Melissa Scott

Lisa A. Barnett

A guard in the great city of Astreiant, Nicholas Rathe must calm an angry and frightened population as he searches the overcrowded streets of the city for a kidnapper and the children he has abducted, before it is too late. Reprint.

Point of Hopes

Elizabethan England is the setting for usurpers and wizardry, as the Wizard Earl of Bothwell uses his magic in a series of attacks on James VI King of Scotland

The Armor of Light

The play’s the thing to catch the attention of Astreiant…especially when it includes murder, mystery and magic. It’s ghost-tide in the city and the dead walk the streets, haunting those who meant something to them in life. The theaters of Point of Dreams have a hit season on their hands and Adjunct Point Nicolas Rathe and former mercenary Philip Eslingen have a murder on theirs. Not to mention a heady mix of intrigue, politics and magic, where even the flowers are more than they seem. Added to all of that, the crimelord that Philip worked for has dismissed him from his service and he’s had to move in with Nico. Can Nico and Philip stop the killer before they strike again? And will their relationship survive it if they do? Lambda Literary Award Winner for Speculative Fiction.

A Novel of Astreiant

Point of Dreams

The city of Astreiant has gone crazy with enthusiasm for a new play, The Drowned Island, a lurid farrago of melodrama and innuendo. Pointsman Nicolas Rathe is not amused, however, at a real dead body on stage and must investigate. A string of murders follow, perhaps related to the politically important masque that is to play on that same stage. Rathe must once again recruit the help of his soldier lover, Philip Eslingen, whose knowledge of actors and the stage, and of the depths of human perversity and violence, blends well with Rathe's own hard-won experience with human greed and magical mayhem. Their task is complicated by the season, for it is the time of year when the spirits of the dead haunt the city and influence everyone, and also by the change in their relationship when the loss of Philip's job forces him to move in with Nicolas. Mystery, political intrigue, floral magic, astrology, and romance--both theatrical and personal-- combine to make this a compelling read. At the publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management software (DRM) applied.

The city of Astreiant is full of magic, danger and bureaucracy. Former mercenary Philip Eslingen and Pointsman Nicolas Rathe are friends, lovers and a mystery-solving duo to be reckoned with as they tackle fantastical mysteries that range from kidnapped apprentices to murder in settings that range from palaces to the back streets, the theaters to the docks. This set consists of 6 books: Point of Hopes (MIPA Award Winner), Point of Knives, Point of Dreams (Lambda Award Winner), Fairs' Point, Point of Sighs and Point of Hearts.

The Complete Astreiant

"This sequel to Point of Hopes is set in the same detailed, late-Renaissance world where magic works, where astrologers and necromancers are the pundits and powerbrokers. Once again it features Pointsman Nicolas Rathe, who functions as a sort of policeman and who ends up with a magical mystery to solve."--Jacket.

The fate of the city hangs in the balance… The city of Astreiant is full of magic, danger and bureaucracy, and never more so than when something or someone is making guild apprentices disappear without a trace. Philip Eslingen has just been discharged from his mercenary company and as a Leaguer and a stranger, makes an ideal suspect. Fortunately for him, Pointsman Nicolas Rathe from the Point of Hopes station doesn’t agree, but he knows the only way to prove that is to find the missing children and the real culprits. Together they must follow a twisted trail of deceit and magic in a city on the brink of exploding into violence. If they can’t learn to work together, the results could be catastrophic, even fatal. And if they can’t trust each other, the price could be higher than either of them realize. Winner of the 2025 Midwest Book Award in the Fantasy/SciFi/Horror/Paranormal Category.

The city of Astreiant has gone crazy with enthusiasm for a new play, "The Drowned Island," a lurid farrago of melodrama and innuendo. Pointsman Nicolas Rathe is not amused, however, at a real dead body on stage and must investigate. A string of murders follow, perhaps related to the politically important masque that is to play on that same stage. Rathe must once again recruit the help of his lover, former soldier Philip Eslingen, whose knowledge of actors and the stage, and of the depths of human perversity and violence, blends well with Rathe's own hard-won experience with human greed and magical mayhem. Their task is complicated by the season, for it is the time of year when the spirits of the dead haunt the city and influence everyone, and also by the change in their relationship when the loss of Philip's job forces him to move in with Nicolas. Mystery, political intrigue, floral magic, astrology, and romance--both theatrical and personal--combine to make this a compelling read. A winner of the Lambda Literary Award for Best LGBT Speculative Fiction.

Lisa A. Barnett

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