Description
Point of Hopes by Melissa Scott and Lisa A. Barnett is Book 1 of the Astreiant Series. 5 more books in the series, including a new novella, coming in 2024!
The city of Astreiant is full of magic, danger and bureaucracy, and never moreso than when something or someone is making guild apprentices disappear without a trace. Philip Eslingen has just been discharged from his mercenary company and as a Leaguer and a stranger, makes an ideal suspect. Fortunately for him, Pointsman Nicolas Rathe from the Point of Hopes station doesn’t agree, but he knows the only way to prove that is to find the missing children and the real culprits. Together they must follow a twisted trail of deceit and magic in a city on the brink of exploding into violence. If they can’t learn to work together, the results could be catastrophic, even fatal. And if they can’t trust each other, the price could be higher than either of them realize.
Queen of Swords (verified owner) –
“In fact, Point of Hopes makes it clear you can take an early Renaissance setting, not quite a analog of our own world, and improve on it by making it queer friendly, and balanced in terms of the roles and social power and position of women and men in society. This is a lesson that Point of Hopes got right three decades ago. And gets it right today, now that it is widely available again.”
Paul Weimer, Nerds of a Feather. Read the rest of the review here – http://www.nerds-feather.com/2024/08/book-review-point-of-hopes-by-lisa.html
Queen of Swords (verified owner) –
Scott and Barnett spin an epic tale that blends astrology, predictions from stars, a land of two moons and magic. The world building is stellar, especially when it comes to the society – a hierarchal culture that relies heavily on each individual’s nativity and star alignments, right to the second when and individual was born. ”
Liminal Fiction, Reviewer Maryann – read rest of the review here: https://www.limfic.com/2024/06/27/review-point-of-hopes-melissa-scott-lisa-a-barnett/