A Shadow in Summer
core novel 2006 The Long Price Quartet
Record
| First published | 2006 |
|---|---|
| Original language |  EN |
| Work type | novel |
| Canon status | core |
| Reader rating | 3.64 (13,929 ratings, collected 2026-09-14) |
| Page count | 336 |
| First-edition ISBN | 9780765313409 |
| Internal chronology | 1 |
Synopsis
In the city-state of Saraykeht, whose economic power rests on a bound spirit called Seedless, an andat controlled by the poet-sorcerer Heshai, a foreign empire schemes to eliminate Heshai so that the andat will die and take the city's prosperity down with it. The plot draws in Heshai's reluctant apprentice Itani Noyga, known to few as the disguised heir Otah Machi, along with Liat Chokavi, a young trader caught between loyalty and ambition, and Seedless itself, whose freedom from bondage would mean the andat's destruction and Saraykeht's ruin alike. As covert agents move against Heshai and the city's fragile magical economy, the andat's own resentment of its captivity becomes as dangerous a force as any outside conspiracy, setting Otah on a path that will define the rest of his life.
Where it sits
- Universe: The Long Price Quartet
- Series: The Long Price Quartet core; position 1 of 4 in the series' recorded order
- Author: Daniel Abraham
Awards (verified)
- Locus Award (Best First Novel (reader poll)), 2007: finalist; Locus reader poll placement: 6th place, First Novel category.
Notes
- From the series record (The Long Price Quartet): Core Canon = all 4 novels of the completed quartet (Tor Books, 2006-2009). No companion/Expanded Canon material found. Later 2-in-1 omnibus editions (Shadow and Betrayal; Seasons of War) repackage the same 4 texts, not new works, per this project's standing edition-vs-work distinction.
Neighbouring works
Publication order and internal chronology are tracked as two separate orderings, but they resolve to the exact same sequence for this book, so one combined line is shown instead of two identical ones.
- Reading order, within the series The Long Price Quartet: position 1 of 4: next A Betrayal in Winter (2007)
Sources
- FictionDB: The Long Price Quartet
- Tor Publishing Group: A Shadow in Summer
- https://long-price-quartet.fandom.com/wiki/A_Shadow_in_Summer
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Shadow_in_Summer
- sfadb: Daniel Abraham
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