Queen of Candesce
{4.5/5} “Eventually she moved over to the window and picked up a particular doll. Its tunic was ripped where the secret policemen had cut it open looking for hidden notes… So that’s what he’d been doing. Albard had rubbed its eyebrows off against the stone. Then, in meticulous tiny lines and curls, he had repainted them. From a distance of more than a few inches they seemed normal. Up close, though, she could see what they were made of: Letters.”
Queen of Candesce by Karl Schroeder, published in 2007
Vanera Fanning falls to a place called Greater Spyre, where her rescuer tells her she’s lucky to be alive and won’t be able to leave. She does try to leave, but when she goes to jump off Spyre she fails. Instead she gets snatched and forced to take a bunch of tests to become a citizen of Liris. She becomes part of a trading delegation to Lesser Spyre, and they will be going to the weekly Great Fair.
This is the sequel to Sun of Suns.
It’s about what happens when you are far from home, and you find out that your husband’s dead. It’s about convincingly pretending to be someone you’re not. It’s about how quickly friends can turn to enemies.
I’ve read 9 books by Schroeder.