Above is the stunning cover for Aliette de Bodard‘s upcoming new novel, House of Shattered Wings, which was recently unveiled by Roc Books. I love all the details in the art — especially the smouldering feathers. I was luckily able to have a read of an early three chapters from the novel, thanks to Aliette’s agent, and I absolutely loved what I read. I really can’t wait to read the completed book. The novel is due to be published by Roc Books (a division of Penguin) in the US on August 20th, 2015. Gollancz have the UK rights, and will publish on September 1st, 2015. Both will also publish the sequel (I assume in 2016).

Here’s the synopsis:

In the late Twentieth Century, the streets of Paris are lined with haunted ruins. The Great Magicians’ War left a trail of devastation in its wake. The Grand Magasins have been reduced to piles of debris, Notre-Dame is a burnt-out shell, and the Seine has turned black with ashes and rubble and the remnants of the spells that tore the city apart. But those that survived still retain their irrepressible appetite for novelty and distraction, and The Great Houses still vie for dominion over France’s once grand capital.

Once the most powerful and formidable, House Silverspires now lies in disarray. Its magic is ailing; its founder, Morningstar, has been missing for decades; and now something from the shadows stalks its people inside their very own walls.

Within the House, three very different people must come together: a naive but powerful Fallen angel; an alchemist with a self-destructive addiction; and a resentful young man wielding spells of unknown origin. They may be Silverspires’ salvation—or the architects of its last, irreversible fall. And if Silverspires falls, so may the city itself.

I’ll be sure to share the UK cover, when it finally becomes available.