The Nebula nominated author of Isles of the Forsaken returns with another novel of magic and rebellion . . . Revolution has broken out in the Forsaken Isles. The islanders have risen up to drive out the Inning Empire, but still they have no one to unite them. Only an Ison can do that—a leader whose heart has been cleansed by the curing of dhota-nur. The power to create an Ison lies in the hands of three people, and none of them are heroes. Spaeth has the ancient Lashnura heritage, but does she have the stature? Harg has the military genius, but he utterly rejects the price of dhota-nur. And Nathaway, the Inning outsider, finds himself unexpectedly holding the key to the future of the Isles. Perilously poised between Inning conquest and the savage powers of ancient forces, the Forsakens need them to decide. But for an Ison to rise, each of them must betray one of the others.

The Forsaken Isles are on the brink of revolution. Three individuals are about to push it over the edge—in this novel by a three-time Nebula Award nominee. Spaeth Dobrin is destined to life as a ritual healer—but as the dhotamar of the tiny, isolated island of Yora, she will be caught in a perpetual bond between herself and the people she has cured. Is it slavery, or is it love? Meanwhile, Harg, the troubled and rebellious veteran, returns to find his home transformed by conquest. And Nathaway, the well-intentioned imperialist, arrives to teach Spaeth’s people “civilization,” only to become an explorer in the strange realm of the Forsakens. As a final showdown looms between ancient forces and the new overlords of the land, Spaeth is about to be propelled into a vortex of war, temptation, and—just possibly—freedom.

To defeat her enemies . . . she must make them immortal. Only men are allowed into the wells of vision. But Cara’s mother defies this edict and is killed, but not before returning with a vision of terrible and wonderful things that are to come . . . and all because of five-year-old Cara. Years later, evil destroys the rest of Cara’s family. In a rage, Cara uses magic to transform herself into a male warrior. But she finds that to defeat her enemies, she must break the cycle of violence, not continue it. As Cara’s mother’s vision of destiny is fulfilled, the wonderful follows the terrible, and a quest for revenge becomes a quest for eternal life.

Periphery is as much about the female perspective of the future as it is an exploration of individual identity in a world increasingly dominated by technology. How do we define our humanity, if not by the way we connect to others? Yet, even in the realm of the physical and the sensual, technology continues to change perspectives on what it means to be human. Through the stories collected in Periphery, we experience the intersection between a number of possible futures, and how we will continue to discover through our fallible emotions what it means to be human.

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