Metal, Salt & Sand is the first story in the Hidden Cities trilogy as well as author C J Hayhurst’s debut novel.

 

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Lanyard Forgeman is a young man of two cities; Bastion, a city of metal and smoke, and Havenport, a city of sea breeze and terracotta. Prone to impulse and selfishness, his rash actions and loose tongue soon land him in jail facing exile into the barren Wastes beyond the Wall.

Gossamer Tern, a new Lady in the Havenport government, works for her father’s administration and soon finds herself at the centre of a rebellion when Bastion’s leaders try to curb the coastal city’s free spirit.

Hershey, Lanyard’s father and a once-great Minister within Bastion’s government, has never recovered from the loss of his wife. With events in the city spiralling out of control, he sinks further into depression and self-loathing as he becomes the Prime Minister’s lapdog.

Roman, Lanyard’s little brother, is smart, kind and naive. But when he runs away, he is thrust headlong into Bastion’s criminal underworld and is forced to learn some hard lessons if he is to survive.

And out in the Wastes, the unknown stirs, ready to bring change and revelation to the last two cities of mankind.

Harsh and unforgiving are the winds that blow in a world of metal, salt and sand.

Those who weather them emerge from the storm stronger and more deadly than before.

Or not at all.

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