Sarah Monette continues the story of wizard Felix Harrowgate and his half-brother Mildmay the Fox, an assassin and cat burglar, begun in her debut novel Mélusine. In the first novel, Felix's former master the evil wizard Malkar Grennadion violates Felix physically and mentally to break the Virtu, a device created to channel and maintain the stability of magic used in Mélusine. Its destruction damages the city and leaves Felix insane. By the end of the first novel, Felix regains his sanity, but has lost a year of memories. His half-brother is a cripple, but lives.

(Source: Ace)