From Unseen Fire

by Cass Morris

Overview

In an alternate version of ancient Rome, a trio of patrician sisters and an ambitious senator use wit, charm, and magic to realize their dreams for the city they love.

The Dictator is dead; long live the Republic.

But whose Republic will it be? Senators, generals, and elemental mages vie for the power to shape the future of the city of Aven. Latona of the Vitelliae, a mage of Spirit and Fire, has suppressed her phenomenal talents for fear they would draw unwanted attention from unscrupulous men. Now that the Dictator who threatened her family is gone, she may have an opportunity to seize a greater destiny as a protector of the people -- if only she can find the courage to try.

Her siblings-a widow who conceals a canny political mind in the guise of a frivolous socialite, a young prophetess learning to navigate a treacherous world, and a military tribune leading a dangerous expedition in the province of Iberia-will be her allies as she builds a place for herself in this new world, against the objections of their father, her husband, and the strictures of Aventan society.

Latona's path intersects with that of Sempronius Tarren, an ambitious senator harboring a dangerous secret. Sacred law dictates that no mage may hold high office, but Sempronius, a Shadow mage who has kept his abilities a life-long secret, intends to do just that. As rebellion brews in the provinces, Sempronius must outwit the ruthless leader of the opposing Senate faction to claim the political and military power he needs to secure a glorious future for Aven and his own place in history.

As politics draw them together and romance blossoms between them, Latona and Sempronius will use wit, charm, and magic to shape Aven's fate. But when their foes resort to brutal violence and foul sorcery, will their efforts be enough to save the Republic they love?

Praise for From Unseen Fire

• "A spellbinding tale of political machinations.... Fans of I, Claudius and Game of Thrones are in for a treat." -Booklist (starred review)
• "Brilliantly imagined and plotted." -BookPage
• "'Rome with magic' turns out to be exactly the novel I wanted to read." -Kate Elliott, author of Unconquerable Sun

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781088078440
Publisher:	Cass Morris
Publication date:	04/22/2022
Series:	Aven Cycle , #1
Pages:	416
Sales rank:	733,890
Product dimensions:	6.14(w) x 9.21(h) x 0.93(d)

About the Author

Cass Morris works as an educator in central Virginia and as a bookseller on the Outer Banks of North Carolina. She holds a Master of Letters from Mary Baldwin University and a BA in English with a minor in history from the College of William and Mary. She reads voraciously, wears corsets voluntarily, and will beat you at MarioKart. Find her online at cassmorriswrites.com or on Twitter & Instagram @cassrmorris.

Read an Excerpt

Prologue
(Continues…)

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Excerpted from "From Unseen Fire"
by .
Copyright © 2018 Cass Morris.
Excerpted by permission of DAW.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

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Editorial Reviews

03/05/2018
If there’s an overlap in fandoms for I, Claudius and Game of Thrones, Morris’s painfully old-fashioned debut is aiming there. In Aven, seat of a quasi-Roman empire, word of the dictator Ocella’s demise is spreading, and those who have awaited this opportunity begin jockeying for position. Candidates include Rabirus, a calculating soldier-lackey aligned with the dictator; Latona, a well-born mage and Ocella’s unwilling mistress; Sempronius, an exiled politician and secret mage with ambitions; and Ekialde, an Iberian tribal leader preparing for war against the Avenian overlords. After the adrenaline punch of the opening assassination, the book is dominated by the ruminations, posturing, and gossip of a large, well-realized cast. By the time the machinations are briefly interrupted by a riot, it’s clear that Morris’s projected trilogy is going to stick to an old-school formula of patriarchy, lighter-skinned imperators enslaving darker-skinned barbarians, and legitimated, systemic violence, much of it against women and children. Adding magic changes nothing in the equation. This competently written political intrigue could have emerged from a time capsule sealed in 1950. Agent: Connor Goldsmith, Fuse Literary. (Apr.)

Publishers Weekly

Praise for From Unseen Fire:

"'Rome with magic' turns out to be exactly the novel I wanted to read. The magic cleverly intertwines with religion, politics, and daily life. The characters appeal, especially the loving portrait of three loyal sisters. There are battles (of course), a budding love story of the illicit kind, some remarkably topical political maneuvering, an awareness of diverse layers of class and ethnicity, and a love of place that shines on the page." —Kate Elliott, author of Cold Magic and Black Wolves

"A unique and well-studied fantasy take on the Roman world—an alternate world of another name, where ambition is a driving force and magic is real." —C. J. Cherryh, Hugo-winning author of the Foreigner novels

"Cass Morris brings ancient Rome to life with all its particular details, passions, and political intrigue, and populates it with captivating characters. Then she sprinkles it with magic. Yeah, that’s the stuff."—Kristen Britain, New York Times bestselling author of the Green Rider novels

"Morris’ epic-fantasy debut melds Roman history and elemental magic into a spellbinding tale of political machinations.... Fans of I, Claudius and Game of Thrones are in for a treat in this series starter. The combination of history, dark and light magic, family, political and religious rivalry, and military conflicts will draw readers from many genres." —Booklist (starred review)

"Morris’ ambitious debut is rich in detail and intricate in its plotting." —Barnes & Noble Sci-Fi and Fantasy Blog

"From Unseen Fire is brilliantly imagined and plotted. Its world is rich, with no detail left unattended to. Cass Morris has generated Tolkien-level tomes of information about the world of Aven to make the world come alive." —BookPage

From the Publisher