Enjoy The Americans? Feeling a bit more interested in the history of America and Russian relations, of late? Enjoy an alt-world spin on your tales of danger and drama? Check out The Witch Who Came in From the Cold!
The Witch Who Came in From the Cold is the fantasy-espionage thriller from Serial Box. This serial is collaboratively written and available in text and audio via SerialBox.com, their iOS app, and all major ebook retailers. Lead by foreign-affairs expert Lindsay Smith (Sekret) and Urban Fantasy-pioneer Max Gladstone (Three Parts Dead), this season’s author team is rounded out by Cassandra Rose Clark (Our Lady of the Ice), Ian Tregillis (The Milkweed Triptych), and Nebula-nominated Fran Wilde (Updraft).
Welcome to Prague, 1970: the epicenter in a struggle of spies and sorcerers. The Witch Who Came in From the Cold follows agents on opposing sides of two struggles: the Cold War, and an ancient conflict between two occult secret societies: the Consortium of Ice and the Acolytes of Flame. A CIA and KGB agent will find their loyalties to country tested when they realize they must work together to prevent the destruction of the world at the hands of the Flame.
Gabe Pritchard, grizzled CIA agent and proud American never believed in sorcery—until he walked into the wrong room in Cairo and ended up with a powerful magical Elemental living inside his head. Tanya Morozova, latest in a long line of Ice Witches, knew loyalty to the Consortium before she ever took up the KGB badge. Now they’re both stationed to Prague, a city built on powerful ley lines and thrumming with both political and magical tension.
In Season One, a CIA extraction of a Soviet scientist ended in chaos when one of the American operatives betrayed the U.S. in order to deliver the magically-powerful scientist to the Flame. Tanya and Gabe worked together to foil the plot—but trust is hard to come by amongst spies and suspicion lingers throughout their agencies, both magical and national.
In Season Two, Tanya and Gabe must deal with the fallout of their actions from Season One as each plays their own dangerous game to try to learn the secrets of the Flame without getting burned. Meanwhile a powerful sorcerer arrives in Prague to lead a ritual that could turn the tides of war…
This serial first premiered in 2016 and will soon launch its second season on February 8! You can dive right into Season 1, Episode 1 for free right now—but anyone new to the snow and shadows will find more than enough context to enjoy the adventure from Season 2 on.
To give you a taste, the folks at Serial Box have shared with us an exclusive audio excerpt from Season 2, Episode 1: “Awakening,” written by Lindsay Smith!
Intrigued? Hop over to SerialBox.com to learn more, start reading Season 1, or pre-order your pass to Season 2. Starting February 8th, a new episode of this tale of spies and spells will drop every Wednesday.
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What an odd pairing, enjoyed the sample, hope to win.