STEVE ANDREW enjoys an account of the many communities that flourished independently of and in resistance to the empires of old
Fantasy and science fiction round-up
		Reviews of the latest from Leigh Bardugo, Nina Allan, Mike Shackle and Simon Morden
	
			WE’VE all heard of the ultra-conservative, secret societies based at Yale University such as Skull and Bones. But what we didn’t know is that each of the eight “houses” specialises in a different type of sorcery, like using the entrails of homeless people to foretell movements on the stock market.
That at least is the premise of Leigh Bardugo’s fabulous fantasy novel Ninth House (Gollancz, £16.99).
In her version, the ninth of the societies polices a code of conduct intended to prevent the young aristos from getting completely out of control.
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