House of Open Wounds -- Adrian Tchaikovsky, Hardcover

FROM THE BSFA AWARD-WINNING AUTHOR OF 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 frontline.

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. Their's is an unspeakable 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 Yansic'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 Magazine

Author: Adrian Tchaikovsky
Publisher: Head of Zeus -- An Adastra Book
Published: 03/05/2024
Pages: 608
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 1.65lbs
Size: 9.10h x 6.20w x 1.80d
ISBN: 9781035901388

Review Citation(s):
Library Journal 09/01/2023 pg. 16
Publishers Weekly 01/22/2024
Booklist 02/01/2024 pg. 33
Foreword 02/13/2024

About the Author
Adrian Tchaikovsky was born in Lincolnshire before heading off to Reading to study psychology and zoology. He subsequently ended up in law and has worked as a legal executive in both Reading and Leeds, where he now lives. Married, he is a keen live role-player and occasional amateur actor and has trained in stage-fighting. He's the author of Children of Time, the winner of the 30th Anniversary Arthur C. Clarke Award, and the Sunday Times bestseller Shards of Earth.