Magic's Poison Series by Gillian Bradshaw

There was once a terrifying empire based on the magical power of the venom of a race of serpent-men. The empire fell, and the serpent-people are all extinct.Or so the world believed . . .Marin had never expected to be in the middle of the biggest magical crisis for two centuries. A peasant by birth, she was uncomfortable enough with her noble status as a Guardian, charged with policing the use of magic—even though her district, the White River, was a mere backwater... moreThere was once a terrifying empire based on the magical power of the venom of a race of serpent-men. The empire fell, and the serpent-people are all extinct.Or so the world believed . . .Marin had never expected to be in the middle of the biggest magical crisis for two centuries. A peasant by birth, she was uncomfortable enough with her noble status as a Guardian, charged with policing the use of magic—even though her district, the White River, was a mere backwater. However, a renegade sorceror in that same backwater district somehow obtained a supply of a notorious magical poison—the venom of a race of serpent-people who’d been believed extinct—and it’s up to Marin to stop him. It obviously won’t be easy: the last people to use that poison ended up ruling the world.Afraid for her life and aware that the governor of her own district has already been bewitched, Marin turns to the duke of the neighbouring province. When the duke’s expedition arrives in the White River, however, the situation becomes ever more complex. The sorceror’s poison-enhanced power is greater than they’d feared; the natives of the region are threatening war; and the king’s son, a bitter rival of the duke, is planning his own descent on the region. The serpent-people turn out to be nothing like what Marin expected, and the struggle over what to do about them has implications she’d never imagined. As if this weren’t enough, Marin realizes that she’s fallen in love with a duke. A simple farmgirl is out of her depth—but then, so is everybody. A fantasy written by an established author when she should have been doing something else.Cover image by Jen Berry less

She had agreed to go to Issildis, a country where magic was illegal, where they burned magicians alive. She had agreed to break an unidentifiable two-hundred-year-old spell cast by one of the legendary Sildonian Mages on a collection of books in a room no human could enter. ‘I must be mad,’ she muttered, and shivered... moreShe had agreed to go to Issildis, a country where magic was illegal, where they burned magicians alive. She had agreed to break an unidentifiable two-hundred-year-old spell cast by one of the legendary Sildonian Mages on a collection of books in a room no human could enter. ‘I must be mad,’ she muttered, and shivered.Duke Estevan of Sithia had agreed to an official visit to traditional enemies in the southern nation of Issildis, but Marin, his court magician and mistress, wasn’t planning to come along: magic, after all, was forbidden in Issildis. Then, however, Estevan’s former secretary Jarrit, who’d disappeared in mysterious circumstances three years before, reappeared with a warning of a conspiracy to murder the duke during the visit. Jarrit is willing to offer help if Estevan decides to continue with the visit anyway, but only if Marin, in turn, helps him break an enchantment on a collection of books buried in the heart in the enemy city. The task proves difficult, and while Marin struggles to complete it the danger grows steadily around them all. less

Jaketta hadn’t expected murder.A dedicated scholar at the University of Colberg, for years her chief passion has been the history of the ophidians, a secretive race of snake-people until recently believed extinct. One wet spring night, though, her patron Lord Petran, son and heir of the powerful Duke of Sithia, is nearly assassinated, and she finds herself living history instead of just reading it... moreJaketta hadn’t expected murder.A dedicated scholar at the University of Colberg, for years her chief passion has been the history of the ophidians, a secretive race of snake-people until recently believed extinct. One wet spring night, though, her patron Lord Petran, son and heir of the powerful Duke of Sithia, is nearly assassinated, and she finds herself living history instead of just reading it. Petran’s uncle the king hates his father the duke, and a faction-ridden kingdom is teetering on the edge of civil war. Petran says he wants to avoid a war, if he can. Swept along by events, she offers her support and accompanies him back to his home in Sithia. There, amid treachery and magic, her historical knowledge turns out to be much more relevant than she’d thought. less

Half a dozen soldiers came into the plaza, pushing a flat-bedded wagon loaded with an iron cage. Idareh caught his breath as he realized that the occupant of the cage was not an animal . . .For four years Idareh has been an exile, forced from his home in the Comorrian Empire and scrabbling a living in the kingdom of Aldoris. His employer, a scandalmongering pamphleteer, has sent him to the royal capital of Levalsa to get a story... moreHalf a dozen soldiers came into the plaza, pushing a flat-bedded wagon loaded with an iron cage. Idareh caught his breath as he realized that the occupant of the cage was not an animal . . .For four years Idareh has been an exile, forced from his home in the Comorrian Empire and scrabbling a living in the kingdom of Aldoris. His employer, a scandalmongering pamphleteer, has sent him to the royal capital of Levalsa to get a story. The Duke of Sithia, cousin and heir of the king of Aldoris, has been caught protecting a colony of ophidians, serpent-people once believed extinct. Ophidian venom was once used by sorcerors to gain mastery of the world, and the duke is charged with sorcery and treason, while the ophidians he protected face extermination. As Idareh chases the story, though, he begins to realize that the popular view of the duke as a would-be tyrant and the ophidians as monsters is wrong. Printing the truth, however, will be dangerous, since both duke and ophidians have powerful enemies—and Idareh’s own past contains a secret that could ruin him. less