Shadow And Betrayal by Daniel Abraham

A sweeping, morally complex fantasy set in a mercantile, city-state world where magic works by binding living personifications—called andats—into service through poetic contracts; the story follows merchants, poets and rulers as ambition, marriage alliances and the strategic use of these living powers reshape trade and politics, unleashing betrayals, war and far-reaching consequences that force characters to reckon with the human costs of power, loyalty and vengeance.

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