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The Twice-Drowned Saint Paperback – February 6, 2023
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A mind-bending new novel from World Fantasy Award winner C. S. E. Cooney
"Many have spoken about how angels can be both terrifying yet beautiful, but few have successfully captured the idea well—until The Twice-Drowned Saint, at least. A sumptuous, saw-toothed read, it is a jewel box of a novel, glittering with a thousand details and a bright longing we're all familiar with, this want for a place better than we're in now."
—Cassandra Khaw, Bram Stoker and World Fantasy award-nominated author of Nothing but Blackened Teeth
World Fantasy Award winner C. S. E. Cooney takes readers on a journey of wonder, terror, and joy in this mind-bending, heartfelt novel. Contained inside impassable walls of ice, the city of Gelethel endures under the rule of fourteen angels, who provide for all their subject's needs and mete out grisly punishments for blasphemous infractions, with escape attempts one of the worst possible sins.
"Our narrator is Ishtu Q'Aleth (Ish for short), the new owner of Gelethel's only cinema (having taken over from her father). More importantly, she's also the secret saint of Alizar the Eleven-Eyed, Seventh Angel of Gelethel, and one of the fourteen angels who holds dominion over the city. As Ish explains it, at the age of eight she turned down Alizar's offer to be his saint, but, in a moment that speaks to the novel's charm, the young girl and the all-knowing angel agreed to continue their relationship in secret after bonding over their shared love of cinema. Near thirty years later Ish is desperate to get her sick parents out of the city, a near-impossible task given Gelethel is surrounded by an impenetrable blue serac. But Ish's situation grows even more complicated when a new arrival to the city, a girl named Betony, appears as Alizar's true saint. There's so much to adore about the The Twice-Drowned Saint … [a] sublime short novel." —Locus
Cover art, cover design and interior black and white illustrations by Lasse Paldanius, lassepaldanius.com.
"With The Twice-Drowned Saint, C. S. E. Cooney once again crafts dazzling feats of imagination grounded in human frailties and plunges her audience inside head-first. Her boldly unique characters live in a fever dream of balletic, graceful description that will make you gasp, even as they find their own escape through the seemingly-mundane world of movies. Like nothing else you've ever read, or will ever read."
—Randee Dawn, author of Tune in Tomorrow
"Fabulous Gelethel is a city of godless angels who intoxicate themselves on human death, but within its icy walls a hidden saint and a dissident angel are hatching a plan. This story left me wrecked and rebuilt: it's a truly glorious tale of family bonds, forgiveness, sacrifice, courage … and how gods are born. Written with Cooney's signature soaring prose, humor, and imagination, this tale shines a light on cruelties both fantastical and familiar. It honors sorrow and embraces joy—I will treasure it always"
—Francesca Forrest, author of The Inconvenient God
"C. S. E. Cooney's prose is like a cake baked by the fairies." —Theodora Goss
"C. S. E. Cooney is one of the most moving, daring, and plainly beautiful voices to come out of recent fantasy. She's a powerhouse with a wink in her eye and a song in each pocket." —Catherynne M. Valente
- Print length206 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- Publication dateFebruary 6, 2023
- Dimensions5.25 x 0.52 x 8 inches
- ISBN-101732644098
- ISBN-13978-1732644090
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Product details
- Publisher : Mythic Delirium Books (February 6, 2023)
- Language : English
- Paperback : 206 pages
- ISBN-10 : 1732644098
- ISBN-13 : 978-1732644090
- Item Weight : 8.5 ounces
- Dimensions : 5.25 x 0.52 x 8 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #1,159,875 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #6,145 in Historical Fantasy (Books)
- #16,804 in Paranormal Fantasy Books
- Customer Reviews:
About the author
C. S. E. Cooney is the World Fantasy Award-winning author of Bone Swans: Stories. Other books include The Twice-Drowned Saint, Saint Death’s Daughter, Dark Breakers, Desdemona and the Deep, The Witch in the Almond Tree and Other Stories, and the poetry collection How to Flirt in Faerieland and Other Wild Rhymes. Forthcoming from Outland Entertainment is Negocios Infernales, a TTRPG she co-designed with her husband Carlos Hernandez.
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- Reviewed in the United States on November 28, 2023Brilliant! An unequivocal romp into a world I honestly would never have imagined. The voice of Ish, our narrative, is so original, one I've never heard of before. The language and Idioms kept me laughing hilariously and yet the heart of the story is certainly a serious one. Well, if you are interested in being thoroughly entertained, outrageously engaged, and devilishly surprised, read this one for sure!
- Reviewed in the United States on May 31, 2023I won an ARC of this book in a giveaway. It took me two tries to get into it, but I'm glad I persevered.
I'd describe the plot, but that would do a tedious disservice to the writing, so I shan't. Know that there are angels who rule a closed-off city, saints who serve them, rebels, artists, and gods. Know that there is a movie theater run by the 38-year-old protagonist. Know that you will love the "bad uncles."
Good book. Go read it!
- Reviewed in the United States on December 17, 2023I enjoyed how thoroughly different the world created for this book was from anything I’ve read. Then again, it was also rather violent and often difficult to read because of that. But all’s well that ends well, or semi-well (don’t want to give away the ending).
- Reviewed in the United States on January 9, 2024Loved this! Absolutely devoured it. Wish there was lots more in this world! Looking forward to reading her other books
- Reviewed in the United States on November 9, 2023This is SO GOOD. I love the characters and the plot moves right along. The world building is so smooth and deft that it is barely detectable.
- Reviewed in the United States on October 25, 2024Even though I love the genre as a whole, individual fantasy books are a bit of a gamble for me. The writing style, themes, and use of tropes has to be right or I get distracted from the story and stop enjoying it. This means I approach each book with caution, reading the back cover, the first line, and just a snippet from somewhere in the middle. Most of the time this gets me a suggestion of whether or not I'll like the book, but with The Twice-Drowned Saint I got an overwhelming feeling of curiosity.
A bit part of it was because of C.S.E. Cooney's writing style for this book. The prose immediately made me think of the old Ray Bradbury stories I grew up reading. I loved carefully crafted sentences and word choices are filled them with subtle implications, and The Twice-Drowned Saint has both. Add to this a fantastic setting that is revealed in its strangeness step-by-step, reminiscent of the surreality in the works by Roger Zelazny.
But The Twice-Drowned isn't just style. I quickly got pulled into the story and the lives of the characters, and I wound up with the sign of a great book: I keep thinking about it long after I've finished reading.
- Reviewed in the United States on March 8, 2023The subtitle of “The Twice-Drowned Saint” tells us it’s “A Tale of Fabulous Gelethel, the Invisible Wonders Who Rule There, and the Apostates Who Try to Escape Its Walls.” The invisible wonders are angels—originally fifteen, but one forsook the city, so now there are only fourteen. Gelethel is surrounded by an impregnable wall of serac (I looked it up—it means iceberg ice) that protects it from the wars raging in the outside world. Half-starved refugees will do anything to be granted sanctuary, and the angels have developed an unfortunate addiction to human sacrifice as an offering in exchange for citizenship.
Only one of the angels doesn’t participate in this feeding frenzy: Alizar the Eleven-Eyed. He and his hidden saint, Ishtu (herself the daughter of an immigrant), aren’t down with the status quo, and although they aren’t actively plotting anything, change it is a-coming.
But the story isn’t just or even mainly about overthrowing an unholy city; it’s also about family bonds, forgiveness, sacrifice, bravery … and how gods are born. TOTALLY MY JAM.