Post-apocalyptic Paris is ruled by the fallen angels of the Great Houses. The previously prosperous House Silverspires is on the verge of destruction. Its founder, Morningstar, mysteriously disappeared decades ago. A series of supernatural killings in Silverspires leads three very different people to investigate. This book was written by
Aliette De Bodard and was published in 2015. Followed by
The House of Binding Thorns and
The House of Sundering Flames.
This book contains examples of:
- Affably Evil:
- Morningstar is unfailingly polite, even though he's willing to betray his own apprentices for the purpose of defending House Silverspires.
- Similarly, Asmodeus is always cordial, if sometimes sarcastic. If you're part of House Hawthorn, there's nothing he won't do for you. But if you're against House Hawthorn, there's nothing he won't do to you.
- All Myths Are True: Fallen angels, Vietnamese deities, and ancient Greek Furies all appear, and it's mentioned that many other mythical beings exist.
- Amnesiacs are Innocent: Newly fallen angels are unable to remember the reason they fell, so they are often naive and childlike. The only exception is Morningstar, who didn't lose his memory at all. When Morningstar is resurrected without most of his memories, Selene is disturbed by how innocent and guileless he seems.
- Back from the Dead: Resurrection spells are thought to be impossible, but House Hawthorn uses them to resurrect Elphon, and Morningstar. The only problem is that the resurrection spell brings people back without their memories, which is why Asmodeus doesn't use it to bring back his lover. Phillippe's understanding of life and death as a wheel allows him to resurrect Isabelle with her memories, but his fear that she will be corrupted by the power of her Fallen magic causes her to come back as human.
- Blood-Stained Glass Windows: There is a showdown in Notre-Dame de Paris involving fallen angels, an alchemist, and the vengeful ghost of a mortal apprentice betrayed by Morningstar/Lucifer himself. Then the Big Bad causes a giant supernatural banyan tree to envelop Notre-Dame and its surroundings, reducing it to even more of a ruin than it already was after the magical apocalypse, and then blows up its doors.
- The Coup: Madeleine fled House Hawthorn because of Asmodeus's bloody takeover.
- Cruel and Unusual Death: The killer's MO is to drain every piece of magic out of the Fallen it targets. This is incredibly painful on its own, but what's worse is the consequences—Fallen bodies were never meant for the physics of Earth and rely on magic to function; without it, their anatomy fails and kills them from the inside out.
- Fallen Angel: It has numerous fallen angels, including Lucifer himself (known as Morningstar) living among mortals and various mythological creatures in a postapocalyptic alternate-1920s Paris. Fallen angels have amnesia - they must have committed some sin against God, but they don't remember what they did to fall. And worse, roving gangs prey on newly fallen angels to harvest their bones which they grind to make an addictive Fantastic Drug.
- Fantastic Drug: Angels' bones can be ground up and made into an addictive drug. Gangs hunt newly fallen angels to harvest the bones, and a main character (Madeleine) is an addict.
- Heroic Suicide: When Phillipe, Madeleine, and Isabelle find Morningstar's grave, they see that he apparently killed himself in a ritual to protect Silverspires.
- How the Mighty Have Fallen: House Silverspires used to be the most powerful House in Paris. Now, with their founder gone, they are in disarray.
- Not What It Looks Like: Phillippe shows up to Samandriel's room moments after the killer. Selene doesn't think he did it, but she throws him in the dungeons anyway to appease Asmodeus, who very much does.
- Our Dragons Are Different: There are Vietnamese dragons, which are Eastern dragons that live underwater (though the non-draconic characters can somehow breathe in their realm) and have antlers. Western dragons are rumored to have been summoned in the past, but probably don't exist, though all myths may well be true.
- Razor Wings: Morningstar used metal wings, the only one of the Fallen to use any wings at all.
- Really 700 Years Old: All of the Fallen are centuries old, though they look younger. Phillipe is millennia old but appears to be in his twenties.
- Vengeful Ghost: The main villain is Nightingale, Morningstar's former apprentice. Morningstar used her as a fall guy for murder and gave her to House Hawthorn to be tortured and executed, as House Hawthorn knew that someone using magic in Morningstar's style had killed one of theirs and wouldn't back down until they had the culprit. After her death, she swore to destroy him and his House.
- The War Just Before: The Great Houses War, which caused massive destruction. The Fallen drafted soldiers from French colonies to assist in the war, including Phillipe, which is the main reason he resents the Houses.
- Wham Line: When Asmodeus tells Madeleine that Morningstar didn't carry her to House Silverspires, he did.
