Brilliant, bookish Christopher Marlowe is fifteen years old and desperate to qualify for a scholarship to the King's School in order to escape his brutal father.

But now the only man who could have helped him has been murdered... and the killers are looking for Kit.

Elizabeth Bear was born on the same day as Frodo and Bilbo Baggins, but in a different year. She is the Hugo, Sturgeon, Locus, and Campbell Award winning author of 30 novels and over a hundred short stories, and her hobbies of rock climbing, archery, kayaking, and horseback riding have led more than one person to accuse her of prepping for a portal fantasy adventure.

She lives in Massachusetts with her husband, writer Scott Lynch.