Called "violent, poetic and compulsively readable" by Maclean's, science fiction author Tobias S. Buckell is a New York Times bestselling writer and World Fantasy Award winner. He is biracial, and was born in the Caribbean, grew up in Grenada, and spent time in the British and US Virgin Islands. His Xenowealth series begins with Crystal Rain. Along with other standalone novels and his almost one hundred stories, Buckell's works have been translated into twenty different languages. He has been nominated for the Hugo and Nebula Awards, and the Astounding Award for Best New Science Fiction Author.

Buckell currently lives in Bluffton, Ohio with his wife and two daughters, where he teaches Creative Writing at Bluffton University. He's online at http: //www.TobiasBuckell.com and is also an instructor at the Stonecoast MFA in Creative Writing program.

"In a city where books are forbidden, the life of Lilith, the youngest royal of Ninetha, has been one of hard training. But Lilith's days have also contained many pleasures, including privileges of the Cornucopia, a mystical source of limitless bounty. Lilith has never seen a book, and she never expects to encounter one within the safety of the citadel. When Ishmael, an outcast librarian, arrives outside the Afriq Gate, Lilith saves him from immediate execution by her father's second-in-command, the zealot Kira. When Lilith's curiosity draws her to Ishmael, she lets slip her family's most dangerous secret to Kira, sparking a deadly rebellion and an unexpected journey full of stunning revelations."--