House of Open Wounds

Behind the front lines of a crusade to scour the world of magic, the crew of a field hospital confront the horrors of war. A companion novel to Adrian Tchaikovsky's award-winning fantasy novel City of Last Chances

City-by-city, kingdom-by-kingdom, the Palleseen have sworn to bring Perfection and Correctness to an imperfect world. As their legions scour the world of superstition with the bright flame of reason, so they deliver a mountain of ragged, holed and scorched flesh to the field hospital tents just behind the front line.

Which is where Yasnic, one-time priest, healer and rebel, finds himself. Reprieved from the gallows and sent to war clutching a box of orphan Gods, he has been sequestered to a particularity unorthodox medical unit.

Led by 'the Butcher', an ogre of a man who's a dab hand with a bone-saw and an alchemical tincture, the unit's motley crew of conscripts, healers and orderlies are no strangers to the horrors of war. Theirs is an unspeaka ble trade: elbow-deep in gore they have a first-hand view of the suffering caused by flesh-rending monsters, arcane magical weaponry and embittered enemy soldiers.

Entrusted - for now - with saving lives deemed otherwise un-saveable, the field hospital's crew face a precarious existence. Their work with unapproved magic, necromancy, demonology and Yasnic's thoroughly illicit Gods could lead to the unit being disbanded, arrested or worse.

Beset by enemies within and without, the last thing anyone needs is a miracle...

Reviews for City of Last Chances:

'Paints a vivid detailed backdrop' SFX
'Brilliant chaos ensues' Daily Mail
'Some of Tchaikovsky's best prose' SF Crowsnest
'An intriguing tangle... ingenious' Locus
'Endlessly creative' Patrick Ness
'Rich, inventive worldbuilding' Publishers Weekly
'Ilmar is vividly alive' David Towsey
'A master at the height of his powers' Ian Green
'An ambitious epic fantasy read' Grimdark Magazin e

Rezension:

"Constantly brought Pratchett to mind... Quietly humorous and hopeful, House of Open Wounds hit hardest in how it prioritizes healers over warriors" -Locus

"This grim and exceptional look at fantasy warfare from Tchaikovsky feels like M_A_S_H written by an uncharacteristically somber Terry Pratchett... Not to be missed" -Publishers Weekly, Starred review

"An extraordinarily powerful and provocative read... both epic and intimate in scale, capturing the structure of fear and hope in a war-torn existence" -LoveReading, Star Book

"One of the best pieces of fantasy fiction I have read in recent years... a gem in the genre" -SF Book Reviews

"Reminiscent of Terry Pratchett at his best... a dazzling example of intelligent, engaging and superlative writing" -Birmingham SF Group

"Various threads and characters come together in a satisfying conclusion, wrought from twists and turns where seemingly inconsequential details... have unexpected significance " -ParSec