{"product_id":"a-book-of-tongues-9781504063890","title":"A Book of Tongues","description":"\u003cb\u003e\"Gemma Files has one of the great dark imaginations in fiction―visionary, transgressive, and totally original.\" --Jeff VanderMeer\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e In Gemma Files's \"boundary-busting horror-fantasy debut,\" former Confederate chaplain Asher Rook has cheated death and now possesses a dark magic (\u003ci\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/i\u003e). He uses his power to terrorize the Wild West, leading a gang of outlaws, thieves, and killers, with his cruel lieutenant and lover, Chess Pargeter, by his side. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Pinkerton agent Ed Morrow is going undercover to infiltrate the gang, armed with a shotgun and a device that measures sorcerous energy. His job is to gain knowledge of Rook's power and unlock its secrets. But there is someone else who has Rook in her sights: the Lady of Traps and Snares, a bloodthirsty Mayan goddess who will stop at nothing to satisfy her own desires. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Caught between the good, the bad, and the unholy, Morrow will have to ride out a storm of magical mayhem to survive, in this debut novel, the first book of Files's \"weird Western Hexslinger trilogy . . . [which] is chock full of hellish horrors\" (Mike Allen, author of \u003ci\u003eUnseaming\u003c\/i\u003e). \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \"Ridiculously vivid . . . A magic-riddled, horror-strewn West with hexes running around wrecking reality and a spectrum of queer characters.\" --Tor.com \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \"Definitely promising--tantalizing, even, because it sets up such a fertile scenario and hammers home the themes of love, sacrifice, and apotheosis.\" --\u003ci\u003eStrange Horizons\u003c\/i\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \"Truly one-of-a-kind: violent, carnal and creepy.\" --\u003ci\u003eFangoria\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eGemma Files, a former film critic, journalist, screenwriter, and teacher, has been an award-winning horror author since 1999. She has published two collections of short work; two chapbooks of speculative poetry; the \"weird western\" Hexslinger Series; a story-cycle; and the standalone novel \u003ci\u003eExperimental Film\u003c\/i\u003e, which won the 2016 Shirley Jackson Award for Best Novel and the 2016 Sunburst Award for Best Adult Novel. Files also has several story collections and a collection of poetry forthcoming.\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Open Road Media Science \u0026 Fantasy","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50479280095506,"sku":"9781504063890","price":13.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_c1b9214b-115a-4d9c-b4ed-6db6e790d7b9.jpg?v=1730309862","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/a-book-of-tongues-9781504063890","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}