The carnival of ash
(Book)

"Cadenza is the City of Words, a city run by poets, its skyline dominated by the steepled towers of its libraries ... Carlo Mazzoni, a young wordsmith, arrives at the city gates intent on making his name as the bells ring out with the news of the death of the city's poet-leader. Instead, he finds himself embroiled with the intrigues of a city in turmoil ... A war that threatens not only to destroy Cadenza but remove it from history altogether"--