Air Logic: a novel (Elemental Logic, 4) - Softcover

Marks, Laurie J.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1618731602 ISBN 13: 9781618731609

Publisher: Small Beer Press, 2019

Synopsis

Laurie J. Marks returns at last to Shaftal in Air Logic, the long-awaited conclusion to her acclaimed series. Karis and those who love her must figure out, in the aftermath of war and an assassination attempt, how to bring together Sainnites and Shaftali in a country where old wounds and enmities fester and Air magic conceals the treason hidden in the heart of the G’deon’s household. When Medric is taken hostage to force Karis’s hand, a strange boy will guide Zanja to the place where she may yet save him, a mother must remember the son she has been made to forget, and Air children will find what their place in the world may yet be.

About this title

About the Author

Laurie J. Marks’s Elemental Logic series received multiple starred reviews and the first two both won the Gaylactic Spectrum Award. She lives in central Massachusetts and teaches at the University of Massachusetts.

Review

Reviews for Fire Logic

Spectrum Award winner

"Marks is an absolute master of fantasy in this book. Her characters are beautifully drawn, showing tremendous emotional depth and strength as they endure the unendurable and strive always to do the right thing, and her unusual use of the elemental forces central to her characters’ lives gives the book a big boost. This is read-it-straight-through adventure!” ― Booklist (Starred Review)

"Marks has created a work filled with an intelligence that zings off the page." ― Publishers Weekly (Starred Review)

“A deftly painted story of both cultures and magics in conflict. Marks avoids the black-and-white conflicts of generic fantasy to offer a window on a complex world of unique cultures and elemental magic.” ― Robin Hobb

“Characters and story come together effortlessly even as Marks refuses to shy away from complex issues of self-determination, ownership and multicultural coexistence.” ― BookPage

“A cast of memorable characters whose lives, loves, and sacrifices combine to imbue faith in a shattered land.” ― Library Journal

"Marks vividly describes a war-torn land, and the depth of character development makes this novel a page-turner." ― VOYA

“Cuts deliciously through the mind to the heart with the delicacy, strength, beauty, and surgical precision of the layered Damascus steel blade that provides one of the book’s central images.” ― Candas Jane Dorsey

“Laurie Marks brings skill, passion, and wisdom to her new novel. Entertaining and engaging ― an excellent read!” ― Kate Elliott

“This is a treat: a strong, fast-paced tale of war and politics in a fantasy world where magic based on the four elements of alchemy not only works but powerfully affects the lives of those it touches. An unusual, exciting read.” ― Suzy McKee Charnas

“A glorious cast of powerful, compelling, and appealingly vulnerable characters struggling to do the right thing in a world gone horribly wrong. I couldn’t put this down until I’d read it to the end. Marks truly understands the complex forces of power, desire, and obligation.”
― Nalo Hopkinson

“An exquisite novel of quiet charm. Fire Logic is a tale of war and magic, of duty, love and betrayal, of despair encompassed by hope.” ― SF Site

Reviews for Earth Logic

Spectrum Award winner

“Marks produces another stunner of a book. The powerful but subtle writing glows with intelligence, and the passionate, fierce, articulate, strong, and vital characters are among the most memorable in contemporary fantasy, though not for the faint of heart.” ― Booklist (Starred Review)

“The struggle for the world of Shaftal is far from finished in Marks’s stirring, intricately detailed sequel. . . . Full of love and humor as well as war and intrigue, this well-crafted epic fantasy will delight existing fans as surely as it will win new ones.” ― Publishers Weekly

“Rich and affecting. . . . A thought-provoking and sometimes heartbreaking political novel.” ― BookPage

“Intelligent, splendidly visualized, and beautifully written. Laurie Marks’s use of language is really tremendous.” ― Paula Volsky

“Crammed with unconventional families, conflicted soldiers, amnesiac storytellers, and practical gods, the story also finds time for magical myths of origin and moments of warm, quiet humor. Against a bitter backdrop of war and winter, Marks offers hope in the form of various triumphs: of fellowship over chaos, the future over the past, and love over death.” ― Sharon Shinn

“A powerful and hopeful story where the peacemakers are as heroic as the warriors; where there is magic in good food and flower bulbs; and where the most powerful weapon of all is a printing press.” ― Naomi Kritzer

“It is an ambitious thing to do, in this time of enemies and hatreds, to suggest that a conflict can be resolved by peaceable means. Laurie Marks believes that it can be done, and she relies relatively little on magic to make it work.” ― Cheryl Morgan, Emerald City

Reviews for Water Logic

"How gifts from the past, often unknown or unacknowledged, bless future generations; how things that look like disasters or mistakes may be parts of a much bigger pattern that produces greater, farther-reaching good results.” ―Booklist (Starred Review)

"Finely drawn characters and a lack of bias toward sexual orientation make this a thoughtful, challenging read.” ― Library Journal

"Marks's characters are real people who breathe and sleep and sweat and love; the food has flavor and the landscape can break your heart. You don't find this often in any contemporary fiction, much less in fantasy: a world you can plunge yourself into utterly and live in with great delight, while the pages turn, and dream of after." ― Ellen Kushner

"Frankly, it's mind-bending stuff, and refreshing.” ― James Schellenberg, The Cultural Gutter

"Marks plays the fantasy of her unfolding epic more subtly here than in previous volumes, and the resulting depiction of intransigent cultures in conflict, rich with insight into human nature and motives, will resonate for modern readers." ― Publishers Weekly

Edition details

• Publisher: Small Beer Press
• Publication date: 2019
• ISBN 10: 1618731602
• ISBN 13: 9781618731609
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 400