Sisters of the Raven

Barbara Hambly, author of the acclaimed Benjamin January mystery series, is also one of fantasy's best authors, as her complex, powerful novel Sisters of the Raven demonstrates.

In a world where only men possess magic, the mages are losing their power--and a few women are discovering that they can cast spells. This adds turmoil to an already dire situation. Drought is ravaging the Yellow City. Its king is a soft, untested dandy with many enemies. A radical new prophet is winning an army of converts with his dangerous preachings. And the women magic-makers, struggling to form an alliance and combat the drought, are being killed in the night by an unknown man who, impossibly, possesses a new, terrifying, and immensely powerful magic. --Cynthia Ward