The Awakened City

Acclaimed as one of fantasy fiction’s most original and provocative voices, Victoria Strauss has created a unique world and repressive religious culture in her two-volume masterwork, the Way of Ârata. A magnificent tale of intolerance, magic, and holy war, the duology explores deep questions of faith and humanity as it transports readers to the kingdom of Arsace, a troubled realm where the newly reborn Brethren cruelly enforce the strict dictates of their once-outlawed deity, Ârata.

The saga chronicles the Brethren’s unrelenting persecution and attempted destruction of the mystical Shapers, powerful renegade mages who escaped into the sacred Burning Land years before, when the Brethren themselves were the victims of a tyrannical atheistic government. It is the story of a traveler in both worlds, a devout Âratist priest and Shaper named Gyalo Amdo Samchen, and the remarkable journey he makes from disciple to doubter to lover of the mysterious Dreamer Axane, and ultimately, to man of peace.