Sister Svangerd and the Not Quite Dead

World Fantasy Award winner Parker (the Saevus Corax trilogy) takes another erudite stroll through a Dark Ages–inspired alternate world in this banter-filled fantasy, the first in his Loyal Opposition trilogy. Brother Desiderius, a talented copyist and forger, teams up with Sister Svangerd, a dangerous knife fighter, to visit the capital of the fallen Robur Empire, attend an ecumenical council, and kill Princess Hildigund on orders from their superior officer. Not sharing his partner’s enthusiasm for assassination, scholarly Desiderius is cheered when, along the way to Choris, he stumbles across some incredibly valuable, if heretical, documents. If they’re the real thing, that could be doctrine shattering, but it’s possible someone is setting up Desiderius with fakes. Politics and religious intrigue ramp up at the council, and with the arrival of some semidead monstrous assassins, Desiderius and Svangerd must stay on their toes until the final deal (and knife twist) is done. Parker breezily tosses off bits of invented theology and details of faked manuscript manufacture alongside the sardonic observations of his put-upon monk and sassy religious sister with a dark past, giving the reader a tasty buffet of light but filling bon mots. Parker’s fans and newcomers alike will be excited to see where this series goes next. (Jan.)