No present like time

"Insects last swarmed the Fourlands, five years ago, leaving behind countless dead and the land devastated. Reconstruction is proceeding very slow, but for Jant, the Emperor's winged messenger, things are moving too fast. Now the Emperor has commanded that Jant join the small group of immortals who will travel as an embassy to the new land. Just perfect for a man terrified of ships and the sea. Jant suspects that he's a pawn in an ancient political game."
"The incredible follow-up to Steph Swainston's acclaimed first novel, The Year of Our War, No Present Like Time is a superb work of literary fantasy. God is still on vacation, the Emperor still leads the war against the insects, and his cadre of immortals is still quarreling among themselves. But a new land has been discovered, one that holds the secrets of centuries, and one of their own, now exiled, foments rebellion against the Circle. In the brutal battle that follows, Jant Comet will discover that even immortals can fall. . . . Wildly inventive, engaging, and witty, Steph Swainston's trilogy is building to be a landmark of modern imagination."@en
"In the sequel to The Year of Our War, as humankind continues to battle for survival against the insects, God is still on vacation, the Emperor still leads, and his cadre of immortals are still quarreling among themselves, Jant Comet, the Emperor's winged Messenger, reluctantly joins a naval expedition to be launched against a new insect invasion."@en