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Wiz Duos - Book 2
Song, Stone, Scale, Bone by Juliet Kemp
When Sir Cade, Knight of Siremos, is asked to escort a noble lady into the catacombs, she thinks she’s getting a foolish thrill-seeker who will faint at the first sign of actual danger. Little does she realise that she is about to embark on a quest to save her country from being drawn into a war with a neighbouring kingdom.
Grieving the death of her companion Graf, Cade has lost her taste for rollicking adventure, but now she must grapple with ghosts, dragons, bone mages and political intrigue to heal her country and herself.
Take Me Home by E. M. Faulds
A tunnel is a hole, an absence, but also a conduit and a connection.
On one side of the world, Selen is looking for someone to be, and she thinks the spacetech alloy elagite may give her a way to rebel against her parents, impress her boyfriend and tap into her natural talents, whatever those might be. On the other side, in the Australian desert, her sister Phoebe has been drawn into an environmentalist undercover, she finds it is far stranger and more dangerous than she could have expected. The girls' fates entwine in a way that could change things for everyone.
When Sir Cade, Knight of Siremos, is asked to escort a noble lady into the catacombs, she thinks she’s getting a foolish thrill-seeker who will faint at the first sign of actual danger. Little does she realise that she is about to embark on a quest to save her country from being drawn into a war with a neighbouring kingdom.
Grieving the death of her companion Graf, Cade has lost her taste for rollicking adventure, but now she must grapple with ghosts, dragons, bone mages and political intrigue to heal her country and herself.
Take Me Home by E. M. Faulds
A tunnel is a hole, an absence, but also a conduit and a connection.
On one side of the world, Selen is looking for someone to be, and she thinks the spacetech alloy elagite may give her a way to rebel against her parents, impress her boyfriend and tap into her natural talents, whatever those might be. On the other side, in the Australian desert, her sister Phoebe has been drawn into an environmentalist undercover, she finds it is far stranger and more dangerous than she could have expected. The girls' fates entwine in a way that could change things for everyone.
286 pages, Paperback
Published May 22, 2025
About the author
Juliet Kemp
42 books13 followersJuliet Kemp (they/them) is a queer, non-binary, writer. They live by the river in London, with their partners, child, and dog. The first book of their fantasy series, The Deep And Shining Dark was on the Locus 2018 Recommended Reads list; the fourth and final book, The City Revealed came out in 2023. Their short fiction has appeared in venues including Uncanny, Analog, and Cast of Wonders; they were short-listed for the WSFA Small Press Award in 2020 and 2023; and they had a story in the 2021 Lambda Awards shortlisted anthology Trans-Galactic Bike Ride. They've also written non-fiction.
When not writing or child-wrangling, Juliet knits, climbs, indulges their fountain pen habit, and tries to fit an ever-increasing number of plants into a microscopic back garden. They can be found on Twitter as @julietk, on Mastodon as @juliet@zirk.us, and on Bluesky as @julietk.bsky.social.
When not writing or child-wrangling, Juliet knits, climbs, indulges their fountain pen habit, and tries to fit an ever-increasing number of plants into a microscopic back garden. They can be found on Twitter as @julietk, on Mastodon as @juliet@zirk.us, and on Bluesky as @julietk.bsky.social.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
May 26, 2025
A great thematically linked pair of novellas exploring characters working themselves out. A cosy fanatsy from Juliet Kemp and a grittier but hopeful tale from EM Faulds await
Full review - https://www.runalongtheshelves.net/bl...
Full review - https://www.runalongtheshelves.net/bl...
June 8, 2025
Like the old Ace Doubles, this book brings together two shorter pieces into a single bound volume. I bought it for EM Faulds' story, Bring Me Home, but I also thoroughly enjoyed the other piece, Juliet Kemp's Song, Stone, Scale, Bone.
The two stories feel very different, without much thematic links between them, although the protagonists in both do overcome adversity and grow as people (although you could say that that happens in most, if not all, fiction. Kemp's piece is a fantasy story about a grieving knight of an order that guides clients to a destination. Sir Cade is asked to guide a noblewoman into the catacombs of the old city, but what she takes to be a flighty desire of a foolish aristocrat turns out to be the start of something much more serious.
Faulds' story, by comparison, is science fiction, in a post-climate change world, where Glasgow is underwater, but a new city has sprung up on the slopes of Ben Lomond, to service a space industry that itself tends to the billions of people displaced from Earth into space. Selen gets a body modification to try and ground and find herself, while her sister has found herself undercover across the world looking into what might be a cult or terror cell.
This is definitely grittier and harder edged than the cosy feel of Kemp's story and I might have put them in the other order in the book, personally, to end on a lighter note. Selen felt younger than the mid-thirties she was supposed to be, feeling more like she's in her teenage rebellion phase. I still felt sympathy for her though, and especially for her sister, Phoebe, and the trouble she finds herself in.
These are couple of great stories, and I like the idea of pulling them together in this double format. I'll be looking out for others from the publisher that do the same thing.
The two stories feel very different, without much thematic links between them, although the protagonists in both do overcome adversity and grow as people (although you could say that that happens in most, if not all, fiction. Kemp's piece is a fantasy story about a grieving knight of an order that guides clients to a destination. Sir Cade is asked to guide a noblewoman into the catacombs of the old city, but what she takes to be a flighty desire of a foolish aristocrat turns out to be the start of something much more serious.
Faulds' story, by comparison, is science fiction, in a post-climate change world, where Glasgow is underwater, but a new city has sprung up on the slopes of Ben Lomond, to service a space industry that itself tends to the billions of people displaced from Earth into space. Selen gets a body modification to try and ground and find herself, while her sister has found herself undercover across the world looking into what might be a cult or terror cell.
This is definitely grittier and harder edged than the cosy feel of Kemp's story and I might have put them in the other order in the book, personally, to end on a lighter note. Selen felt younger than the mid-thirties she was supposed to be, feeling more like she's in her teenage rebellion phase. I still felt sympathy for her though, and especially for her sister, Phoebe, and the trouble she finds herself in.
These are couple of great stories, and I like the idea of pulling them together in this double format. I'll be looking out for others from the publisher that do the same thing.
August 18, 2026
My rating : 4.5 of 5 stars
This is an excellent pair of stories from Wizard's Tower Press, and a good indication that the Wiz Duos series is going to provide some brilliant reads.
Song, Stone, Scale, Bone by Juliet Kemp is a genuinely great fantasy tale of friendship and self exploration that keeps you reading from page one all the way through to the end. The characters really stand out in this one, especially the dragon, and the ending leaves you wanting more without leaving you feel unsatisfied.
E.M. Faulds' Bring Me Home is a darker tale, set in a post-deluge future where the human race is split between those left on Earth and those making a life for themselves up in orbit. Again, it was a genuine pleasure to read, though this time I think one visit to the world we've been shown is more than enough.
At the time of writing there are only three books in the Duos series, and this is the second one I've read. However, from what I understand there are a few more in the pipeline and if the rest are able to offer up novellas of this calibre I can definitely see some award noms in the not too distant future.
This is an excellent pair of stories from Wizard's Tower Press, and a good indication that the Wiz Duos series is going to provide some brilliant reads.
Song, Stone, Scale, Bone by Juliet Kemp is a genuinely great fantasy tale of friendship and self exploration that keeps you reading from page one all the way through to the end. The characters really stand out in this one, especially the dragon, and the ending leaves you wanting more without leaving you feel unsatisfied.
E.M. Faulds' Bring Me Home is a darker tale, set in a post-deluge future where the human race is split between those left on Earth and those making a life for themselves up in orbit. Again, it was a genuine pleasure to read, though this time I think one visit to the world we've been shown is more than enough.
At the time of writing there are only three books in the Duos series, and this is the second one I've read. However, from what I understand there are a few more in the pipeline and if the rest are able to offer up novellas of this calibre I can definitely see some award noms in the not too distant future.
January 2, 2026
Love the concept of packaging two very different novellas in the same book. The variation of mood and style was effective.
I enjoyed Juliet Kemp's Song, Stone, Sail, Bone greatly. While cosy fantasy isn't normally my thing, I found it warm, amusing and richly imagined.
Much more up my street was Bring Me Home by E.M. Faulds. The post-flooded, half-empty world, specifically Scotland and Australia, was superbly well evoked, with little details ringing true at every turn. The heart of the story, however, is the two separated sisters' attempts to find purpose and direction in this precarious future. Highly relatable. What-if sci-fi at its very best.
I enjoyed Juliet Kemp's Song, Stone, Sail, Bone greatly. While cosy fantasy isn't normally my thing, I found it warm, amusing and richly imagined.
Much more up my street was Bring Me Home by E.M. Faulds. The post-flooded, half-empty world, specifically Scotland and Australia, was superbly well evoked, with little details ringing true at every turn. The heart of the story, however, is the two separated sisters' attempts to find purpose and direction in this precarious future. Highly relatable. What-if sci-fi at its very best.
March 30, 2026
Two more perfectly formed sf/f stories, each one exactly as long as is needed, able to be read in a couple of hours. One is good old fashioned fantasy, with political intrigue, bereavement grief and modern sensibilities for extra depth; the other very modern sf set in a climatically messed-up world (Scotland is an archipelago) where two siblings, who love but don't especially like each other, accidentally save each other in the way the other needs it most.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews