In Blade of Dream, Daniel Abraham returns to the living, breathing city of Kithamar that he introduced in Age of Ash. The stakes remain high, the action gripping, and the atmosphere vital as we encounter the son of a merchant house, Garreth Left, and the daughter of the city’s prince, Elaine a Sal, each soon to be entangled in conspiracy and treason, even as they find themselves equally entangled with one another.

Garreth’s family is on its last legs, risking all on a trade relationship with another culture which will see their eldest son married to a foreign woman. Garreth’s relationship with his betrothed gets off to a rocky start—they do not even share a language—and only gets rockier after he meets Elaine.

Elaine’s father has inherited rulership of the city from his recently departed uncle, elevating Elaine to the position of heir apparent. Noble families with marriageable sons begin to circle like vultures. Elaine’s rebellion takes the form of a secret night out in the city with her cousin, a night that ends with her in the arms of a certain merchant’s son.

But the relationship of these two viewpoint characters is far from the only thread woven in the skillfully braided Blade of Dream. The blade of the title will be known to readers of Age of Ash. It is still missing, it is still hunted by gods and men, and it still poses an existential threat to the city. Garreth and Elaine get swept up in events they at first cannot understand, events related to this blessed, cursed blade.