Released June 10, 2014
K.V. Johansen‘s latest novel, The Leopard, has been published by Pyr.
The Leopard was chosen for Kirkus Review‘s Best Speculative Fiction Reads for June, and io9.com’s Most Astounding Must-Read Science Fiction And Fantasy Books In June.
Ahjvar, the assassin known as the Leopard, wants only to die, to end the curse that binds him to a life of horror. Although he has no reason to trust the goddess Catairanach or her messenger Deyandara, fugitive heir to a murdered tribal queen, desperation leads him to accept her bargain: if he kills the mad prophet known as the Voice of Marakand, Catairanach will free him of his curse. Accompanying him on his mission is the one person he has let close to him in a lifetime of death, a runaway slave named Ghu. Ahj knows Ghu is far from the half-wit others think him, but in Marakand, the great city where the caravan roads of east and west meet, both will need to face the deepest secrets of their souls, if either is to survive the undying enemies who hunt them and find a way through the darkness that damns the Leopard.
To Marakand, too, come a Northron wanderer and her demon verrbjarn lover, carrying the obsidian sword Lakkariss, a weapon forged by the Old Great Gods to bring their justice to the seven devils who escaped the cold hells so long before.
Review: “…the work highlights Johansen’s strengths. A surprising number of characters and plot threads are deftly interwoven…” – Publishers Weekly
Review: “An involving and deftly written novel of escape and capture, love and loss, and battles both mental and physical…. Johansen’s writing style is assured and elegant, subtle and powerful…”– ForeWord Reviews
For more about the Marakand series and the author, see K.V. Johansen’s website at www.kvj.ca