Book excerpt: There's power in stories. But power comes at a price. Detective Cora Gorderheim is a detective no longer. Stripped of her badge, her job now is to protect her sister, Ruth, the new Wayward storyteller. Ruth must tell her tale of the Tear widening if people are to know what's really happening in the Union of Realms. But the powers that be want her silenced. Keeping Ruth alive in Fenest is hard enough, but when the sisters set sail for West Perlanse, the dangers come thick and fast. And soon Cora realises she must make a terrible choice: her sister's life, or the future of the Union. 'Melding noir with the fantasy genre, this is a rather clever read, one which feels especially prescient for our reality' SCIFINOW