Deadwood

Auria Tenere has spent her life locked away in the castle she calls home and forced to serve her father, the king of Amosite. Clinging to bedtime stories of extinct fae and dragons in hiding, she believes there's no hope of ever leaving the confines of the palace. That is, until her father arranges for her to be married to a stranger. After being able to leave the chasm for the first time in her life with her betrothed, Auria's group is soon attacked, leaving them no choice but to find shelter in the nearest town. But Deadwood isn't all that it seems, and the tales she once thought were simply bedtime stories turn out to be more real than she ever could've imagined. Faced with the lies she has been told her whole life, Auria is determined to unravel the secrets being kept by those in this outlaw town. Including those of the closed-off man she isn't certain she should let close-the one man her father seems scared of. From the moment she set foot in town, he's had his sights set on her, and Auria wants to know why. But soon, being stranded with him isn't her only problem. Not when the king decides he wants his daughter back, no matter the cost.

Auria Tenere has spent her life locked away in the castle she calls home and forced to serve her father, the king of Amosite. Clinging to bedtime stories of extinct fae and dragons in hiding, she believes there's no hope of ever leaving the confines of the palace. That is, until her father arranges for her to be married to a stranger. After being able to leave the chasm for the first time in her life with her betrothed, Auria's group is soon attacked, leaving them no choice but to find shelter in the nearest town. But Deadwood isn't all that it seems, and the tales she once thought were simply bedtime stories turn out to be more real than she ever could've imagined. Faced with the lies she has been told her whole life, Auria is determined to unravel the secrets being kept by those in this outlaw town. Including those of the closed-off man she isn't certain she should let close-the one man her father seems scared of. From the moment she set foot in town, he's had his sights set on her, and Auria wants to know why. But soon, being stranded with him isn't her only problem. Not when the king decides he wants his daughter back, no matter the cost.

'What Peter Cozzens has done with this remarkable book is to show us that the truth about Deadwood is, in fact, even more interesting than the myth.' S. C. Gwynne, New York Times bestselling author of Empire of the Summer Moon Infamous for its stage-coach robbing, whiskey-guzzling and rampant prostitution, the gold rush settlement of Deadwood, South Dakota, was once described as 'the most diabolical town on Earth'. Built in 1876 on land brazenly stolen from the Lakota people, it was an outlaw enterprise not subject to US laws or governance. In Deadwood , award-winning historian Peter Cozzens sifts through myth and legend to recount the town's meteoric rise - a place where the currency was gold dust - and its stunning fall. He reveals how Deadwood's foundation bred a self-reliance and a spirit of cooperation unique on the frontier, making it an exceptionally welcoming place at a time of deep-seated discrimination. Along the way, Cozzens pulls back the curtain on legendary figures Wild Bill Hickok and Calamity Jane, and introduces us to colourful Deadwoodites: from Jack Langrishe to Judge Kuykendall, and Seth Bullock to Sol Star. This is the first book to tell Deadwood's extraordinary story in full, revealing the true tale of how one frontier town, in only three years, imprinted itself on our imaginations as the best and worst of the West.

'What Peter Cozzens has done with this remarkable book is to show us that the truth about Deadwood is, in fact, even more interesting than the myth.' S. C. Gwynne, New York Times bestselling author of Empire of the Summer Moon Infamous for its stage-coach robbing, whiskey-guzzling and rampant prostitution, the gold rush settlement of Deadwood, South Dakota, was once described as 'the most diabolical town on Earth'. Built in 1876 on land brazenly stolen from the Lakota people, it was an outlaw enterprise not subject to US laws or governance. In Deadwood , award-winning historian Peter Cozzens sifts through myth and legend to recount the town's meteoric rise - a place where the currency was gold dust - and its stunning fall. He reveals how Deadwood's foundation bred a self-reliance and a spirit of cooperation unique on the frontier, making it an exceptionally welcoming place at a time of deep-seated discrimination. Along the way, Cozzens pulls back the curtain on legendary figures Wild Bill Hickok and Calamity Jane, and introduces us to colourful Deadwoodites: from Jack Langrishe to Judge Kuykendall, and Seth Bullock to Sol Star. This is the first book to tell Deadwood's extraordinary story in full, revealing the true tale of how one frontier town, in only three years, imprinted itself on our imaginations as the best and worst of the West.