Stories of the Raksura: The Dead City & The Dark Earth Below | Martha Wells

Stories of the Raksura: Volume Two

Accolades & Praise

• Award Nomination: The Books of the Raksura series was officially nominated for the 2018 Hugo Award for Best Series.

Extended Synopsis

Martha Wells continues to enthusiastically ignore genre conventions in her exploration of the fascinating world of the Raksura. Her novellas and short stories contain all the elements fans have come to love from the Raksura books: courtly intrigue and politics, unfolding mysteries that reveal an increasingly strange wider world, and threats both mundane and magical.

The Dead City is a tale of Moon before he came to the Indigo Court. As Moon is fleeing the ruins of Saraseil, a groundling city destroyed by the Fell, he flies right into another potential disaster when a friendly caravanserai finds itself under attack by a strange force.

In The Dark Earth Below, Moon and Jade face their biggest adventure yet; their first clutch. But even as Moon tries to prepare for impending fatherhood, members of the Kek village in the colony tree’s roots go missing, and searching for them only leads to more mysteries as the court is stalked by an unknown enemy. This world is a dangerous place full of strange mysteries, where the future can never be taken for granted and must always be fought for with wits and ingenuity, and often tooth and claw.

About the Author

Martha Wells is the celebrated author of the Hugo Award-nominated Books of the Raksura series. She is renowned for crafting intricate, imaginative worlds and engaging characters that continually captivate readers across the science fiction and fantasy genres.

Reader Targeting

• Fans of epic fantasy who enjoy deep, non-human cultural world-building and shape-shifter lore.
• Readers looking for fast-paced, character-driven novellas filled with mystery and action.
• Enthusiasts of the Hugo Award-nominated Raksura series seeking to expand their journey with Moon and Jade.

Bibliographic & Physical Specifications

Frequently Asked Questions

What stories are included in this volume?
This volume contains two novellas: The Dead City, which follows Moon before he arrived at the Indigo Court, and The Dark Earth Below, which features Moon and Jade preparing for their first clutch.

Is this a full-length novel?
No, this book is a collection of two shorter novellas that expand upon the lore and characters of the Books of the Raksura series.

Where does this fit into the series?
These novellas generally serve to fill in gaps and offer deeper explorations of the world, bridging elements between the major novels in the Books of the Raksura series.

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