The Serpent Bride

by Sara Douglass

  Star Gate: a magical portal that once existed in Tencendor, the Star Gate filtered the magic of the Star Dance, which the Icarii Enchanters used to create their enchantments. Demons destroyed the Star Gate during the final wars of Tencendor.

  StarWeb: an Icarii, and lover to Maximilian Persimius.

  SunSoar, Axis: formerly a hero from Tencendor and a member of the Icarii race, Axis once reigned over Tencendor as its StarMan before relinquishing power to his son, Caelum. Axis died five years ago during the destruction of Tencendor.

  SunSoar, StarDrifter: Axis’ father, and a powerful Icarii prince and Enchanter.

  Tencendor: a continent that once lay in the western region of the Widowmaker Sea. It was lost five years before this tale begins in a catastrophic war with demons.

  Third, the: the third caste within Corolean society, mostly comprised of workers.

  Thirty-eight Thousand Second Families: see the Second. Threshold: see DarkGlass Mountain.

  Turmebt: father of Isaiah, Tyrant of Isembaard.

  Twisted Tower, the: a palace of memories.

  Veins, the: the gloam mines of Escator where Maximilian Persimius was imprisoned for seventeen years.

  Venetia: a marsh witch-woman who patrols the borderlands between this world and the Land of Dreams. Ravenna is her daughter.

  Viland: a nation in the extreme north. The Vilanders often have trouble with Skraelings.

  Vorstus: abbot of the Order of Persimius, Vorstus aided Garth Baxtor and Ravenna in freeing Maximilian Persimius from the Veins eight years before this tale begins.

  Weeper, the: a strange but immensely powerful Corolean bronze deity.

  Zeboath: an Isembaardian physician.

  Zeboul: the most senior among the Eight.

  About the Author

  SARA DOUGLASS has worked as a nurse and has a Ph.D. in early modern European history. Her first fantasy adventure, The Axis Trilogy, had an overwhelming response from readers (Starman won the 1996 Aurealis Award for Best Fantasy Novel). This was followed by the bestselling Wayfarer Redemption trilogy, among other novels. Sara lives in an 1880s-era house, Nonsuch, in Cornelian Bay, Tasmania.

  www.saradouglass.com

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  ALSO BY

  SARA DOUGLASS

  FICTION

  WAYFARER REDEMPTION

  Wayfarer Redemption

  Enchanter

  Starman

  Sinner

  Pilgrim

  Crusader

  STAND-ALONES

  Threshold (September 2003)

  Beyond the Hanging Wall (July 2003)

  TROY GAME SERIES

  Darkwitch Rising

  God’s Concubine

  Hades’ Daughter

  The Druid’s Sword

  THE CRUCIBLE SERIES

  The Nameless Day

  The Wounded Hawk

  The Crippled Angel

  Credits

  Jacket design by Ervin Serrano

  Jacket illustration by Steve Stone/

  Bernstein & Andriulli, Inc.

  Copyright

  This book is a work of fiction. The characters, incidents, and dialogue are drawn from the author’s imagination and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  THE SERPENT BRIDE. Copyright © 2007 by Sara Douglass Enterprises. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.

  ePub Edition © April 2007 ISBN: 9780061796876

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