Paolo Bacigalupi

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Navola

From the New York Times best-selling author of The Windup Girl and The Water Knife comes a sweeping literary historical fantasy about the young scion from a ruling-class family who faces rebellion as he ascends to power.

"Steeped in poison, betrayal, and debauchery, reading Navola is like slipping into a luxurious bath full of blood." —Holly Black, #1 New York Times best-selling author

“You must be as sharp as a stiletto and as subtle as a fish beneath the waters. This is what it is to be Navolese, this is what it is to be di Regulai.”

In the bustling city-state of Navola, business is power, and power is everything. For generations, the di Regulai family has nurtured their merchant-banking empire. Though they claim not to be political, their staggering wealth buys cities and topples kingdoms, and no one obstructs them twice.
    Soon, Davico di Regulai, sole heir to the di Regulai fortune, must take his place beside his father and prove himself worthy of his name. But Davico’s heart is soft where it should be hard. He prefers sunlit hills and green-dappled forests to the shadowy plots of his family. And something else beckons him. A fossil dragon eye, an ancient relic of raw power that sits upon his father’s desk. A thing that should be dead, and yet calls to Davico with increasing hunger.
    As plots unfold, armies march, and assassins slip down shadowy marble halls, Davico will be tested past his limits. His survival will depend upon the powers locked within the dragon eye and upon feelings hidden deep in the heart of his beloved adoptive sister, Celia—a girl wise in the twisted ways of Navolese politics, for her own family was destroyed by them.
    Nearly a decade in the making, Navola is The Godfather meets Game of Thrones: the dazzling return of a Hugo and Nebula Award–winning master storyteller.