I knew I wanted to edit Kai Ashante Wilson long before he sent me The Sorcerer of the Wildeeps on submission. Way back in 2013, when I’d just started working for Tor.com, I had the pleasure of putting his short story “Super Bass” on the website. Even though I was just checking the punctuation and making sure the HTML code didn’t explode, I knew I was reading something special. In 2014, when we published his novelette “The Devil in America,” I felt my mind stretch and deform under the weight of his writing, and I was downright envious of consulting editor Ann VanderMeer that she, not I, got to edit him. My mind was still reeling when, no more than a week after we opened to unsolicited submissions, I saw an email from him in my inbox. There waited for me The Sorcerer of the Wildeeps, albeit under a different name and in need of a small amount of editing. Working with Kai has been rewarding and enriching, and seeing the reception the book has received (cough cough PW best book of the year cough) has humbled me. I’d be a fool not to try to keep that excellence going.
Folks, I’m announcing A Taste of Honey, another novella from Kai Ashante Wilson set in the same world as The Sorcerer of the Wildeeps.
Long after the Towers left the world but before the dragons came to Daluça, the emperor brought his delegation of gods and diplomats to Olorum. As the royalty negotiates over trade routes and public services, the divinity seeks arcane assistance among the local gods. But Aqib bgm Sadiqi, fourth-cousin to the royal family and son of the Master of Beasts, has more mortal and pressing concerns. His pretty face and sweet nature have caught the eye of the king’s favorite daughter, and he seems ready to lift his family’s fortunes. But a chance encounter with a Daluçan soldier pulls Aqib’s heart away from duty, begging him to rebel against the wishes of his father, his family, his king… and the gods themselves.
Kai Ashante Wilson had this to say about A Taste of Honey:
While writing the first draft of “The Devil in America” in 2013, I was polishing the final draft of A Taste of Honey. The stories are very different from each other, but it was as challenging to achieve the light touch and happy ending A Taste of Honey needed as it was to go down deep into the dark for “The Devil in America.” I’m excited to have this novella come into print and I hope you all enjoy it!
A Taste of Honey will be available worldwide in ebook, trade paperback, and audiobook in the fall of 2016. Until then you can keep up on all the latest news about Tor.com Publishing by signing up for our newsletter.
