Harkana: a desert kingdom, founded by Ulfer, ruled by the Hark-Wadi family, one of the four lower kingdoms of the Soleri Empire.
Hark-Wadi, Arko: the Bartered King, the former king of Harkana, the only king of the Harkans to avoid serving time in the priory, deceased.
Hark-Wadi, Kepi: youngest daughter of Arko. Kepi is the Kitelord and queen of the Ferens.
Hark-Wadi, Koren: father of Arko, former king of Harkana and leader of the second revolt, the Children’s War, deceased.
Hark-Wadi, Merit: older daughter of Arko, queen regent of Harkana.
Hark-Wadi, Rennon: bastard son of Arko, a former ransom who was set free from the priory and named the heir of Harkana by his father, the deceased king of the Harkans, Arko Hark-Wadi.
Harwen: capital city of Harkana, seat of Harkan power, home to the Hornring and the Horned Throne of Harkana.
High Desert: west of Sola, an arid region occupied by nomadic peoples, often referred to as outlanders or sand-dwellers.
Horned Throne, the: the Harkan seat of power, located in the King’s Hall of the Hornring.
Hornring: Harwen’s keep, home of the Hark-Wadi family and the Horned Throne of Harkana.
Horu: brother of Mithra-Sol, the Soleri god of death and war.
House of Ministers: the administrative center of the empire, the chief clearinghouse for all messages coming in and out of the empire’s capital.
House of Viziers: refers to the structure that stands along the Rellian Way as well as the actual body of viziers. In the time before the empire, the viziers ruled Solus as a collective body. After the formation of the empire, this legislative body’s powers became largely symbolic.
Hykso: a nomadic High Desert clan common to the southern regions of the High Desert, as well as the borderlands between Harkana and Sola.
Jundi: the foot soldiers of the Protector’s Army.
Kiltet: a service cult dedicated to the maintenance and protection of the grounds of the Empyreal Domain.
kingsguard: also the black shields, the sworn soldiers of the king of the Harkans.
kite: a large, black-feathered bird, a sacred animal, worshipped in parts of Feren, the symbol of the Feren king or queen’s divine rite of rule.
Kitelord: a Feren king or queen who has endured the Waking Rite, a divine ruler.
Llyr: the Kitefaethir, mud god, the ancient god of Feren, god of the blackthorn trees.
Lower Kingdoms, the: the four kingdoms that serve beneath the Soleri Empire: Harkana, Rachis, Feren, and the Wyrre.
Middle Kingdom of the Soleri: the Amber Age, the Age of Marvels, the time when the Soleri built the miracles of Solus: the Dromus, the Golden Hall, the Cenotaph, and the Great Circus of Re.
Mithra’s Door: a passage reserved for the Mother Priestess, used in the Middle and New Kingdoms, blocked after the War of the Four but opened again by Sarra Amunet, this corridor connects the Ata’Sol to the Empyreal Domain.
Mithra’s Flame: a literal trial by fire, if the accused live they are innocent, if they die they are found guilty by the sun god.
Mithra-Sol: the sun god and father of the gods, father of Re and Pyras.
Mosi, Sevin: captain of Merit’s guard, a man from the Wadi clan, one of Merit’s sworn soldiers.
Mundus of Ceres, the: a large dome located in the Waset, the seal that covers the Well of Horu. As part of the annual schedule of feasts in the city of Solus, the Mundus is opened each year for a two-day festival. The lower portion of the structure predates the founding of the Old Kingdom.
New Kingdom of the Soleri, the: the present age, also known as the Imperial Age, includes the time of the Soleri’s sequester behind the Shroud Wall.
Odine, Nollin: a boy from the Wyrre, a scribe of the hierophantic order of the Desouk cult, who journeyed with Sarra Amunet and discovered the remains of the Soleri in a solar in the Shambles of Harkana.
Old Kingdom of the Soleri: the first age of the Soleri, ends with the unification of Sola and the lower kingdoms.
Ott: Sarra Amunet’s personal scribe and son, the trueborn son of Arko and Sarra, rightful heir to the Harkan throne.
Plague Road, the: the road that connects Solus to Harwen.
Plaza of Miracles, the: renamed as such by Ined Anu during the construction of the adjacent statuary garden, this square is the largest public space in Sola. It faces the Shroud Wall on one side and the Statuary Garden of Den on the other.
Priory of Tolemy, the: also the House of Tolemy, a prison-like school where the noble-born sons of the lower kingdoms are held until their fathers are dead.
Protector’s Tower: also the Citadel of Solus, the seat of power of the commander of the armies, the Father Protector.
Pyraethi, the: a family of gods, founded by Pyras and descended from Mithra-Sol, twelve in all—a father, a mother, and ten children—and rulers of the first empire in the time before the Soleri.
Pyras: the first of the Pyraethi and founder of their empire, the first child of Mithra-Sol.
Rachis: a mountain kingdom, north of Harkana, east of Feren, home to the mountain lords, one of the four lower kingdoms of the Soleri Empire.
Re: the first emperor of the Soleri and the founder of their empire, the second child of Mithra-Sol.
Rellian Way, the: the largest and most prominent street in the Waset, home to the house of Ministers, the Circus of Re, the House of Viziers, and the Plaza of Miracles.
Repository at Desouk: the largest library of scrolls in the Soleri Empire.
Rifka: the High City, seat of power of the Feren king or queen, home to the Blackthorn Chathair.
Saad, Amen: the former Sword of Mithra, the Father Protector and commander of Sola’s armies, deceased.
Saad, Mered: uncle of Amen, brother of Raden, a wealthy, highborn citizen of Solus, figurehead of the prominent military family.
Saad, Raden: Father of Amen, deceased.
scribe: a priest of any faith who dedicates his life to scrollwork.
second death, the: a body must be whole to pass into the afterlife; if a corpse is dismembered it dies a second death and is denied entrance in to the world of the deceased.
Shadow Gate, the: an archway in the Shroud Wall, the ceremonial entry to the Empyreal Domain of the Soleri.
Shambles, the: in Harkana, south of the Feren Rift valley, a desolate stretch of land, home to the sacred rite of the king of Harkans, the Elden Hunt, and the hidden palace of the Soleri.
Shroud Wall, the: at the center of the empire’s capital, the barrier that separates the Empyreal Domain of the Soleri from the city of Solus.
Sirra, Tye: the only girl in the priory, the daughter of a prominent lord of the Wyrre, friend of Rennon Hark-Wadi, freed from the priory by Ren.
Sola: the kingdom ruled by the Soleri.
Soleri, the: a family of gods, founded by Re and descended from Mithra-Sol, twelve in all—a father, a mother, and ten children—and rulers of the Soleri Empire.
Solus: capital city of the kingdom of Sola and the Soleri Empire.
Statuary Garden of Den, the: constructed after the reign of Den by Ined Anu, the sculpture garden sits adjacent to the Plaza of Miracles and contains twelve golden statues set among winding garden paths.
Stone Forest, the: also the Cragwood, the site of the Waking Rite, the Feren ruler’s sacred rite of passage.
Temple of Mithra at Desouk: the first temple of the Mithra cult, an ancient open-air structure in the city of priests.
Temple of Mithra at Solus: in Sola, the temple of the sun god, and home to the Ata’Sol.
Ulfer: the first king of Harkana, the first to take the eld horns as his symbol.
Wadi, Nirus: deceased, former king of the Harkans, and later the Harkan emperor, the man who held the Amber Throne during the War of the Four, two hundred years prior to the present day.
Wadi, Shenn: husband of Merit Hark-Wadi, a tribal lord of the Wadi clan.
Waking Rite, the: also the Night Vigil, the Feren ruler’s sacred rite of passage. Th
e time when the kite chooses to support the rule of a would-be king or queen, elevating them to the status of Kitelord, divine ruler of Feren.
War of the Four, the: during the rule of Sekhem Den, the revolt of the four lower kingdoms against Sola. Led by Nirus Wadi, the lower kingdoms joined their armies and rebelled against the armies of the Soleri. The Harkan emperor held the Soleri throne in Solus for twenty years before the Protector, Ined Anu, routed the Harkans, taking back the capital city of Solus and defeating Nirus. After the war, the Soleri instituted a system of tributes to admonish the four lower kingdoms. The noble-born daughters of each kingdom were forced into politically inconvenient marriages, while the noble-born sons were kept in Tolemy’s House, the priory, until their fathers died, thus weakening the royal lines of the lower kingdoms.
Waset, the: in Solus, the old city, the most ancient precinct of the holy city of the Soleri, home to the Golden Hall, the Cenotaph, the Shroud Wall, the Hall of Ministers, the House of Viziers, the Statuary Garden of Den, the ruins of the Antechamber and the priory, the necropolis, the Plaza of Miracles, and the Empyreal Domain.
Wat, Khalden: chief adviser and first servant of the Ray of the Sun.
Well of Horu: an ancient structure that predates the Old Kingdom of the Soleri, a deep well with a spiral ramp at its midpoint. The ramp is accessed by way of tunnels in the Hollows. The Mundus of Ceres covers the well.
White-Wall district, the: home to the highborn families of Solus, this district sits just outside the Waset and is known for its famously tall and well-polished white walls.
Wyrre, the: also the Southern Islands, a vast archipelago composed of more than a thousand islands, one of the four lower kingdoms of the Soleri Empire.
Zagre: city of birds, capital of Rachis, seat of Rachin power.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
My wife, Melissa, and daughter, Mattea, deserve more thanks than I could ever hope to offer them. Also, Richard Abate, my agent, cannot be thanked enough. Thanks are also due to Chris, Loni, and Samantha at Zoic. And at Tor, credit is owed to Bob Gleason, Elayne Becker, and Robert Davis.
ALSO BY MICHAEL JOHNSTON
Soleri
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
MICHAEL JOHNSTON has always been an avid reader of science fiction and fantasy. He studied architecture and ancient history at Lehigh University and earned a master’s degree in architecture from Columbia University. Johnston worked as an architect in New York City before switching to writing full time. He lives in Los Angeles with his wife and daughter. You can sign up for email updates here.
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CONTENTS
Title Page
Copyright Notice
Dedication
Map
Epigraph
Lifeless Things
The Shattered Visage
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
The Bartered Queen
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
The Mundus Opens
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
That Colossal Wreck, Boundless and Bare
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
The Lone and Level Sands
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
Chapter 45
Chapter 46
Chapter 47
Chapter 48
Chapter 49
Chapter 50
Chapter 51
Chapter 52
Chapter 53
Chapter 54
Chapter 55
Chapter 56
Chapter 57
Chapter 58
Chapter 59
Chapter 60
Chapter 61
Chapter 62
Chapter 63
Chapter 64
Chapter 65
Chapter 66
Chapter 67
Chapter 68
Chapter 69
Chapter 70
Chapter 71
Chapter 72
Chapter 73
Chapter 74
Chapter 75
Chapter 76
Chapter 77
Chapter 78
The Sun’s Fate
Glossary
Acknowledgments
Also by Michael Johnston
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.
SILENCE OF THE SOLERI
Copyright © 2021 by Michael Johnston
All rights reserved.
Map by Michael Johnston
Cover art by Stephen Youll
A Tor Book
Published by Tom Doherty Associates
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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 978-0-7653-8775-2 (hardcover)
ISBN 978-0-7653-8776-9 (ebook)
eISBN 9780765387769
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First Edition: 2021
Silence of the Soleri Page 45
