No Present Like Time
core novel 2005 The Fourlands
Record
| First published | 2005 |
|---|---|
| Original language |  EN |
| Work type | novel |
| Canon status | core |
| Reader rating | 3.97 (633 ratings, collected 2026-11-03) |
| First-edition ISBN | 9780575070066 |
| Internal chronology | 2 |
Synopsis
Jant, the half-human winged Messenger of the Emperor's Circle, is sent on a sea voyage to Tris, a distant island that the Emperor hopes to bring into the Empire. The Circle's members are ageless warriors who can still be killed, and the expedition tests the bonds between them. Jant travels with fellow immortals across a world beyond the Fourlands, where customs are strange and the Emperor's ambitions are not welcome to everyone. The journey goes badly, and when the immortals return home they find unrest waiting for them. Jant must deal with the fallout while the war against the Insects continues and his own dependence on drugs grows harder to hide.
Where it sits
- Universe: The Fourlands
- Series: The Fourlands core; position 2 of 5 in the series' recorded order
- Author: Steph Swainston
Notes
- From the series record (The Fourlands): Five novels narrated by Jant Shira, winged Messenger of the Emperor's immortal Circle, during the war against the Insects.
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 Fourlands: position 2 of 5: previous The Year of Our War (2004) · next The Modern World (2007)
Sources
- Wikipedia: Steph Swainston
- Author site
- Wikipedia: No Present Like Time (ISBN 0-575-07006-4, Gollancz)
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