Cloudbound (46 page)

Read Cloudbound Online

Authors: Fran Wilde

BOOK: Cloudbound
11.26Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub

To Natalie, Bear, Celia, Jodi, Arkady, Alex, Ilana, Oz, Jim, Ann, Nanita, T, Amy, and Sylvie, for balance. To Jennifer, Wendy, Sara, Nancy, Dan, Jeff, Claudia, Jack, and Mike in Fells Point, for community. To Charlotte and Terry, Becky, and Mark; Shveta, Jack Hart; Aliette, Chris, Eric, Blair; Stacey, Dan, Juliette, and Lydia; and Melissa, Josh, and Noa, for friendship. To Susan, Beth, Raq, Nanita, and the rest of my family, for being here.

To my wonderful editor, Miriam Weinberg, and to Russ Galen, with thanks.

To Jason Tuell and Nicole Feldringer for nattering with me about clouds. To Dominick D'Aunno for the altitude discussions. All mistakes are my own doing.

To everyone at Tor who touched this book, including cover artist Tommy Arnold, creative director Irene Gallo, copy editor Ana Deboo, production editor Lauren Hougen, everyone in PR and marketing, including Alexis, Diana, and especially Patty and Ksenia, and to the folks who work the presses, too, for making these dreams real.

As always, to a place near Worton, Maryland, for teaching me how to fly.

And to you, reading this book: may the wind always take you where you want to go.

 

TOR BOOKS BY
FRAN WILDE

Updraft

Cloudbound

 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

FRAN WILDE
is an author and technology consultant. Her first novel,
Updraft,
was published in 2015. Her short stories have appeared in
Asimov's Science Fiction, Nature,
and
Beneath Ceaseless Skies
. Wilde also blogs about food and genre at
Cooking the Books
(
franwilde.wordpress.com/cooking-the-books
) and for the popular social-parenting website
GeekMom
. She lives in Pennsylvania with her family. You can sign up for email updates
here
.

    

 

Thank you for buying this

Tom Doherty Associates ebook.

 

To receive special offers, bonus content,

and info on new releases and other great reads,

sign up for our newsletters.

 

Or visit us online at

us.macmillan.com/newslettersignup

 

For email updates on the author, click
here
.

 

CONTENTS

Title Page

Copyright Notice

Dedication

Part One: Disappeared

1. Codex

2. Bone Eater

3. Heart of the City

4. Singers' Rise

5. Balance, Gravity, Justice

6. A Hole in the Wind

7. Escape

8. Bissel

9. Skytouched

10. The Council

11. Wingfight

12. Sunfall

Part Two: Stolen

13. Ash and Mist

14. Remembrance

15. Heartbone

16. Lighter-Than-Air

Part Three: Found

17. Ghost Tower

18. Council Fall

19. The Artifex

20. Proof

21. Treason

22. War

23. Rumul

Part Four: Hidden

24. Blackwings

25. Nest of Thieves

26. Cloudbound

27. Littlemouths

28. The Towers

29. Promise

30. Surrender

31. Balance

32. Gravity

Part Five: Bound

33. Bone Forest

34. Justice

35. Horizon

Acknowledgments

Tor Books by Fran Wilde

About the Author

Copyright

 

This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously.

CLOUDBOUND

Copyright © 2016 by Fran Wilde

All rights reserved.

Edited by Miriam Weinberg

Cover art by Tommy Arnold

A Tor Book

Published by Tom Doherty Associates

175 Fifth Avenue

New York, NY 10010

www.tor-forge.com

Tor
®
is a registered trademark of Macmillan Publishing Group, LLC.

The Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available upon request.

ISBN 978-0-7653-7785-2 (hardcover)

ISBN 978-1-4668-5821-3 (e-book)

e-ISBN 9781466858213

Our e-books may be purchased in bulk for promotional, educational, or business use. Please contact the Macmillan Corporate and Premium Sales Department at 1-800-221-7945, extension 5442, or by e-mail at
[email protected]
.

First Edition: September 2016

Other books

Rat-Catcher by Chris Ryan
One Night in Boston by Allie Boniface
The Sentinel by Jeremy Bishop
No Other Man by Shannon Drake
The Long-Shining Waters by Sosin, Danielle
The Convenience of Lies by Geoffrey Seed
Love’s Betrayal by DiAnn Mills
Catwalk by Deborah Gregory