Freya Marske In Conversation with Dan O’Malley

At the Academie of the Grand Duchy of Sieuxerr, mages with the healer’s gift undergo a demanding six-year course of study before facing the Grand Exam: a five-day trial whose results will determine what shape their future holds. For five of this year’s students, what awaits them on the first day is—murder. Ysabel was not well liked, but she was one of the brightest students to come through the Academie in years. The institution has reasons to want to pass her death off as a suicide, but as her best—or only—friend, Clement knows they’re wrong. And when the five members of their Exam group receive a letter from Ysabel from beyond the grave, it becomes clear she was up to something someone was willing to kill for. The friend who stood in the dead girl’s shadow. The academic rival who was battling her for the top class ranking. The girl no one ever thought would amount to anything. The foreigner conscripted into this life who would rather be doing something, anything else. The boy whose traitorous secrets Ysabel had already uncovered years ago. If they can solve her murder, they may find more answers than they bargained for—but if they don’t, one of them may be forced to take the fall. About Freya Marske Freya Marske lives in Australia, where she is yet to be killed by any form of wildlife. She writes stories full of magic, blood, and as much kissing as she can get away with. Her hobbies include figure skating and discovering new art galleries, and she is on a quest to try all the gin in the world. Her debut novel, the queer historical fantasy A MARVELLOUS LIGHT, was an international bestseller and won the Romantic Novel Award for Fantasy. It kicked off the Last Binding trilogy, which was nominated for a Hugo Award for Best Series. Her latest novel, SWORDCROSSED, was released by Bramble and Tor UK in 2024, and her debut novella CINDER HOUSE was recently published by Tor.com and Tor UK. Her short fiction has appeared in Analog Science Fiction, Andromeda Spaceways, and several anthologies. She also co-hosted the Hugo Award nominated Be The Serpent podcast along with two other red-headed fantasy authors. In 2020 she was awarded the Australian National SF (Ditmar) Award for Best New Talent.