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An insidious foreign religion stirs fear among the people and the court. And the emperor’s own heart is torn between two very different women: Mesema, a Windreader princess of the northern plains, and Grada, a lowborn untouchable with whom Sarmin shares a unique bond. A natural-born mage, Sarmin also carries within him a throng of bodiless spirits whose conflicting memories and desires force him to wage a private battle for his sanity. In times past, a royal assassin known as the Emperor’s Knife served as the keen edge of justice, defending the throne from any and all menaces, but the last Knife has perished and his successor has yet to be named. For his own safety, and that of the empire, Sarmin must choose his own loyal death-dealer . . . .but upon whom can be he bestow the bloody burden of the Knife-Sworn?","forthcoming":false,"isbn13":"9781597803878","publication_date":"20140923","publisher":"Night Shade Books","slug":"knife-sworn","subtitle":"Tower and Knife 1","title":"Knife Sworn"},"discovery":{"categories":{"all":[{"bisac_code":"FIC009140","confidence_band":"medium","label":"Military Fantasy","score":0.7914,"source":"bisac_hint_model"},{"bisac_code":"FIC009020","confidence_band":"medium","label":"Epic Fantasy","score":0.7801,"source":"bisac_hint_model"},{"bisac_code":"FIC009100","confidence_band":"medium","label":"Fantasy Adventure","score":0.7705,"source":"bisac_hint_model"}],"hint":[{"bisac_code":"FIC009140","confidence_band":"medium","label":"Military Fantasy","score":0.7914,"source":"bisac_hint_model"},{"bisac_code":"FIC009020","confidence_band":"medium","label":"Epic Fantasy","score":0.7801,"source":"bisac_hint_model"},{"bisac_code":"FIC009100","confidence_band":"medium","label":"Fantasy Adventure","score":0.7705,"source":"bisac_hint_model"}],"publisher":[{"bisac_code":"FIC009000","confidence_band":"high","label":"Fantasy","score":1,"source":"onix_publisher_code"},{"bisac_code":"FIC009020","confidence_band":"high","label":"Epic Fantasy","score":1,"source":"onix_publisher_code"},{"bisac_code":"FIC032000","confidence_band":"high","label":"War Fiction","score":1,"source":"onix_publisher_code"}]},"genres":[{"label":"Military Fantasy","score":0.7914,"slug":"military-fantasy"},{"label":"Epic Fantasy","score":0.7801,"slug":"epic-fantasy"},{"label":"Fantasy Adventure","score":0.7705,"slug":"fantasy-adventure"}],"reader_fit":["For readers drawn to imperial intrigue and dangerous magic"],"related_lists":[],"series":null,"similar_books":[{"authors":["Mazarkis Williams"],"book_id":"9781597803854","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9781597803854.jpg?v=475c9dc8cbc838d2","score":0.8924,"title":"The Emperors Knife: Tower and Knife 2","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9781597803854"},{"authors":["Mazarkis Williams"],"book_id":"9781597805643","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9781597805643.jpg?v=9b6f3fe7412d4db2","score":0.8257,"title":"Tower Broken","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9781597805643"},{"authors":["Mazarkis Williams"],"book_id":"9781597806145","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9781597806145.jpg?v=8c34d38e352100f9","score":0.8192,"title":"The Tower & Knife Trilogy","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9781597806145"},{"authors":["M.C. 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