Split Worlds: Between Two Thorns

Finished reading Between Two Thorns, the first in Emma Newman's The Split Worlds trilogy:

Something is wrong in Aquae Sulis, Bath’s secret mirror city. 

The new season is starting and the Master of Ceremonies is missing. Max, an Arbiter of the Split Worlds Treaty, is assigned with the task of finding him with no one to help but a dislocated soul and a mad sorcerer. 

There is a witness but his memories have been bound by magical chains only the enemy can break. A rebellious woman trying to escape her family may prove to be the ally Max needs. 

But can she be trusted? And why does she want to give up eternal youth and the life of privilege she’s been born into?

It's rollicking good fun. Humans like you and me ('mundanes') live on one side of the mirror, in Mundanus. On the far other side of the mirror is a world of Fay Lords and Ladies, who inhabit a 'beautiful prison' in Exilium. Creatures of great aesthetic and no morals.

In between the two, you have the Nether. Certain cities: Bath, London and Oxford, have mirror images in the Nether. Anchored to both the Nether and Mundanus by magic, their ruling families forever young and glorious.

The worlds are policed by the Arbiters, people with dislocated souls, who cannot be tricked by the faeries or their 'puppets' because they can't have their emotions manipulated.

Ever passed an old building and wondered what's inside? Possibly more than you think.

There's plenty more to come in The Split Worlds series, and if you pop over to The Split Worlds website, you'll find loads of short stories to pass the time whilst you wait. There's even a role-play masked ball slated for May 2016.

Emma is also a professional voice artist, Hugo-nominated for her Tea & Jeopardy podcast, and the narrator for Those Rosy Hours at Mazandaran audiobook.