The Spider's Friend. The Spider's Friend, #1

Last week, he didn't know he had a family. Now he's trying to save the world from them. Maru was raised in isolation in a monastery, convinced he was a foundling. Then a glamorous foreign magician appears. He claims to be an emissary of Maru's father, none other than the Premier, who has sent this trusted intimate to fetch his secret son home to the capital. A more cynical person might wonder if there's a catch, and a more cynical person would be correct: the Premier is failing, and Jaalen was hired by a cabal of ambitious folks who want someone other than the heir on the throne. It's not as simple as deciding whether he's willing to go along with their ambitions.
An army of bovine zealots gathers at the border, ready to invade, and someone is murdering elemental shamans by means as malignant as they are mysterious. There's no question it's one of Maru's siblings, but he doesn't know which and now he's in their custody. Did anyone mention there are ten of them? The only person he trusts is the lying magician who tricked him into getting involved. And if he wants the help of Dhashere's most infamous witch-for-hire, he'll need to start by saving him. The Spider's Friend is a thrilling, twist-filled adventure, a palace intrigue with less palace and more battling-giant-jellyfish.
A must-read for anyone interested in novel second worlds, it has mole-people and a city made of waterfalls; one of the narrative characters is a plant. Ready to separate the liars from true friends? Plunge into the decaying chaos of the Dhashereen Dominion!