Guy Gavriel Kay

In the first volume of the brilliant Sarantine Mosaic, master storyteller Guy Gavriel Kay crafts a mesmerizing story of an awe-inspiring city and the people drawn into its spell. After losing his wife and daughters to the plague, a grieving artisan, Crispin, receives a summons from the emperor and reluctantly embarks on the long journey toward the imperial city of Sarantium--the golden heart of an empire. Despite its perils, the allure of Sarantium's glory draws travellers and pilgrims from across the continent. But before Crispin can reach the capital, he must pass through a land of pagan ritual and mysterious danger. Marked by a brush with the supernatural and bound by a promise made to another monarch, Crispin's arrival at the imperial court will not be a quiet one. Sailing to Sarantium is a gripping tale of one man's journey to rebuild his life amid the power and grandeur of a remarkable civilization.

Sailing to Sarantium

A magnificent epic fantasy from an author who appeals to the readers of J.R.R. Tolkien and THE NAME OF THE ROSE. The empire of Sarantium is beset to east and west. To the east the Asharites, star-worshippers, encroach ever closer to the imperial city itself; to the west barbarian tribes are becoming more dangerous year by year. But Valerius II wishes to take back the western lands which gave birth to the empire he now rules. Into his melting pot came Caius Crispus, a master mosaicist who is called upon to play a role in building a magnificent new sanctuary - but his final role wil be far wider and more deadly, both to himself and the empire. In this magnificent, colourful novel, first of a two-book series, Guy Gavriel Kay continues his long-running tapestry of tales from the world of TIGANA and A SONG FOR ARBONNE. This is his greatest triumph yet.

Bo Gotthardt

Didi Chanoch

The first part of The Sarantine Mosaic, Kay's sweeping tale of politics, intrigue and adventure inspired by ancient Byzantium.

Kelsi Proulx

Megan Cooper

Crispin is a mosaicist, a layer of bright tiles. Still grieving for the family he lost to the plaque, he lives only for his arcane craft. But an imperial summons from Valerius the Trakesian to Sarantium, the most magnificent place in the world, is difficult to resist. In a world half-wild and tangled with magic, a journey to Sarantium means a walk into destiny. Bearing with him a deadly secret and a Queen's seductive promise, guarded only by his own wits and a talisman from an alchemist's treasury, Crispin sets out for the fabled city. Along the way he will encounter a great beast from the mythic past,and in robbing the zubir of its prize he wins a woman's devotion and a man's loyalty--and loses a gift he didn't know he had until it was gone. Once in this city ruled by intrigue and violence, he must find his own source of power. Struggling to deal with the dangers and seductive lures of the men and woman around him, Crispin does discover it, in a most unusual place--high on the scaffolding of the greatest artwork ever imagined....

Sailing to Sarantium

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