The Hook:
Jane Lin and Fredrick Anders had been on the run for two weeks when they reached Meyerston. They fled not only the revolt in Recoletta, but also the news that would surely follow it. It was a vague and amorphous thing, but Jane had seen well enough how it sowed panic, suspicion, and violence in its wake. She was not certain what form it would take in the communes, but she knew they would do well to stay ahead of it.
As difficult as it was to gauge the progress of an invisible and impersonal antagonist, in their journey between the communes, they’d encountered nothing more than courteous – if deliberate – remoteness. Footpaths and farmers guided them from one commune to the next, where they were received and dispatched with polite disinterest.
Until they reached Meyerston.
Carrie Patel writes:
One of the challenges of beginning a sequel is picking up from a previous story without slowing down in the new story. You want to bring new readers into the action without giving them whiplash, and you want to serve up your stakes with a side of context.
What better way to kick things off than to have your characters start the new book by running for their lives from the ending of the last book?
Cities and Thrones is about a revolution that starts in the city of Recoletta and spreads. It’s about the characters that alternately flee, fight, and adapt to that revolution. It follows the aftershocks of all of the turmoil and upheaval from The Buried Life and traces the fault lines that split across a region and the people who live in it.
In the opening paragraphs, Jane and Fredrick are escaping Recoletta, the only home they’ve ever known, to shelter in strange new lands. They’re fleeing the grim certainty of violent change for the uncertainty of the unknown.
And all the while, they’re being chased by something that’s little more than a whisper on the wind—the unrest that’s riding in the wake of the revolution and the mention of their names as conspirators and fugitives.
So they scramble and sneak, navigating new territory and the guarded people who inhabit it. All goes as planned until they reach the quiet farming commune of Meyerston, where once again, everything changes.
Buy Cities and Thrones on Amazon.
About the author:
Carrie Patel is an expatriate Texan living in Southern California. Her first novel, The Buried Life, met with critical acclaim, including a starred review in Publishers Weekly. Cities and Thrones comes out July 7. She also works as a narrative designer for Obsidian Entertainment, and she wrote most recently for the RPG Pillars of Eternity. Her short fiction has appeared in Beneath Ceaseless Skies.
Exchange virtual fist-bumps with her on Twitter at @Carrie_Patel, or visit her website.
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