The Knave and the Moon (The Stonewater Kingdom, 2)
Rachel Gillig
The Knight and the Moth
by Rachel GilligCategory
About this book
INSTANT #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER! From New York Times bestselling author Rachel Gillig comes a sensational romantasy, a gothic, mist-cloaked tale of a young prophetess forced on an impossible quest with the one knight whose future is beyond her sight. "Prepare to meet your next obsession." — Rebecca Ross, author of Divine Rivals Sybil Delling has spent nine years dreaming of having no dreams at all. Like the other foundling girls who traded a decade of service for a home in the great cathedral, Sybil is a Diviner. In her dreams she receives visions from six unearthly figures known as Omens. From them, she can predict terrible things before they occur, and lords and common folk alike travel across the kingdom of Traum’s windswept moors to learn their futures by her dreams. Just as she and her sister Diviners near the end of their service, a mysterious knight arrives at the cathedral. Rude, heretical, and devilishly handsome, the knight Rodrick has no respect for Sybil's visions. But when Sybil's fellow Diviners begin to vanish one by one, she has no choice but to seek his help in finding them. For the world outside the cathedral’s cloister is wrought with peril. Only the gods have the answers she is seeking, and as much as she'd rather avoid Rodrick's dark eyes and sharp tongue, only a heretic can defeat a god.
Available Formats
Paperback: $9.31 Audiobook: $0.00
What readers are saying
Susan R.🦋 A Lyrical Descent into Dream, Divinity, and Defiance 🦋
"Rachel Gillig doesn’t write stories so much as she conjures them. In The Knight and the Moth, she returns to her signature blend of gothic fairytale and arcane magic, this time weaving a tale that is quieter, stranger, and more politically charged than her previous work. At the center of it all is Aisling, a towering cathedral built atop a spring that submerses girls into prophecy. These girls, "Diviners", are vessels for the six Omens, enigmatic figures who rule the Stonewater Kingdom not with armies, but with portents. Their symbols: coins, ink, oars, chimes, loom stones, and the elusive Moth, appear in visions and are sold to the desperate and the devout alike. It’s a theocracy of the subconscious, and Gillig paints it with eerie reverence. Our FMC is Six, a Diviner with no memory of her past, nearing the end of her ten-year service. When her sisters begin to vanish, she turns to a brash knight who does not believe in the Omens, Rodrick “Rory” Myndacious. What follows is not a rescue mission, but a heist of holy relics, a pilgrimage through a kingdom where the diviners command more respect than the new King. Gillig’s world is lush with invention: sprites that are the embodiment of nature and left to starve; gargoyles who are sentient guardians; and a monarchy that dares to challenge the gods themselves. The political threads are subtle but sharp, this is a story about who controls belief, and what happens when that belief begins to crack. The pacing is deliberate, sometimes meandering, like a dream you’re not sure you want to wake from. It lacks the fluid structure of One Dark Window, and Gillig herself admits to writing it under the haze of “Covid-brain.” But even dulled, her prose glimmers. She resists the pull of trendy “romantasy,” letting relationships simmer in trust and tension rather than heat. The romance is present, but it’s the world (its rituals, its rot, its quiet rebellion) that takes center stage. And just when you think you’ve found your footing in this strange, sacred land, Gillig does what she does best: she pulls the rug out from under you, and you fall beautifully, bewilderingly into the dark. Final Thoughts The Knight and the Moth is a quiet, unsettling fairytale that explores the intersection of magic, memory, and power. While it may not have the sharpness of Gillig’s earlier series, it offers a compelling meditation on belief and rebellion, wrapped in a world only she could conjure. Recommended for: Fans of gothic fantasy, slow-burn quests, and stories where the magic is as mysterious as the politics behind it. ["
July 14, 2025 Verified Purchase
GWBreathtaking
"We are all here because would read anything written by Gillig after the truly entrancing Shepherd Dulogy, am I right? Or maybe you are just wondering if the hype is real? Short answer is yes. And oh Bartholomew, I have never been interested in meeting a gargoyle before. Ok here goes. Sybil, known to most as Six, is the darling diviner of Aisling Cathedral, where the wealthy residents of the kingdom of Traum go to learn if their futures are blessed by the Omens. When the other diviners mysteriously disappear from their beds one by one, Six does not know who to trust or where to turn, and runs away to beg for help from the newly appointed king and his knights. She enlists the help of the reluctant knight Roderick, King Benji, his mentor Maude, and the faithful gargoyle Bartholomew. I had high expectations going in and they were still blown away. Gillig’s writing is understated yet powerful, both effortless and intricate, and so imaginative I would love to see inside her mind for just 5 minutes. Sybil is both sheltered and naive, her worldview narrowed by what she has been taught. She is also brave and relentless in her devotion to finding her diviners, and her character arc reflects these attributes. Roderick is not quite your typically brooding MMC. While he can be grumpy and severe, he is also bashful and sweet. Their love story is beautiful. While this romantasy has the typical themes of discovery, love, and betrayal, there is nothing typical about their presentation. The world building is breathtaking. The magic system is tragic and extraordinary. The plot twists and cliff hanger made me cry. I don’t care how many books are on your TBR list. I highly recommend you put it aside and read this now. ["
July 8, 2025 Verified Purchase
