Set in a darkly original alternative Renaissance Italy, Irenicon is a gripping adventure, a tragic love story and a very modern tale of redemption.
The river Irenicon was blasted through the middle of Rasenna in 1347 and now it is a permanent reminder to the feuding factions that nothing can stand in the way of the Concordian Empire. The artificial river, created overnight by Concordian engineers using the Wave, runs uphill. But the Wave is both weapon and mystery; not even the Concordians know how the river became conscious – and hostile.
But times are changing. Concordian engineer Captain Giovanni is ordered to bridge the Irenicon – not to reunite the sundered city, but to aid Concord's mighty armies, for the engineers have their sights set firmly on world domination and Rasenna is in their way.
Sofia Scaglieri will soon be seventeen, when she will become Contessa of Rasenna, but her inheritance is tainted: she can see no way of stopping the ancient culture of vendetta which divides her city. What she can't understand is why Giovanni is trying so hard to stop the feuding, or why he is prepared to risk his life, not just with her people, but also with the lethal water spirits – the buio – that infest the Irenicon.
Times are changing. And only the young Contessa and the enemy engineer Giovanni understand they have to change too, if they are to survive the coming devastation – for Concord is about to unleash the Wave again...
About the Author
Aidan Harte studied sculpture at the Florence Academy of Art and currently works as a sculptor in Dublin. Before discovering sculpture, he worked in animation and TV; in 2006 he created and directed the TV show Skunk Fu, which has been shown on Cartoon Network, Kids WB and the BBC.
Industry Reviews
'The book is a fountain of gorgeous detail, festooned with enriching codices and enlightening, subtly subsumed exposition' Sci-Fi Now. * Sci-Fi Now * 'Seriously impressed both by the quality of the ideas and the ingenuity with which they are explored in the text ... Irenicon is completely fascinating' Thinking About Books. * Thinking About Books * 'If there were stars for world-building Irenicon would be a five plus, no question' SFX. * SFX * 'I definitely recommend this one, a real unexpected find for me that I really enjoyed. 4.5 out of 5' Tenacious Reader. * Tenacious Reader * 'Harte is a brilliant new voice in historical fantasy, and this is quite simply the best piece of fantasy that I have read so far this year' Inter Zone magazine. * Inter Zone magazine * 'exciting and original amid the current fantasy landscape' Fantasy Book Critic. * Fantasy Book Critic * 'Harte manages to combine a series of intricate plots lines, intriguing characters and the creation of his version of renaissance Europe without ever becoming confusing ... Harte proves the genre can be as thought-provoking and intelligent as any other work of fiction ... he has created a world that could have easily stepped out of any history book, but which is infinitely more interesting' Blogcritics. * Blogcritics * The book is a fountain of gorgeous detail, festooned with enriching codices and enlightening, subtly subsumed exposition * Sci-Fi Now * Seriously impressed both by the quality of the ideas and the ingenuity with which they are explored in the text . . . Irenicon is completely fascinating * Thinking About Books * If there were stars for world-building Irenicon would be a five plus, no question. * SFX * I definitely recommend this one, a real unexpected find for me that I really enjoyed * Tenacious Reader * Harte is a brilliant new voice in historical fantasy, and this is quite simply the best piece of fantasy that I have read so far this year * Inter Zone * . . . exciting and original amid the current fantasy landscape . . . * Fantasy Book Critic * Harte manages to combine a series of intricate plot lines, intriguing characters and the creation of his version of renaissance Europe without ever becoming confusing ... Harte proves the genre can be as thought-provoking and intelligent as any other work of fiction ... he has created a world that could have easily stepped out of any history book, but which is infinitely more interesting. * Blogcritics *
