The Unspoken Name
core novel 2020 The Serpent Gates
Record
| First published | 2020 |
|---|---|
| Original language |  EN |
| Work type | novel |
| Canon status | core |
| Reader rating | 3.72 (9,705 ratings, collected 2026-09-14) |
| First-edition ISBN | 9781250238900 |
| Internal chronology | 1 |
Synopsis
The Unspoken Name, published in 2020, follows Csorwe, an orc-like Oshaaru girl raised from childhood to be sacrificed to the Unspoken God on her fourteenth birthday, a fate she has accepted without question until the wizard Sethennai arrives at the temple and offers her a different future in exchange for her service. Csorwe chooses to live, becoming Sethennai's assassin and spy, and the novel follows the years that unfold as she carries out his missions across a world of rival wizards, ancient magic, and interdimensional gates, all in service of Sethennai's long search for a missing and powerful artifact. As Csorwe grows from a rescued sacrifice into a capable operative, her loyalty to Sethennai and her own sense of self are increasingly tested by the demands of the work he asks of her.
Where it sits
- Universe: The Serpent Gates
- Series: The Serpent Gates core; position 1 of 2 in the series' recorded order
- Author: A.K. Larkwood
Awards (verified)
- Locus Award (Best First Novel), 2021: finalist; Confirmed directly via sfadb.com's own 2021 Locus Awards results: placed 9th in the Best First Novel poll. Per this canon's Locus no-cutoff-poll convention, any non-1st-place placement registers as 'finalist' with the rank noted here rather than in a separate field.
Notes
- From the series record (The Serpent Gates): A debut fantasy duology following Csorwe, an orc priestess raised to be sacrificed to a god, who is instead recruited by a wizard to travel between worlds through the ancient Serpent Gates. Marketed by the publisher as a complete 2-book series (collected in a single 'The Serpent Gates' omnibus edition); no 3rd volume announced.
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 Serpent Gates: position 1 of 2: next The Thousand Eyes (2022)
Sources
← The Serpent Gates dossier · All universes
Part of the Library. Fields without an identified source are omitted, never guessed.