Unconquerable Sun

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by Elliott, Kate


  “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

  Thank you for buying this

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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

 

 

 


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