American readers pay The Price of Spring

Daniel Abraham's The Price of Spring, the splendid concluding volume of The Long Price Quartet, one of the very best fantasy series of the last decade, will not have a mass-market paperback edition in the USA. This news has dismayed fans of Abraham's works, particularly those who have been holding out for the mmpb edition.


No reason for this decision has been given, but is probably linked to the somewhat underwhelming sales of the series in the US (although given widespread reports of people not being able to find the books in their local stores, this is not surprising) and Tor USA's decision not to publish Abraham's next series, The Dagger and the Coin.

For now, the hardcover remains available and the book is published in paperback in the UK, although only as an omnibus with An Autumn War. The Book Depository has free worldwide shipping and is currently selling the book at 30% off, so Americans after the paperback edition are directed to their website.

The Dragon's Path, the first volume of The Dagger and the Coin, will be published in both the UK and USA by Orbit Books in June 2011.

The Price of Spring by Daniel Abraham

A decade and more after the conclusion of the Autumn War, the lands of the Khaiem and Galt are still reeling from the aftermath of their devastating conflict. Otah Machi works to bind the two nations together in a new alliance, whilst the disgraced Maati attempts his own restitution by training a new breed of poets. However, the new Khaiem poets are haunted and traumatised by what happened to them and their families during the war, and placing the power of the andat in the hands of those burning for vengeance proves to be a decision with far-reaching consequences...


The Price of Spring is the fourth and final book in the Long Price Quartet, and brings the story of Otah and Maati to a conclusion. The four books span decades, almost the full lifespans of both characters, and in this final volume we see them reach an accommodation with themselves and their lives and the decisions they have made. The result is a somewhat melancholy book focused on repairing the damage from decisions made in earlier books in the series and reflecting on the paths that have brought them and their people to where they are now.

'Aftermath' books tend to be mixed affairs, and are not always the most popular works in a series. Martin's A Feast for Crows - an aftermath volume to the first three books in the series - has had a mixed reception, whilst Feist's Shards of a Broken Crown - the final volume in his Serpentwar Saga - is widely considered to mark the start of a terminal decline in his writing quality. Abraham sidesteps this problem by including a dramatic new storyline (springing out of story seeds planted in earlier books) about a rogue poet which works quite well and gives this final volume a central spine to hang on its themes of reconciliation, redemption and restitution, which are all well-explored.

There are some weak moments. Events in Galt are frequently referenced but not expanded on as much as might be desired, whilst the introduction of Galtic steam technology to the Khaiem cities is touched on but left under-developed. Whilst not a major story point, it would nevertheless been interesting to have followed these elements a little more closely. In addition the ending, whilst still bittersweet, does have a sense of being slightly too neat. I would also have expected far more anger and rage against the Galts for their role in events in An Autumn War. In particular, it is a massive stretch of believability that Balasar Gice, the individual responsible for basically laying waste to both Galt and the Khaiem in the previous novel, is still in a position of power in The Price of Spring and not either forcibly retired or even imprisoned or killed.

These problems are mostly minor and can be ignored in favour of the book being an elegant and reserved conclusion to one of the more accomplished fantasy series of recent years. The Price of Spring (****) is available now in the USA and as part of the Seasons of War omnibus in the UK.

An Autumn War by Daniel Abraham

Several times the rulers of Galt have attempted to destroy the poets, the sorcerer-mathematicians who defend the Cities of the Khaiem through the power of the spirits known as andat. Each time they have risked discovery and exposure and the destruction of their homelands in retribution. Now the Galtic general Balasar Gice has returned from a dangerous quest into the heart of the ruined Old Empire and brought back textbooks that may hold the key to destroying the andat once and for all, and enable the armies of Galt to purge the Khaiem before they can bind new spirits.


As the Autumn War begins, Otah and Maati discover that only they have the skills and abilities that can stop the invasion, but only if they have enough time, and only if they can fully control the powers they seek to summon...

An Autumn War is the third and penultimate volume of The Long Price Quartet, and also the fastest-paced and strongest book in the series. The first two books were slow-building tragedies revolving around intrigue, ambition and betrayal. The third book is about war, the reasons for it and its devastating consequences. Balasar believes that the world is threatened with annihilation at any time if the andat remain alive, whilst Maati is convinced that their powers can be harnessed for the good of mankind. Otah stands between them, having himself seen the evil and destruction that the andat can unleash and the imperfections in the poets' training, but at the same time rejecting the Galts' murderous answer to the quandary.


It's an interesting book, with the military action being interspersed with thoughts on the morality of holding weapons of mass destruction (although the multiple interpretations of this leads me to believe that Abraham wasn't making a one-on-one correlation to nuclear weapons) and the characters' different approaches to dealing with the crisis. Abraham isn't the best author in the world at describing battles and military action, preferring to hold it back in favour of emphasising the impact of the war on the characters and their relationships. This he handles with aplomb, building up to a conclusion horrifying and unexpected in its tragic ramifications.

An Autumn War (****½) is an excellent fantasy novel, the highlight of this four-book series, and is well-recommended. The book is available now in the USA and in the UK as part of the Seasons of War omnibus.

British readers can now pay the Long Price

Orbit Books have completed the UK publication of Daniel Abraham's very fine Long Price Quartet this week. They have decided to publish the books as two chunky omnibuses, with A Shadow in Summer and A Betrayal in Winter being published under the title Shadow and Betrayal and An Autumn War and The Price of Spring being combined as Seasons of War. Shadow and Betrayal was previously released in 2007 (and reviewed here) with a rather dubious brown fog cover. Realising this wasn't helping the book much, Orbit have reprinted the original omnibus alongside the publication of the new with much better cover art*.


Orbit have a huge amount of faith and excitement for Abraham's career, and will also be publishing his new series, The Dagger and the Coin (summed up as a cross between George R.R. Martin and Joss Whedon set against Medici-eseque backdrop) in both the UK and USA, starting in 2011.

* Better than the brown fog UK cover, not the jaw-droppingly amazing US covers.