The House of Binding Thorns
core novel 2017 Dominion of the Fallen
Record
| First published | 2017 |
|---|---|
| Original language |  EN |
| Work type | novel |
| Canon status | core |
| Reader rating | 3.91 (1,069 ratings, collected 2026-09-14) |
| Page count | 320 |
| First-edition ISBN | 9780451477392 |
| Internal chronology | 2 |
Synopsis
The House of Binding Thorns picks up as Paris continues rebuilding after the magical conflict depicted in The House of Shattered Wings, with the fallen-angel-ruled Great Houses still locked in a struggle for influence over the ruined city. Philippe, a former prisoner of House Silverspires with ties to Annamese magic, seeks to resurrect someone he lost despite the terrible price such magic demands, while Madeleine, an alchemist bound to House Hawthorn, is forced into a perilous diplomatic mission to the underwater Dragon Kingdom that lies beneath the Seine. As House Hawthorn's own ambitions draw Madeleine and Philippe into a web of political maneuvering between the Houses and the Dragon Kingdom, both must navigate ancient rivalries and immediate threats that put everyone around them at risk.
Where it sits
- Universe: Dominion of the Fallen
- Series: The Dominion of the Fallen Trilogy core; position 2 of 3 in the series' recorded order
- Author: Aliette de Bodard
Awards (verified)
- European Science Fiction Society Achievement Award (Best Work of Fiction), 2018: won; Confirmed via the 2018 ESFS awards results post: "WINNER: The House of Binding Thorns, Aliette de Bodard (France)" in the Achievement Awards' Best Work of Fiction category -- NOT a "Best Novel" category (that label appeared on one secondary source and was not used, since the ESFS's own 2018 results list no separate Best Novel category at all).
- Locus Award (Best Fantasy Novel), 2018: finalist; 4th place per the no-cutoff Locus-poll convention. Confirmed via sfadb.com (the accepted primary source for Locus lineage claims).
Notes
- From the series record (The Dominion of the Fallen Trilogy): Fallen angels ruling magically-devastated, post-apocalyptic Paris through rival Houses, with a Vietnamese-inflected dragon kingdom under the Seine. Completed trilogy (2015-2019).
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 Dominion of the Fallen Trilogy: position 2 of 3: previous The House of Shattered Wings (2015) · next The House of Sundering Flames (2019)
Sources
- Aliette de Bodard: official bibliography
- https://www.aliettedebodard.com/bibliography/novels/dominion-of-the-fallen/house-of-binding-thorns/
- 2018 ESFS Awards Winners (europa/scifiportal mirror)
- sfadb: Aliette de Bodard
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