Arx: City of Broken Minds - by Edmund Hurst (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

A startling, character-driven debut of skilled writing and intelligence, Arx: City of Broken Minds is a standalone epic of grimdark fantasy.

In Arx, no-one remembers anything. Not the Flame Protests. Not the Sightless executioner. Not even themselves.

The story unwinds through the tales of three young characters:

Caelan: His memories have been stolen. All he has left is instinct and fear. Fear of the Fog-Eyes, mindless and drooling. The emptiness that lies in his future unless he can quiet the nameless voice screaming in his head. And he will burn Arx to ashes to avoid it.

Samantha: an asexual blacksmith and perpetual paternal disappointment, knows exactly what she'll be remembered for: Callisteel. A mythic metal that can pierce reality, it waits for her beneath the smog that scars the sky black. No matter the cost.

Ruairi: a famer boy with a twisted spine, heads to Arx desperate to avoid being pitied. On the way, he rescues a man with violet eyes. His reward is a nightmare of blue fire and blood that pushes him to the edge of what his broken body can take - and beyond.

Mindbreakers walk once more in Arx, drawn to the spire of unbroken metal that hangs like a blade against the rotten heart of the city. Now their master has returned, it is only a matter of time before it awakens and slices the connection between reality and memory for good...

Review Quotes

"Rich worldbuilding, fascinating concept and complex characters" - Jacey Bedford, author of The Amber Crown