Emperor Tenet intends to pull all people into the Sienese Empire. Wen Alder must play a dangerous game if he wants to protect his people, as he enters the service of the empire to learn all its magical secrets. 'The closest I've ever come to finding something comparable to The Name of the Wind ' The Chronicler My name is Wen Alder. My name is Foolish Cur. All my life, I have been torn between two legacies: my father's, whose family trace their roots back to the right hand of the Emperor. My mother's, whose family want to bring the Empire to its knees. I can choose between them - between the safety of empire or the freedom of rebellion - or I can seek out a better path . . . one filled with magic and secrets, unbound by suffocating legacy, but one which could shake my world to its very foundation. For my quest will bring me face to face with the gods themselves. And they have been watching. Waiting to make their move . . . The first book in the Pact and Pattern series. Fans of Robin Hobb, Brandon Sanderson's Mistborn and R.F. Kuang's The Poppy War will love the magic running through every page.