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Our Lady of the Islands
Our Lady of the Islands
Our Lady of the Islands
Ebook694 pages13 hours

Our Lady of the Islands

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Set in the lush and dangerous world of Jay Lake's Green, Our Lady of the Islands is a vibrant, enchanting tale of political intrigue and divine mystery."Our Lady, heal us ..."Sian Katte is a successful middle-aged businesswoman in the tropical island nation of Alizar. Her life seems comfortable and well-arranged...until a violent encounter one evening leaves her with an unwanted magical power.Arian des Chances is the wife of Alizar's ruler, with vast wealth and political influence. Yet for all her resources, she can only watch helplessly as her son draws nearer to death.When crisis thrusts these two women together, they learn some surprising truths: about themselves, their loved ones, and Alizar itself. Because beneath a seemingly calm facade, Alizar's people - and a dead god - are stirring...
LanguageEnglish
Release dateMay 16, 2021
ISBN9781954255104
Our Lady of the Islands
Author

Jay Lake

Jay Lake was a prolific writer of science fiction and fantasy, as well as an award-winning editor, a popular raconteur and toastmaster, and an excellent teacher at the many writers' workshops he attended. His novels included Tor's publications Mainspring, Escapement, and Pinion, and the trilogy of novels in his Green cycle - Green, Endurance, and Kalimpura. Lake was nominated multiple times for the Hugo Award, the Nebula Award, and the World Fantasy Award. He won the John W. Campbell Award for best new writer in 2004, the year after his first professional stories were published. In 2008 Jay Lake was diagnosed with colon cancer, and in the years after he became known outside the sf genre as a powerful and brutally honest blogger about the progression of his disease. Jay Lake died on June 1, 2014.

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Rating: 4.166666666666667 out of 5 stars
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  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    I really enjoyed this book even though fantasy is not a preferred genre for me. I think because the fantasy aspect was limited to a few talents and otherwise the story was about people striving to do their best in a world gone temporarily made. Oh yes, and there are also great battle scenes on the sea and hidden tunnels and gorgeous clothing and romantic liasions and skulduggery so that I was compelled to keep reading.Sian Alkattha is a mature woman who runs a textile business with her husband of many years. The passion has long gone out of their marriage but they have a good partnership so they stay together. Sian also has a lover, Konstantin Reikos, a ship's captain who often comes to Alizar, the island nation where Sian lives. Two years before the events of the book take place a giant body washed up on the shore of one of the islands. The Factor, ruler of the nation, decreed that the body be cut up and the meat distributed to the poor. Since then a religious cult has taken to wandering the streets in the name of the Butchered God. The members of the cult are the poor mostly and they have withdrawn their labour so the merchants are finding it hard to stay in business. Sian falls into the hands of the mob and she is beaten badly by the priest of the Butchered God. When she awakes the next morning all her injuries have healed and she feels better than she has in years. Then she discovers she can heal anyone with her touch. She remembers the priest saying that she is to deliver a message to the Factor, a distant cousin, but she has no idea what the message is to be. Her fame as a healer spreads throughout the islands and this brings her to the attention of some of the powerful people. These people do not really want a healer encouraging the poor. Poor Sian suffers for this gift that she did not ask for but feels compelled to use. Jay Lake has died of cancer since writing this book. He and the other author, Shannon Page, collaborated on it before he became too ill but the final draft was left to Shannon. I find the idea of collaborating in writing a book interesting and, in this case, it certainly worked out well.

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Our Lady of the Islands - Jay Lake

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