Twenty Palaces

A prequel to Child of Fire.

Ray Lilly is the wooden man (a decoy expected to die to allow a sorceress to deal with a predator or enemy sorcerer) and driver of Annalise Powliss, and is under a standing death mark from the Twenty Palace Society. Driving her to Hammer Bay, Washington, Ray helps Annalise uncover a sorcerer, the CEO of Hammer Bay Toys, and his enslaved predator, a Wheel of Fire, that allows Hammer to influence the future. The Wheel is slowly eroding its bindings, enough so that it begins to kill the children of Hammer Bay, using their bodies to build an offspring. Ray eventually kills Hammer and isolates the Wheel. Annalise is horribly wounded during this fight, and Ray manages to resurrect her by force feeding her meat.

Ray, detached from Annalise and with new knowledge of several of the spells put upon his body prior to Child of Fire by Annalise, is paired with Catherine Little, an investigator of the Society. Sent to investigate rumors of a predator being sold at auction, Ray and Catherine arrive too late to interrupt the sale, and that the sapphire dog, a predator that feeds by forcing victims to kill one another, has escaped. Ray eventually overpowers two other sorcerers who arrive to contest for the dog, and kills the predator itself, again saving Annalise's life, who arrives after the presence of the predator is confirmed.

Ray is contacted by former associates in Los Angeles, and discovers all of his friends have been infected with predators to render them invisible. Ray's old nemesis inscribed them the spells to protect them from the predators in henna, which gradually fades, resulting in Ray's friends eventually being devoured. Again working for Annalise, Ray eventually finds the home of a traitor to the Society, and finds the Book of Oceans hidden in the home. Ray reads the Book of Oceans but refuses the gift of magical power. At the end of the book, after killing his nemesis, Ray is invited to the First Palace along with Annalise, as Ray is one of the few people, including the peers, who has actually managed to secure any recent victories.

A novelette contained in the collection Bad Little Girls Die Horrible Deaths and Other Tales of Dark Fantasy.

An ebook novella. Ray Lilly has been summoned to the headquarters of the Twenty Palace Society to answer one question: How has he managed to survive mission after mission fighting alongside his boss, Annalise? He doesn't have the power of a full peer of the society. He's a wooden man. An assistant. A diversion. The other peers want to know what's going on, so it's off to Europe for a trip to the First Palace. And no place in the world is safer than inside the headquarters of the Twenty Palace Society, right?

• Closed Way: Provides impenetrability on the covered area, and is one of the more common tattoos - Ray and Annalise both have multiple copies of this spell laid upon them (Annalise by an unknown superior, likely her master, and Ray by Annalise). However, for spellcasters who are weaker than primaries, the tattoo becomes visible (allowing knowledgeable individuals to target exposed areas), and the area becomes less and less sensitive, until it becomes completely numb (Ray has often looked down to realize he's been shot but didn't feel anything because the tattoo blocked it). However, the tattoo isn't an absolute protection; "Tattoo," an infamous enemy of the society, was almost completely covered in them, but was ultimately wounded by the blast from a backfire of his pistol, allowing Ray to finish him off magically.
• The Twisted Path: Appearing as a tattoo on an individual, this spell allows many beneficial effects for a criminal or outlaw. One "on the twisted path" leaves no accurate forensic evidence. Fingerprints won't match, DNA won't come back to you, and witnesses may even identify someone else in a lineup. Ray's spell (placed by Annalise) is apparently powerful enough to subvert digital photography. It's unclear when exactly Annalise cast this on Ray; a knowledgeable individual pointed it out in Game of Cages, but given that he wasn't picked up after Hammer Bay, it stands to reason that Annalise cast it prior to Child of Fire.
• Golem Flesh: Golem Flesh provides an added degree of protection from damage; however, more importantly, it also provides a healing factor that allows for the bearer of the spell to regenerate damage rapidly, provided that they take in fresh meat. However, as a trade-off, the spell requires the consumption of red meat daily, and it is best if the meat is fresh and uncooked, which is disgusting to new recipients of the spell, and takes time to get used to. Until such damage is healed, however, the body of a golem flesh recipient is able to survive long periods of time with horrific injuries - Ansel Zahn survived having part of him sucked into another dimension, and Annalise was able to be revived after being burnt to a husk after the source of the timebending magic was cut off by Ray. Human flesh works well - both Zahn and Wally King are able to consume human flesh to heal damage. In addition, should one consume meat properly on a regular basis, the spell can artificially extend one's natural lifetime - the traditional expectation is often put at "five hundred years," but no one knows exactly how long it would last. The spell takes the form of a tattoo that has some form of spirals and apparently bears resemblance to something, though Ray decides to look away rather than study the spell. Although the spell appears in many spellbooks, this one is only cast on rare circumstances - for it to be effective, a caster has to be exceptionally powerful, and it seems to take something out of said casters, as well. Combined with the risks inherent in creating a powerful, long-living individual, the Society reserves casting of the spell to special circumstances.
• The Iron Gate: Protects one from mental influence both from spells and predators. The spell throbs or even screams with unbearable agony depending upon the severity of the invasion, providing both a warning and something to focus upon to resist the intrusion. Ray's spell is apparently powerful enough to aid him against any predator so far seen, and against any spell seen provided he is aware of said spell from the throbbing. He even resists a spell cast on an object to protect its contents cast by a powerful sorcerer, which makes most individuals look away. In Ray's case, his spell is located below his right collarbone.
• Ghost Knife/Soul Knife: Cast by Ray onto a piece of paper from the book he stole and apparently keeps hidden somewhere. Can be telekinetically controlled. Cuts all non living matter, all magic, and "ghosts" or souls. Use on humans renders them docile and compliant, even apologetic for past aggression. Use on a non aggressive suspect highly magnifies the effect, enough so to make Ray incredibly disgusted with himself in Child of Fire. Seen in Game of Cages cast upon a silver Chinese jian in the possession of a rich businessman. Effects are similar, perhaps even magnified.

Annalise's green ribbons: Causes a massive explosion of green fire that Rays iron gate protects him from Circle of Enemies. Annalise's favored weapon. Kills predators with ease.

Annalise's white ribbons: Knocks a person out who views the sigil.

Various and sundry summoning spells.

Both Child of Fire and Game of Cages have garnered generally positive reviews, and Connolly summarizes and links to both positive and negative reviews at his blog, Twenty Palaces. Child of Fire received a starred review from Publishers Weekly and was subsequently named to their top 100 books of 2009 list.[3] Game of Cages received a starred review as well, and though it did not make the 2010 list, it was named as one of four honorable mentions by the Publishers Weekly sci-fi/fantasy/horror reviews editor.[4] The books are often compared to The Dresden Files series by Jim Butcher, but there are several differences, including the fact that the Twenty Palaces books do not take place in a city.

Critics of the novels are generally concerned by the fact that not enough information has been given about the Twenty Palace Society and the way magic works in that universe.