The City of Silk and Steel - Softcover

Once, in a city known as Bessa, there was a sultan named Bokhari Al-Bokhari, who was thrown down by the zealots of the ascetic Hakkim Mehdad. The sultan, his wives and children were put to the sword, while his 365 concubines were sent to a neighbouring caliph as tribute, Hakkim having no use for the pleasures of the flesh.

But a day after the caravan had departed from Bessa, Hakkim discovered the terrible secret that the concubines had hidden from him.His reaction was swift and cruel.

Kill the women of the harem forthwith, along with their children and maidservants. Let not one survive. Their bodies let the desert claim, and their names be fed to silence.

This, then, is the tale - or tales - of how a remarkable group of women fight together to survive both the fury of Hakkim and the rigours of the desert. It is the tale of Zuleika, whose hidden past holds the key to their future, and of Rem, the librarian whose tears are ink. Of the wise Gursoon, who defines the group's conscience, and of the silver-tongued thief, Anwar Das, who knows when to ignore that conscience.

This is the tale of the forging of a rabble of concubines, children, camel-herds and thieves into an army of silk and steel. It is the tale of the redemption and rise of Bessa, fabled City of Women. And it is the tale of an act of kindness that carries the seed of death, and will return to bring darkness and the end of a dream . . .

Mike Carey is a comics writer, novelist and screenwriter who lives and works in London, England.He is best known for his work on the multiple Eisner-nominated series Lucifer and for a critically-acclaimed run on Vertigo's flagship title, Hellblazer.He is the author of the Felix Castor novels and is currently writing the monthly series The Unwritten for DC Vertigo.He has also written X-Men, X-Men Legacy and Fantastic Four for Marvel Comics.His screenplay Silent War, written for Slingshot and Intrepid Pictures, is about to go into production.

Linda Carey, writing as A.J. Lake, authored the Darkest Age fantasy trilogy.She has also written for TV, most notably for the German animation series Meadowlands, on which she shared the duties of lead writer.

Louise's Carey's previous writing includes the Diary of a London Schoolgirl for the website of the London Metropolitan archive and the graphic novel Confessions of a Blabbermouth, co-written with Mike.She is a member of the Chicken Shed theatre company and has acted in their productions of Alice in Wonderland and Grimm Nights.