THE ILL-MADE MUTE

The Bitterbynde Trilogy Book #1

THE ILL-MADE MUTE SPECIAL EDITION
The Bitterbynde Trilogy #1
This new edition is revised and extended. It includes extras never before published, including information about Ms Dart-Thornton’s life as an author and fragments of her unpublished juvenilia.

“The Stormriders land their splendid winged stallions on the airy battlements of Isse Tower. Far below, the superstitious servants who dwell in the fortress’s lower depths tell tales of wicked creatures inhabiting the world outside, a world they have only glimpsed. Yet it is the least of the lowly – a mute, scarred, and utterly despised foundling – who dares to scale the Tower, sneak aboard a Windship, and then dive from the sky.
“The fugitive is rescued by an adventurer who gives it a name, the gift of communicating by handspeak, and an amazing truth, never guessed. Now Imrhien begins a journey to distant Caermelor, seeking a wise woman whose skills may be lifechanging.
Along the way Imrhien must survive a wilderness of endless danger. For the hearthside tales are all true. The unhuman wights are real in all their legions. They haunt every pool, every turn in the road, and threaten and torment all travelers.”

Cecilia Dart-Thornton was discovered on the Internet. She had written the three books of the Bitterbynde Trilogy before she uploaded the first chapter to a Writers’ Workshop, where her work was spotted by an editor.

Shortly afterwards Time Warner’s publishing department in New York offered her a contract. They published her books in hardcover, the first time they had ever done so with a new author.

The Bitterbynde Trilogy hit the best-seller lists world-wide and has been translated into several languages.

REVIEWS

Dart-Thornton’s Bitterbynde trilogy – each book, and all three together, DESERVE TO WIN EVERY FANTASY AWARD THERE IS. This glorious book gives my back my faith in fantasy fiction… a stunning representative of its field… to Cecilia Dart-Thornton I extend the plea: More! More!
– TANITH LEE, World Fantasy Award Winner

The Ill-Made Mute is THE BEST FANTASY NOVEL I’VE READ. . . at last, a book to get excited about.
– THE MERCURY – Tasmania

A buzzing proliferation of NEW WORLDS, weaving in and out of the psychic profile of our own.
– THE WASHINGTON POST

With deep roots in folklore and myth, tirelessly inventive, fascinating, affecting and profoundly satisfying – and Dart-Thornton has plenty in reserve for sequels. A STUNNING, DAZZLING DEBUT.
– KIRKUS REVIEWS

This is an enjoyable entree to The Bitterbynde. LIKE TOLKIEN and many of the best fantasy writers, Dart-Thornton has created a wonderful fantasy world that is a delight to wander through.
– THE HERALD SUN

Background images of trolls and maidens by John Bauer