Book of night, p.39
Book of Night,
p.39
I owe a huge debt to Steve Berman for helping me with the magic system, several times, including once drawing all over a paper pulled from a roll, which eventually covered my entire kitchen floor in arcane rules.
I so appreciate Marie Rutkoski, for helping me articulate what I was trying to capture.
Thank you, Chris Cotter, Emily Lauer, and Eric Churchill, for talking to me about all the ways people would interact and abuse that magic during the depths of the pandemic.
Thank you, Roshani Chokshi, for pushing me to get the love on the page.
Thank you, Paolo Bacigalupi, for getting me to rethink the beginning (again).
Thank you to Sarah Rees Brennan, Robin Wasserman, and Leigh Bardugo for reading a very messy draft, convening a Zoom workshop, and making me feel as though I might fix the thing I had made.
Thank you, Joshua Lewis, for making me care about that dead guy.
And a thousand gratitudes to Cassandra Clare and Kelly Link for not murdering me when I changed everything and then changed it again, and then changed it AGAIN. You read so many drafts. You listened to so much complaining. Truly, your patience is endless.
All praise to my fantabulous editor, Miriam Weinberg, who got me to slow down and add all the texture. I so appreciate her, and the enthusiasm and expertise of everyone at Tor Books—particularly Devi Pillai, Lucille Rettino, Renata Sweeney, Eileen Lawrence, Sarah Reidy, Lauren Hougen, Molly McGhee, and Michelle Foytek. Thank you to Sam Bradbury, Roisin O’Shea, and all of Del Rey UK. Twenty years ago, I meant to write a book for adults, and thanks to all y’all I seem to have finally done it.
Thank you to my agent, Joanna Volpe, who believed I could write this book, put it in the plan, and then made sure I stuck to the plan. I am grateful to her and everyone at New Leaf—particularly the terrifying organizing of Jordan Hill, and the strategery of Pouya Shahbazian.
And thank you to my partner, Theo, and our kiddo, Sebastian. Without you both, I would have clawed my own face off long ago.
Lastly, thank you to “the Valley” of Western Massachusetts, where I’ve lived for almost two decades, and yet am still discovering. I apologize for all the places I completely made up, and for cutting some corners with geography. Please consider this the alternate Western Massachusetts, full of lightning farms, bars with absinthe on tap, and shadow magic.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
HOLLY BLACK is the #1 New York Times bestselling and award-winning author of speculative and fantasy novels, short stories, and comics. She has sold more than twenty-six million books worldwide and her work has been translated into more than thirty languages and adapted for film. She currently lives in New England with her husband and son in a house with a secret library. Book of Night is her adult fiction debut.
You can read more about her on BlackHolly.com, or sign up for email updates here.
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Contents
Title Page
Copyright Notice
Dedication
Epigraph
Prologue
1. Hungry Shadows
2. King of Cups, Reversed
3. The Past
4. More Coffee
5. Inside Out
6. Marshmallow Test
7. The Past
8. The Liber Noctem
9. The Past
10. Full-Tilt Boogie
11. Some Brighter Star
12. The Past
13. Impossible Angels
14. A Swarm of Black Flies
15. The Past
16. Lick your Wounds
17. Do not Disturb
18. The Past
19. Candy Cracks Teeth
20. Two-Part Poison
21. The Past
22. The Scholar and The Shadow
23. Bear Claws
24. Sad Songs on Repeat
25. Black Cat. Toad. Crow.
26. The Past
27. That Awful Thing I Like
28. Abandon all Hope
29. The Past
30. Ye Who Enter Here
31. The Fool, The Magician, and the Hierophant
32. The Charlatan
33. Thief of Night
Acknowledgments
About the Author
Copyright
This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
BOOK OF NIGHT
Copyright © 2022 by Holly Black
All rights reserved.
Cover art by Shutterstock.com
Cover design by theBookDesigners and Tor
Edited by Miriam Weinberg
A Tor Book
Published by Tom Doherty Associates
120 Broadway
New York, NY 10271
www.tor-forge.com
Tor® is a registered trademark of Macmillan Publishing Group, LLC.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Black, Holly, author.
Title: Book of night / Holly Black.
Description: First Edition. | New York: TOR, Tom Doherty Associates, 2022. | “A Tom Doherty Associates Book.”
Identifiers: LCCN 2022000327 (print) | LCCN 2022000328 (ebook) | ISBN 9781250812193 (hardcover) | ISBN 9781250858603 (signed) | ISBN 9781250864956 (international) | ISBN 9781250812209 (ebook)
Subjects: LCGFT: Novels.
Classification: LCC PS3602.L278 B66 2022 (print) | LCC PS3602.L278 (ebook) | DDC 813/.6—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2022000327
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2022000328
eISBN 9781250812209
Our ebooks may be purchased in bulk for promotional, educational, or business use. Please contact the Macmillan Corporate and Premium Sales Department at 1-800-221-7945, extension 5442, or by email at MacmillanSpecialMarkets@macmillan.com.
First Edition: 2022
Holly Black, Book of Night
