“Well,” I say, “I have no idea what’s going to happen next, but I would bet anything that it is going to be wild.”
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Writing and revising Unconquerable Sun was a long-haul voyage through some difficult life shoals, but here it is, finally.
I’d like to acknowledge Dr. Jeanne Reames, friend of many years, whose work on the court of Alexander the Great influenced me greatly; she also steered me to the scholars and works that proved most helpful. Petty Officer First Class Alexander M. Rasmussen-Silverstein patiently offered suggestions about military protocol as well as battle strategy and tactics. Shepherd Chandler read the earliest chapters and asked questions that encouraged me to write on. Deirdre Jones saw the first proposal and chapters and recommended I revise my approach, for which I am inexpressibly grateful. Liz Bourke, Aliette de Bodard, and Emmett Baber read pre-final versions and were unflagging cheerleaders when I needed it most. Ken Liu generously and tirelessly answered all my questions. Tade Thompson discovered Tadian and solved cauls as well as codified the Fight Clarity Test and helped me with names. E. K. Johnston dared me to write in verse (even if I could only manage one character speaking in iambic pentameter). Ryan Van Loan gamely offered tips on a last-minute panicked question. Judith Tarr gave me good advice, as always. Jim Davies suggested engineered hallucination. Erik Holmes, Jason Bryant, Krystle Yanagihara, and Tuğçe Bryant bravely dug into the text and offered detailed critiques (their prints are all over the story if you know where to look or in case you’re wondering why Alika plays a baritone—not a tenor—ukulele for Idol Faire and composes on a guitar). Other early-days encouragement came from A’ndrea Messer, Wendy Xu, Ann Aguirre, Malinda Lo, and Cindy Pon (thank you, ladies). Ed Yong doesn’t know me, but I’m grateful to his book I Contain Multitudes. If I forgot someone I apologize; I’m thankful for your help.
Shout-out to Zen Cho, Vida Cruz, Alessa Hinlo, Victor Ocampo, Nene Ormes, Cindy Pon, Rochita Ruiz, Mia Serrano, Aliette de Bodard, and Tade Thompson: you know what you did.
Special thanks to the amazing team at Tor Books: Devi Pillai and Miriam Weinberg for believing, Sanaa Ali-Virani (who also loves maps like I do), map makers Jennifer Hanover and Mary Wirth, and to Steven Bucsok, Sara and Chris Ensey, Christina MacDonald, Hayley Jozwiak, Rafal Gibek, Natassja Haught, Lauren Levite, Peter Lutjen, Caroline Perny, Heather Saunders, Jamie Stafford-Hill, Renata Sweeney, and Becky Yeager.
Finally, to my friends who have had my back, all the <3s.
To Mel and Naci and my fabulous nieces and nephews all: thank you for being there.
Rhi, Alex, and David: you’re the best.
The Sun Chronicles
Unconquerable Sun
Furious Heaven*
Lady Chaos*
Young Adult Novels by Kate Elliott
COURT OF FIVES
Court of Fives
Poisoned Blade
Buried Heart
*forthcoming
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
KATE ELLIOTT has been writing science fiction and fantasy for thirty years, after bursting onto the scene with Jaran. She is best known for her Crown of Stars epic fantasy series and the New York Times bestselling YA fantasy series Court of Fives. Elliott’s particular focus is on immersive world-building and centering women in epic stories of adventure amid transformative cultural change. She lives in Hawaii, where she paddles outrigger canoes and spoils her schnauzer.
Twitter: @KateElliottSFF
Visit her online at kateelliott.com, or sign up for email updates here.
kateelliott.substack.com
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CONTENTS
Title Page
Copyright Notice
Epigraph
Map
1. The Precipitating Action of This Account Begins Here
2. A Fresh and Sharper Thorn of Disquiet
3. Her Obsidian Eye
4. History
5. A Dispatch from the Enemy
6. A Flower in Full Bloom
7. Introducing the Wily Persephone and the Loyal Solomon with the Predictable Result of Their Foray into Battle
8. There’s More Going on Here than Even the Wily Persephone Can Know
9. Royal Wedding Updates!
10. In Which the Wily Persephone’s Hopes and Dreams Are Shot Through the Lungs and Turned to Greasy Ash
11. The Gatoi Prisoner
12. Their Laughter and Careless Smiles
13. In Which the Wily Persephone Is Reminded That White Is the Color of Death
14. Rule of Sun, Rule One
15. A Feast for Weary Souls
16. The Wily Persephone Realizes This Is Going to End Badly
17. There Is Nothing the Wily Persephone Can Do That Sun’s Companions Can’t Do Better
18. Sun Is Forced to Admit She Hadn’t Seen This Coming
19. In Which the Wily Persephone Experiences Turbulence
20. The Masks That People Wear
21. In Which the Wily Persephone Wonders If Treachery Has Sunk Her Beneath Notice
22. Leave No Companion Behind
23. The Pyres of Autumn West
24. A Dispatch from the Enemy
25. In Which the Wily Persephone Twists and Turns
26. In Which the Wily Persephone Is Hyped on Adrenaline
27. In Which the Wily Persephone Is Stabbed by a Splinter of Rebellion
28. There’s Only One Body Outside
29. In Which the Wily Persephone Reflects That No One Who Grew up in Chaonia Could Fail to Recognize Him
30. What Is Done Cannot Be Undone
31. Everything Gets Torn Away
32. All the Wily Persephone Lacks Is a Club in Her Hands
33. We Are But Insignificant Objects Surrounded by the Vastness of Space, All Except One
34. The Wily Persephone’s Face Is Going to Burn Off— In Fact, It Would Be Better If It Did
35. In Which the Wily Persephone Is Ready to Move Fast If Need Be
36. A Dispatch from the Enemy
37. Hard Left Rudder
38. A Brief Dispatch from the Beleaguered Enemy
39. What the Wily Persephone Experiences Deep in the Heart of a Black Nothingness That Is Transition
40. Hard Landing
41. In Which the Wily Persephone Unwittingly Races up the Charts
42. The Heat of the Wily Persephone’s Lust
43. A Brief Handoff from One Body to Her Other Half
44. Its Oleaginous Contents
45. In Which the Wily Persephone Has to Make a Decision in Forty-Two Seconds
46. You Might Hear the Whispers of All That Had Been Lost
47. The Space They Stand in Is So Vast
48. A Dispatch from the Enemy
49. The Cost of Victory
50. In Which the Wily Persephone Takes the Last Shot
Acknowledgments
Young Adult Novels by Kate Elliott
About the Author
Copyright
This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
UNCONQUERABLE SUN
Copyright © 2020 by Katrina Elliott
All rights reserved.
Edited by Miriam Weinberg
Map here by Jennifer Hanover
Endpaper maps by Mary A. Wirth
Cover art: woman’s face by Roy James Shakespeare / Photodisc / Getty Images; stars by NASA
Cover design by Jamie Stafford-Hill
A Tor Book
Published by Tom Doherty Associates
120 Broadway
New York, NY 10271
www.tor-forge.com
Tor® is a registered trademark of Macmillan Publishing Group, LLC.
The Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication
Data is available upon request.
ISBN 978-1-250-19724-5 (hardcover)
ISBN 978-1-250-19725-2 (ebook)
eISBN 9781250197252
Our ebooks may be purchased in bulk for promotional, educational, or business use. Please contact the Macmillan Corporate and Premium Sales Department at 1-800-221-7945, extension 5442, or by email at [email protected].
First Edition: 2020
Unconquerable Sun Page 53
