West of January

Dave Duncan

Mar 2012 · Hachette UK

About this ebook

Set on a distant planet, far in the future, WEST OF JANUARY tells the story of a world in which the sun moves across the sky with agonizing slowness. It takes lifetimes for a region to experience dawn, midday and dusk and because of this the planet's population does not remember the catastrophes that occur as the sun moves across the sky - entire civilizations have been scorched into oblivion. The only people who remember the dangers of the past are the planet's "angels" - a people who have tried to preserve past technologies and the ancient knowledge and who work to try and save the other people from the destruction that threatens them when the sun moves. The hero of this book, Knobil, was born among the herdsmen, a primitive civilization in which the men kill each other and exile their sons so that each man can have as many women and children as possible. Knobil, however, is the son of an angel, and his destiny leads him to move among all the other peoples of his world--the beautiful but unthinking seafolk, the cruel slavers, the manipulative traders and, worst of them all, the spinsters whose deadly secret he discovers nearly too late. This action-filled story of a very strange planet showcases Duncan's remarkable ability to create unique worlds.

Ratings and reviews

A beautifully written and thought provoking story with a few necessary rough patches that nearly made me stop reading, but each time I was soon glad I had persisted and the end was wonderful. Wonderful cadence. Great human critique. Patience will be treated by an uplifting ending.

About the author

Dave Duncan, born in Scotland in 1933, is a Canadian citizen. He received his diploma from Dundee High School and got his college education at the University of Saint Andrews. He moved to Canada in 1955, where he still lives with his wife. He has three grown children and four grandchildren. He spent thirty years as a petroleum geologist.He has had dozens of fantasy and science fiction novels published, among them A ROSE-RED CITY, MAGIC CASEMENT and THE REAVER ROAD, as well as a highly praised historical novel, DAUGHTER OF TROY, published, for commercial reasons, under the pseudonym Sarah B. Franklin. He also published the "Longdirk" series of novels, DEMON SWORD, DEMON KNIGHT and DEMON RIDER, under the name Ken Hood.His website is DaveDuncan.com.In the Fall of 2007, Duncan's 2006 novel, CHILDREN OF CHAOS, published by Tor Books, was nominated for both the Prix Aurora Award and the Endeavour Award.