Terms of Service

By Ciel Pierlot

Book Overview

When her cousin gets kidnapped by a dastardly trickster, Luzia is forced to sell herself in servitude to the Eoi in exchange for his life. But the terms of the deal turn out to be much more complicated than she ever imagined...

Luzia N.E. Drainway never really thought too much about the Astrosi. They lurk above and below Bastion City - a giant multileveled megalopolis she calls her home - and they tend to keep to themselves. On the rare occasions they use their magics to meddle with human affairs, most people with an ounce of sense steer clear of whichever unfortunate soul happens to be their victim. Luzia is far too dedicated to repairing and maintaining the frequently-damaged Bastion to pay them much attention, and prefers to ignore the Astrosi just like everyone else.

That disregard gets blown out of the water when a rogue Astrosi and nefarious trickster named Carrion kidnaps her nephew and sells him to the Eoi, one of the Astrosi courts.

With no other options to save her nephew, Luzia trades her life for his and finds herself in service to the Eoi. Unfortunately for her, Astrosi logic is acrobatic in ways even the most devious human mind can barely comprehend. It's not until the deal is struck that she realizes she's trapped in the most abstruse verbal contract imaginable. She is essentially conscripted into their ranks, and her devotion to her city becomes stretched to breaking point by her new masters' orders.

As she struggles under this weight, she begins to uncover the secrets of the Astrosi people - the internal battles for power between the two kingdoms, the never-ending conflict between them, the trickster Carrion who somehow bridges that gap, and the very nature of the Bastion itself.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1915998301
• ISBN13: 9781915998309
• Release Date: September 2025
• Publisher: Angry Robot
• Length: 400 Pages
• Weight: 0.85 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.3" x 5.1" x 7.6"

Customer Reviews

Grand tale for the stars!

This was really good. It is pretty much the tale of a human and their interaction with the fae realm, except it is sci fi! There are so many similarities, from bargains with tricks in them, the importance of names, the dangers of eating food from that realm if you are human, and even the time differences with the Astrosi being practically immortal due to it. And of course magic, or comparable to it (science!) and how nature flourishes in their realm whether it is in the deeps or the mists. I loved Luzia as the main character. Such a decent person who is willing to sacrifice for family or even the good of the Bastion and the humans living on those levels. She has the right amount of curiosity to question the status quo, even while trying to figure out her new life and what Carrion is up to. It is quite the journey through time and changing and slowly reveals the true purpose and history of the Bastion and the Astrosi and what is needed for the survival of all species. I love this melding of sci fi with fantasy touches and I am glad I got the chance to read this!