The Killing Moon

The Killing Moon opens N. K. Jemisin's Dreamblood duology in Gujaareh, an ancient city-state where peace is the only law and power is split between a secular prince and the temple of the dream-goddess Hananja. The temple's Gatherers are priest-assassins who harvest the magic of sleeping minds, using it to heal and soothe, and to kill those the temple judges corrupt by easing them into a final dream. Ehiru is the most respected Gatherer in the city, but when a conspiracy blooms inside the temple and dreamers begin dying in the goddess's name, everything he believes comes into question. He finds himself protecting the woman he was ordered to kill while the city drifts toward war and forbidden magic. Jemisin builds an Egyptian-inspired world where an oppressive institution is examined from within.