The Sinking City + The Winter King

The Sinking City

Venice is a carnival of opposites, and Liona Carvatti thinks she understands it all: canal and palace, magician and merchant, plague and pantomime. As a patrician’s daughter, Liona enjoys the sparkling life of a noble family—although she would prefer to be tending to her flowers than practicing violin or standing around in a ball gown. But what Liona fails to realize is that Venice is a city of stone in a world of water. And ruling the dark waters are the Seleni—ageless, cold, and calculating.

When she loses everything she relies on, Liona must set a new course that will shake the foundations of Venice itself.

“Under different circumstances, I would have enjoyed seeing Venice in disguise. I have never had so much freedom; as a patrician’s daughter I was not often allowed out of my house, and never alone.

"Today, I am anonymous and nearly invisible as I wander for hours through the streets of the Castello district. I admire the gauzy shimmer of the spells that support the wooden pilings beneath our buildings and fortify our wooden bridges until they can be rebuilt with Istrian stone. Children point at the street magician’s stalls, begging for the smoke animals and spinning balls of light. These vendors are not members of the magicians’ guild; their spells are crude and rudimentary, but they can make easy money entertaining children and reading the fortunes of superstitious adults.

"My hand goes instinctively to the mark on my wrist, and I tug at my shirtsleeve to ensure that it’s hidden...."

The Winter King

Ever since Cora's father disappeared through the ice, whispers about her family's "curse" have grown increasingly louder. Desperate to help her mother and siblings survive another bleak season in the Winter King's frozen grasp, Cora begins to bend (and even break) the rules she has kept since she was a little girl. But when she discovers a secret that's much bigger than herself, she realizes too late that she has put herself—and those she loves—in even greater peril.

Wintry and dangerous but hauntingly lovely, The Winter King is the debut novel from author Christine Cohen.

Canonball Books is the children's imprint of Canon Press. At Canonball, we believe stories are soul food, so you can expect excitement, danger, loyalty, virtue, and family in your Canonball books. Feed your kids the right books!

What People Are Saying about Christine Cohen and The Winter King (finalist for the 2020 Christy Awards)

"Author Christine Cohen fills her debut novel with courage, suspense, unexpected twists, and deep Biblical truths." ~WORLD Magazine

"The Winter King is a beautiful book in every way, stirring and lovely, a tale of courage marinated in deep truth and laced with echoes of Till We Have Faces. This is exactly the kind of book I want to fill my family's shelves with." ~N.D. Wilson, bestselling author of the 100 Cupboards series, the Ashtown Burials series, and Outlaws of Time

"...will leave you on the edge of your seat with mystery and intrigue..." ~Bookstr.com, "Top 5 Sci-Fi/Fantasy Picks to Escape Reality"