For the last twenty years, Esclin Aubrinos, arros of the Hundred Hills, has acted jointly with Alcis Mirielos, the kyra of the Westwood, and the rivermaster of Riverholme to defend their land of Allanoth against the Riders who invade from Manan across the Narrow Sea. He has long been a master of the shifting politics of his own people and his independently-minded allies, but this year the omens turn against him. The Riders have elected a new lord paramount, hallowed servant of the Blazing One, a man chosen and fated for victory. The omens agree that Nen Elin, Esclin's stronghold and the heart of Allanoth, will fall when a priest of the Blazing One enters its gates. Esclin needs a spirit-bonded royal sword, a talismanic weapon made of star-fallen iron, to unite the hillfolk behind him. But the same vision that called for the sword proclaimed that Esclin will then betray it, and every step he takes to twist free of the prophecies brings him closer to that doom. Sumptuous storytelling, well-defined characters, and superb attention to detail animate this outstanding epic fantasy from Lambda Literary Award winner Scott... // This is epic fantasy done right. - Publishers Weekly Scott's complicated world fills up space, spills off the edges of the page into uncharted territory. It feels real, satisfyingly deep-and at the same time, those tantalising hints of other stories, other histories, made me intensely curious for more. -Liz Bourke, Tor.com Water Horse takes place in a well-drawn, meticulously-presented world where a finely-codified technology of magic is based on music and oaths. // ...a delicious struggle between fate and free will. -Don Sakers, Analog SF Water Horse ... [is] a story where heroism, valor, strength of character and rising to the occasion are not trampled and mocked and denigrated... // ...a book stunningly well suited to our times. -Paul Weimer, Nerds of a Feather Melissa Scott is from Little Rock, Arkansas, and studied history at Harvard College and Brandeis University, where she earned her PhD in the Comparative History program. She is the author of more than thirty original science fiction and fantasy novels as well as authorized tie-ins for Star Trek: DS9, Star Trek: Voyager, Stargate SG-1, Stargate Atlantis, Star Wars Rebels, and the anime series gen: LOCK. She has won Lambda Literary Awards for Trouble and Her Friends, Shadow Man, Point of Dreams (written with her late partner, Lisa A. Barnett), and Death By Silver, with Amy Griswold. She has also won Spectrum Awards for Shadow Man, Fairs' Point, Death By Silver, and for the short story "The Rocky Side of the Sky" (Periphery, Lethe Press) as well as the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer. Her most recent solo novel, Finders, was published at the end of 2018 and she is currently at work on the next book in the sequence.