A Strange and Stubborn Endurance: 1 (Tithenai Chronicles)

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At this, my lungs and brain forgot how breathing worked, denying me that function for seconds that passed like minutes. My poleaxed expression must have been the expected response, however, for Father waited out my breathlessness with no apparent chagrin. Compelling characters and a fascinating world. I can’t wait to read the next book.” – Martha Wells, New York Times bestselling author of the Murderbot Diaries, on An Accident of Stars An emotionally gripping, delightful queer fantasy filled with political intrigue, family dynamics, and tender moments that will grab readers' hearts and minds.”— Library Journal, starred review Many a reader longing for a sense of homecoming in the realm of romantic fantasy will find it in A Strange and Stubborn Endurance.”—Jacqueline Carey Her smile softened at the mention of her son, and the conversation turned swiftly to talk of his development. Both then and later, I offered up as much admiration of Jarien as one with no real knowledge of infants can for a six-month-old; I praised the quality of the rooms I was given and the food I was offered, both of which were exceptional; and only then, at the tail end of supper, did Father finally invite me into his study.

That being settled within me, I found myself admiring the new vin Aaro lands—which is to say, the old vin Mica lands—as a traveller might, without thought to their upkeep or earnings. We’d passed a small township earlier on, and since ignored the diversions of smaller, only occasionally signposted roads that presumably led to the various other farms and hamlets now under Father’s purview. Before vin Mica’s folly, trade had flourished along this route, goods moving to and from neighbouring Tithena and Khytë through a single pass in the otherwise forbidding Snowjaw Mountains. Though tenants and traders here had likely suffered for their previous lord’s mismanagement, the physical beauty of the land, at least, remained untouched. The road on which we travelled wound prettily through late-fruiting orchards and gentle hills, the bright grass dotted with flowers. The autumn sky was powder blue, shading to lilac around the gleaming caps of the distant peaks, which shone white this late in the year. Pleasant birdsong coloured the air like music. Agent Hannah Bowman said, “I couldn’t imagine a better artistic fit of author and editor than Foz and Claire, and we’re delighted to have found such a perfect home for this book.”Inwardly, Cae sighed; outwardly, he straightened. “Tiern Caethari Aeduria,” he said, softly. “Or Cae, if you like.” Blending intrigue and queer romance, A Strange and Stubborn Endurance stitches together two cultures and re-embroiders gender conventions. Meadows combines the personal and political through an elegant voice, and finds time for tender moments of healing.”—E.J. Beaton, author of The Councillor Markel is wonderful, loyal character. He cannot speak, and he and Vel have developed their own sign language. They care deeply for each other, as Markel has stood beside him since they were children, when Vel took him in from one of the poor areas of Ralia. He desperately wants Vel to be happy, and tells him he can allow himself to feel again. Their relationship was truly touching. There were many other characters in the book. The envoy, Keletha, is gender fluid, and they are quite disgusted at how their relationships were treated when they arrive at Ralia. Two of the women soldiers accompanying them were married for five years, but given Ralian views on same sex relationships, they were not allowed to be together. It is Keletha who says “fifteen days on mountain roads, and I had rather ride them over again than subject myself to his [Vel’s father] hospitality.” They were such an amazing character. Whatever else could be said of the late Lord Ennan vin Mica—and there was a lot to be said, his lateness being unlamented by virtually everyone who hadn’t joined him in it—he’d certainly loved his horses. The grandeur of the stables reflected this fact, and if the estate’s grooms were at all perturbed by the still-recent change in their livery, it didn’t show in their enthusiasm. I’d scarcely dismounted before a wiry, capable-looking man appeared to take Quip’s reins from me, while a short youth did the same with Markel’s Grace. They had the stamp of father and son, or possibly uncle and nephew; their eyes were the same watchful grey, while their noses shared a distinctive crook. Their skin was lighter than Markel’s tawny brown or my own dark olive—a deep tan that came partly from outdoor living, but whose golden undertones suggested more than a drop of Tithenai blood. Looking so unlike my own sire, I always marvelled at such likenesses in others, though as she’d been the handsomer parent, did I say it myself, I never grudged a whit of my mother’s heritage.

An engrossing political intrigue and romance set in a world that feels complex and lived-in; beautifully realised and a pleasure to read!" - Sam Hawke BT] You are a lover and prolific writer of fanfiction. What was your first brush with fanfiction? And how has fanfiction influenced your work as an author?Blending intrigue and queer romance, A Strange and Stubborn Endurance stitches together two cultures and re-embroiders gender conventions. Meadows combines the personal and political through an elegant voice, and finds time for tender moments of healing." - E J Beaton

Well!” said Father, bright and final. “We can discuss the particulars more tomorrow, but as your friend has come all this way, I shan’t keep you from him—unless,” he said, with a certain slow awareness of my discomfort, “you’d rather I make your excuses? Sun knows, I’d understand if you’d rather take some time to yourself—” BT] A Strange and Stubborn Endurance is a lot of things: a love story, a story about healing, friendship, cultural roles and the damage they can do, and recovery from trauma. How did you balance everything so well? Did the story organically grow as you wrote it? My reply was forestalled by the sudden appearance of the man himself, trailed by a nursemaid carrying baby Jarien. Remarriage certainly suited Father; I hadn’t seen him so hale in years. His paunch was gone, new muscle firming his arms and shoulders, eyes bright, skin clear. Even before the awful wrangling of what was now called the Dissension, the decade or so in which a loose cadre of antagonistic nobles had stoked political strife within Ralia, and which had finally ended, somewhat anticlimactically, with the exposure of Lord Ennan vin Mica’s plans for rebellion and the arrest, imprisonment and/or execution of his various co-conspirators, my mother’s death had wearied him on a level I’d been too young to fully comprehend, for all that I witnessed it daily. But not even civil peace had eased him as Lady Sine did; or perhaps that was Jarien’s doing, if not the two in combination. Either way, his positive transformation threw into sharp relief my own, inverse trajectory, and in that moment, had he asked for the truth, I would have confessed to everything—even, perhaps, beyond my culpability.Many a reader longing for a sense of homecoming in the realm of romantic fantasy will find it in A Strange and Stubborn Endurance." - Jacqueline Carey

TheYou know the real deal when you see it. A Strange and Stubborn Endurance is that book and Foz Meadow is that author. I haven’t gobbled up a book so fast in years and in one sitting I knew that we have an author who has the potential to be a big deal for us. It’s an amazing fantasy with incredible characters and a male/male romance that is by turns sweet and sultry. It’s an unflinching exploration of trauma and healing, of gender and identity, and of how one comes to terms with self-worth, and on top of it all, a delicious mystery plotline that I didn’t solve until the big reveal—and THAT hasn’t happened to me in a very long time. I am so proud and excited to bring this author to our list!”