Kalyna the Cutthroat - Failures of Four Kingdoms by Elijah Kinch Spector Hardcover

About the Book

Radiant Basket of Rainbow Shells, scholar of curses and magical history, has spent several years on a research expedition abroad in Quruscan, one of the four kingdoms of the Tetrarchia. When Tetrarchia and Radiant's home country of Loasht suddenly revoke their tenuous peace, Quruscan is no longer the safe haven for Radiant that it once was.

Book Synopsis

The Daughters of Izdihar meets The Foxglove King: An ex-soothsayer and stranded scholar of curses upend a utopian community that has no love for refugees.

Radiant Basket of Rainbow Shells, scholar of curses and magical history, has spent several years on a research expedition abroad in Quruscan, one of the four kingdoms of the Tetrarchia. When Radiant's home country of Loasht suddenly revokes his citizenship--and that of his entire ethnic enclave--he soon finds that Quruscan is no longer a safe haven either. He needs someone to help him escape: someone with the sheer cunning to escort him to safety. The perfect candidate is Kalyna Aljosanova: a crafty, mysterious mercenary with an uncanny reputation.

But with the political situation in Loasht far more volatile and dangerous than when Radiant left it, he may never be able to return home to his family. Wielding her signature guile, Kalyna finds Radiant asylum in a utopian community on the border between Loasht and the Tetrarchia, and, for a moment, it seems like they might finally have a safe place to stay. But when the group's charismatic leader grows wary of the refugees flocking over the border to his community--and suspicious of Kalyna in particular--a brief sense of safety begins to unravel. . . .

Kalyna the Cutthroat deftly imagines how the pressures of heroism warps even the most unshakeable of survivors, asking what responsibilities humans have to one another, and whether one good deed--of any magnitude--can absolve you of your past.

Review Quotes

Praise for Kalyna the Soothsayer

"Kalyna is a character after my own heart: a conniving liar whose love for her family threatens to be her downfall. Hilarious and heartbreaking by turns, Kalyna the Soothsayer is a reminder that if you can't see the future you want, sometimes you have to make it." --C. L. Clark, author of The Unbroken

"A gorgeous, layered debut, both intricate and propulsive, with a singularly brilliant heroine at its center. Kalyna is a twisty, entrancing, and totally unique entry into epic fantasy." --Ava Reid, author of Lady Macbeth

"Full of hilarious wit, intrigue, spycraft and charlatans, Kalyna the Soothsayer is a classic adventure with a sardonic twist. At the turn of the last page, I was sad to leave these lovable rogues. I've been waiting a long time to read an intelligent swashbuckling story like this. . . . It's the perfect fantastical escape." --Marissa Levien, author of The World Gives Way

"Kalyna the Soothsayer is dangerously good: a spellbinding story, captivatingly told, with a cast of unforgettable characters and plot twists that kept me turning pages past my bedtime." --Melissa Caruso, author of The Obsidian Tower

"Delightful debut fantasy adventure. . . . Put your trust in Kalyna's hands and let her build a story around the two of you. Parts of it will speak to your own specific fears and desires; other aspects will be entertaining fictions, until you discover the devastating shard of truth within." --NPR

"The intricate worldbuilding includes intriguing court politics and nefarious plotting galore. [Kalyna] is both a witty and a determined heroine. . . . A fabulous puzzle box of a fantasy novel." --Foreword Reviews

"A well-crafted world . . . Kalyna narrates her story with appealing wit while not shying away from her insecurities. For those who enjoyed S. A. Chakraborty's The City of Brass or Tasha Suri's Empire of Sand." --Booklist

"A brilliantly constructed character, endlessly multilayered and relatably conflicted, with a scarred interior that nonetheless perseveres by sheer survival instinct. Kalyna's inner monologue is a delicious parade of sharp political commentary, pragmatic callousness, reluctant hope, internalized self-loathing, wounded desire, the driest sense of gallows humor, and a drive to independence made of the hardest bedrock. . . . Engrossing." --Nerds of a Feather

About the Author

Elijah Kinch Spector is a writer, a dandy, and a rootless cosmopolitan from the Bay Area who now lives in Brooklyn. His first novel, Kalyna the Soothsayer, was a British Fantasy Award finalist and received acclaim from NPR, Nerds of a Feather, Tor.com, Foreword, and Paste Magazine, among others. You can find him at elijahkinchspector.com.