After decades of misrule, the fate of the Empire of Sanressia hangs in the balance. Throughout the realm, the great and powerful await the demise of the ailing Emperor Sigismund, eager to exploit the uncertainty of succession for their own ends. As the most influential people of the realm descend upon the capital of Renewal, the future of the Empire appears murky. The court is powerless to stop the re-emergence of factions and contradictory visions for the future. Within the growing chaos are three who may yet have a larger role to play than they believe. Lady Ladislava, a young noblewoman of one of Sanressia's subject kingdoms, dreams of assisting her best friend in her mission to bring long overdue reform and support the people of the Empire. Sir Zachary, the only son of a house accused of treachery twice over and derided as heretics, longs to restore the honour of his family and faith in the eyes of the those that once counted his forebears as equals. General Frieda, a rising star of the Imperial Army from the humblest of origins, wants only to uphold her oath and defend the Empire and its citizens from all enemies, both those without, and those within. All of them wish for a peaceful and more just Empire. But as plans laid long in advance come to fruition, deals are struck behind closed doors, and engines of war are made ready, the fate of Sanressia may already be sealed. Content Warnings: Violence, war, poisoning, disease, religious persecution and xenophobia.

The gods have no pity for humans and their impermanence. Why would they care for lives measured in years, when time marches into millennia for them? The immortals stay in their city. The humans remain in their parts of the world. That is until a human terrorist group gains control over the Goddess of Death, forcing her to kill their enemies and increase their power. All immortals keep their backs turned on humanity. Except Samil, the God of Festivals and the Arts. Samil knows he isn't very powerful among his kind. Or important. Or confident. Yet, when he learns that the humans are desperate, he chooses to do a deceptively simple thing: Help them. ___________________________________ @Voyageavecmoi was kind enough to write this review of my book and she described it 100x better than I ever could lol. With her permission, I'm posting it below. Also, check out her book "Flight Risk." It's a sweet and deep romance about two characters negotiating their feelings for each other while life is doing everything to tear them apart. The characters have such mature conversations and, there's no reliance on the miscommunication trope at all. I'm *obsessed.* If you enjoy intriguing fantasy novels with deep and thoughtful themes, check out 'The Gifts of Mortality' by @eleanorkennedy14 . It explores the concept of mortality and how it gives life meaning through the eyes of both gods and humans. The story follows Samil, the god of the Festivals and the Arts, who is shocked by the apathy of his fellow gods when a human terrorist group gains control over the Goddess of Death. Despite finding no support among his kind, he's determined to help the humans, which sets him down an interesting course. There are lots of great twists in this novel, and I also loved seeing how queerness was worked in throughout both the immortal and mortal realms. Samil is a sweet and refreshing character to root for who is determined to see the good in the world.