Csorwe is our main point of view character. She is an Oshaarun, they are a race that looks like Orcs from Warcraft. When the story starts she is the Chosen Bride of the Unspoken One, a chthonic god of death, privation, and prophecy. She is expected to sacrifice herself in a month when Belthandros Sethennai shows up looking for information about the magical Mcguffin, the Reliquary of Pentrevesse. He is a wizard from Tlaanthothe. This race is described as very like the elves from Warcraft. When Csorwe goes to sacrifice herself she meets Belthandros. He gives her the choice of leaving with him, rather than being a sacrifice. This kicks off the first part of the story.
They travel through the gates to a trade hub where Csorwe receives training in weapons and language. Belthandros continues to search for his Mcguffin. The plan is to restore Belthandros to his position ruling Tlaanthothe. Eventually they succeed. Along the way Csorwe meets Talasseres Charossa. She doesn't like him. After a transition the second part of the story begins.
Belthandros has read an academic paper. He thinks the Mcguffin might be on a dead world, so he sends Csorwe and Talasseres to check it out. They travel to the dead world and meet the archeological team from the Imperial Quincuriate led by the scholar that wrote the paper Belthandros read. Csorwe hits it off with one of them a elf woman named Qanwa Shuthmili. It turns out the Mcguffin is here and a necromancer is trying to get it first, they just need Shuthmili to get it. From here the situation escalates with a series of high risk plans.
I receive the ebook as part of the Hugo packet because A.K. Larkwood is a nominee for the Astounding Award. This is an award for the best new writer. As you might expect this is a really enjoyable story. Csorwe is straightforward, capable, clever, and sarcastic. Shuthmili is brilliant, capable, and sweet. The interplay and affection between them are lovely. The worldbuilding makes me think that Warcraft is a major source of inspiration. Having said that the worldbuilding works better here than I've seen in the games, where it is just background to the scenarios.
I've got two criticisms. The first is that transition from the first section to the second. The first section wrapped up all the major threads it was dealing with. This made it feel like a complete novella. This led to the second section feeling like it should be a separate book. The issue is the pacing in that second section. It felt like the fallout of each risky plan led to the next one being immediately created, and with each of the half dozen plus plans the stakes escalated. This left me tired of the story before the final one actually brought a happy ending. It would have been nice to have something break up the tension, perhaps a few short scenes of Csorwe and Shuthmili getting to know one another better.
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