The Monster of Elendhaven

A nameless thing washes up on the docks of Elendhaven, a soot-stained port city built beside black water. He cannot die and cannot remember where he came from, and he kills as easily as he breathes. Then he meets Florian Leickenbloom, a frail young sorcerer who can twist minds with magic and who has a grievance with the city that failed him.

Together the two of them plan a slow, cruel revenge on Elendhaven, while officials from the south arrive to assess an old silver mine and the dangers a mage can unleash. Their bond is intimate and badly unequal, and neither of them is a good man.

Jennifer Giesbrecht's debut is a short, dark fantasy in the spirit of a Victorian gothic: murder, plague and grief, a city with a bloody history, and a love story the book never lets turn comfortable. It was published by Tor.com Publishing in 2019 and was a Shirley Jackson Award nominee for best novella.