Artorin Damara, last Emperor of Astandalas, is in need of a new secretary.It has been three years since he woke from a magical coma caused by the catastrophic collapse of his empire, and he can barely acknowledge his own day-to-day existence, let alo…
Artorin Damara, last Emperor of Astandalas, is in need of a new secretary.
It has been three years since he woke from a magical coma caused by the catastrophic collapse of his empire, and he can barely acknowledge his own day-to-day existence, let alone what he needs from someone else.
Enter Cliopher sayo Mdang, unassuming Fifth Degree Secretary of the Imperial Bureaucratic Service, and to everyone's surprise the apocalypse ... ends.
This novella is set on Zunidh in the universe of the Nine Worlds. It is best read after The Hands of the Emperor.
Artorin Damara, last Emperor of Astandalas, is in need of a new secretary.It has been three years since he woke from a magical coma caused by the catastrophic collapse of his empire, and he can barely acknowledge his own day-to-day existence, let alo…
Artorin Damara, last Emperor of Astandalas, is in need of a new secretary.
It has been three years since he woke from a magical coma caused by the catastrophic collapse of his empire, and he can barely acknowledge his own day-to-day existence, let alone what he needs from someone else.
Enter Cliopher sayo Mdang, unassuming Fifth Degree Secretary of the Imperial Bureaucratic Service, and to everyone's surprise the apocalypse ... ends.
This novella is set on Zunidh in the universe of the Nine Worlds. It is best read after The Hands of the Emperor.
The Hands of the Emperor by Victoria Goddard follows Cliopher Mdang, an exacting and loyal civil servant who serves as personal secretary to the near-divine Emperor of Astandalas. In a world where magic, ritual, and politics are tightly interwoven, C…
The Hands of the Emperor by Victoria Goddard follows Cliopher Mdang, an exacting and loyal civil servant who serves as personal secretary to the near-divine Emperor of Astandalas. In a world where magic, ritual, and politics are tightly interwoven, Cliopher’s unprecedented invitation for his ruler to visit his distant island homeland risks sacrilege and treason. When the Emperor accepts, their journey from the imperial court to the remote Vangavaye-ve quietly unsettles long-standing hierarchies and expectations. This leisurely paced, character-focused fantasy explores governance, power, and friendship through an adult queer male protagonist navigating both intimate loyalty and far-reaching political consequences.
“Someone always leaves.”That’s what Tovo has been saying to anyone who asks him why his great-nephew Kip Mdang isn’t at his side, isn’t fulfilling the tasks and obligations of the tanà, isn’t there to tend the fire, isn’t home.“Someone always leaves,…
“Someone always leaves.”
That’s what Tovo has been saying to anyone who asks him why his great-nephew Kip Mdang isn’t at his side, isn’t fulfilling the tasks and obligations of the tanà, isn’t there to tend the fire, isn’t home.
“Someone always leaves,” Tovo reminds them. “Kip will return when it’s time.”
He wonders, though. He wonders if his errant grand-nephew was really as bright and as promising as they all thought he was. He wonders if Kip has forgotten the Lays, forgotten what it means to be an Islander, forgotten everything that Tovo taught him.
Of course, the simplest solution to Tovo’s doubts is to go and see for himself.
Someone always leaves, after all, even to the other side of the world.
Cliopher Mdang has been appointed Viceroy of Zunidh by his beloved Radiancy, the Last Emperor, who has now left him behind in the Palace to safeguard the world during his absence on a quest to find an appropriately magical heir. When he returns, he w…
Cliopher Mdang has been appointed Viceroy of Zunidh by his beloved Radiancy, the Last Emperor, who has now left him behind in the Palace to safeguard the world during his absence on a quest to find an appropriately magical heir. When he returns, he will abdicate, and Cliopher will at last retire, satisfied with having achieved most of his life's political goals--even if his long-suppressed personal dreams are starting to bubble up.
(Surely he used to have hobbies besides running the government?)
All he has to do is wait patiently for his lord's return... until adventure quite literally hits him from behind, and what was once safely hypothetical becomes intensely real.
Cliopher has always followed the stars of his chosen course: the epic oral histories of his people, the poetry of the rebel poet Fitzroy Angursell, decades of devotion and service to his Radiancy... They were enough to change the world. But are they enough to guide Cliopher home?
