lush subtropical port, a necromancer and spy fights a brewing revolution to prove herself to the Crown; betrayed by her allies, hunted by the people she meant to aid, and determined to save a man oath-bound to kill her, she must choose between her mission and the lives of thousands of people, to DongWon Song at Orbit, in a three-book deal.