The Bear and the Serpent (Echoes of the Fall #2)

by Adrian Tchaikovsky

Overview

The Bear and the Serpent is the second book in Adrian Tchaikovsky’s epic fantasy trilogy, Echoes of the Fall, following The Tiger and the Wolf.

‘Addictively brilliant’ – John Gwynne on The Tiger and the Wolf

As the south is in turmoil, an old terror emerges in the north . . .

Maniye, child of both Wolf and Tiger clans, has been named Champion of her people. But they’re unsure if she’s an asset – or a threat. To buy time, she joins Prince Tecuman’s warband of outcasts and heads south, to help him gain his crown. She wants to discover her true place in the world, but instead heads into the jaws of a fierce new conflict.

Civil war threatens as Tecuman and his twin sister battle for the throne, for only one can rule. Yet whoever triumphs will carry a heavy burden, as a great doom has been foreseen that will fall across their whole world. And soon Maniye finds herself at the heart of a political storm.

Danger is also shadowing her old home, where Loud Thunder and his Bear clan are attempting to unite the northern tribes. But only extreme peril will end age-old rivalries. An adversary from the most ancient of times is preparing to strike, putting their lands and their very souls in danger. And neither north nor south will be spared the terror to come.

Complete this sweeping coming-of-age fantasy trilogy with The Hyena and the Hawk.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781509830244
Publisher:	Pan Macmillan
Publication date:	02/09/2017
Series:	Echoes of the Fall Series , #2
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	544
Sales rank:	130,041
File size:	962 KB
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Adrian Tchaikovsky was born in Woodhall Spa, Lincolnshire, and headed off to university in Reading to study psychology and zoology. For reasons unclear even to himself, he subsequently ended up in law. Adrian has since worked as a legal executive in both Reading and Leeds, and now writes full time. He lives in Leeds with his wife and son. Adrian is a keen live role-player and occasional amateur actor. He has also trained in stage-fighting and keeps no exotic or dangerous pets of any kind – possibly excepting his son.

Adrian is the author of the critically acclaimed Shadows of the Apt series, the Echoes of the Fall series and other novels, novellas and short stories. The Tiger and the Wolf won the British Fantasy Award for Best Fantasy Novel – and Children of Time won the Arthur C. Clarke Award for Best Science Fiction Novel. This was in the award’s thirtieth anniversary year.

Adrian Tchaikovsky was born in Woodhall Spa, Lincolnshire, has practised law and now writes full time. He’s also studied stage-fighting, perpetrated amateur dramatics and has a keen interest in entomology and table-top games.

Adrian is the author of the critically acclaimed Shadows of the Apt series, the Echoes of the Fall series and other novels, novellas and short stories. Children of Time won the prestigious Arthur C. Clarke Award, Children of Ruin and Shards of Earth both won the British Science Fiction Award for Best Novel and The Tiger and the Wolf won the British Fantasy Award for Best Fantasy Novel.

Editorial Reviews

A clever, compelling page turner . . . a cracking sequel to The Tiger and the Wolf

EBOOK COMMENTARY

★ 07/17/2017
This well-wrought second installment in Tchaikovsky’s Echoes of the Fall epic fantasy series (after The Tiger and the Wolf) focuses on two major threats to the realistically magical world his shape-shifting tribes inhabit. Loud Thunder, mightiest warrior of the Bear tribe, follows his dangerous destiny to rally the various quarreling tribes of the north into a united warband capable of battling the reawakening horror, the Plague People, who have destroyed the Seal tribe and are building a lethal foothold on the seashore. In the South, Maniye, a young Wolf-Tiger, and Asmander, champion of the Crocodile Sun River Nation, become enmeshed in a potentially disastrous conflict between twin claimants to the throne, while the enigmatic Serpent priestess Hesprec constantly warns that something vile is approaching, so terrible that it may vanquish both sides. Tchaikovsky’s huge cast of brilliantly portrayed characters must learn to heed the wisdom the Serpent has brought from the Oldest Kingdom: that soulless refugees, playing on the pity of their hosts, pose the ultimate threat to the peoples’ souls and must be defeated, no matter the cost. (Whether this is intended as a parallel to current political topics in our world is unclear.) Tchaikovsky cannily leaves enough unfinished business to lure fantasy fans through many more emotional struggles and sweeping battles struggles to come. (Nov.)

Publishers Weekly

A classically brilliant fantasy writer, a pusher of boundaries, a great storyteller” —Paul Cornell

“One of the most interesting and accomplished writers in speculative fiction” —Christopher Paolini

“It's addictively brilliant! The protagonist is vivid and sympathetic - and I love both the story and the world Adrian has created. It's meticulously thought out and utterly believable” —John Gwynne on The Tiger and the Wolf

“Equally deft in the realms of science fiction and fantasy adventure, Adrian Tchaikovsky knows how to take you to a place, no matter the setting” —SciFiNow on The Tiger and the Wolf

“A joy from start to finish. Entertaining, smart, surprising and unexpectedly human” —Patrick Ness on Children of Time

From the Publisher