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Candlemark & Gleam followers may recall Robin Shortt’s wildly original Wellside: a rousing adventure with unforgettable characters (only some of whom are human), a tour de force of subgenre fusion that just cries out to become an immersive movie directed by someone with the visual flair of Peter Jackson or Guillermo del Toro.

Robin is now back with The Marten and the Scorpion, an equally rousing adventure that takes place in medieval Samarkand. The characters are as vivid and unforgettable as those of Wellside, the story and setting just as riveting, and the action and intrigue non-stop and cinematic. Below is the irresistible teaser for The Marten and the Scorpion:

Darya scrapes a living as a pickpocket on the streets of Samarkand, a diverse metropolis at the centre of the Silk Road. If she wants to keep scraping a living, she’ll have to pass her gang’s initiation: a death-defying climb across the city’s rooftops. But she’s so exhausted and malnourished that it seems impossible, and her time is running out.

When a forbidding swordswoman arrives in Samarkand from the East, and hires the gang to search for a mysterious box, Darya sees her chance. She has stumbled on two more recent arrivals, young caravan guards who are also interested in the box and whatever’s inside. They’re as formidable in combat as the swordswoman…and they can fly, leaping from building to building better than any pickpocket.

Darya makes them an offer: If they teach her their skill enough for her to pass her gang’s test, she’ll help them find the box first. Meanwhile, more factions are drawn into the hunt, including a rival street gang, a sadistic ex-Crusader, and the dreaded Nizari Assassins. And each of Darya’s allies has a separate, secret agenda. What’s inside this coveted box, who will end up possessing it, and to what use will it be put?

Today I get to share the stunning cover that Candra Hope has created for The Marten and the Scorpion, which perfectly distills and illuminates the novel’s picareque spirit and indomitable protagonists. Of course, the back of the final cover will be heaped with glowing reviews when the book comes out!

The Marten and the Scorpion will launch this fall. Keep a watch on the rooftops!