My name is Jax.

That is the name granted to me by my human masters.

I am a slave.

But I shall be free.

Set in a world that might have been, of mechanical men and alchemical dreams, the new novel from Ian Tregillis confirms his place as one of the most original new voices in speculative fiction.

PRAISE FOR IAN TREGILLIS

"A major new talent." George R.R. Martin

"Tremendous." Cory Doctorow

"Addictively brilliant." io9

"Exciting and intense." Publishers Weekly

"Eloquent and utterly compelling." Kirkus

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"There are a number of marvelous action scenes, hallucinogenic in their over-the-top big-screen violence, but the real attraction here is Tregilli's narrative ruthlessness, which manifest as willingness to take his character to the brink of hell...and then, rather than yank them back at the last second, push them in."―*SciFi Magazine on* The Mechanical **

"A major talent."―George R.R. Martin on Bitter Seeds**

"Superb alternate history filled with clockwork men and ethical questions on the nature of free will. ... Tregillis's complex setting is elegantly delivered, and the rich characters and gripping story really make this tale soar."―*Publishers Weekly on* The Mechanical **