Defy the Dusk
Book One of The Sundering Duet
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- $14.99
Publisher Description
When darkness means certain death and survival depends on reaching the dawn, the woman whose magic broke the world will carve another path: defy the dusk. From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Bridge Kingdom comes the first book in a gritty post-apocalyptic fantasy duology.
“Propulsive and unstoppable, Defy the Dusk is a furious machine of a book, with a tremendous heart at its core.”—Victoria Aveyard, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Tempest
A PUBLISHERS WEEKLY BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR
In the Sundered world, there are two options: Ride the dawn, or face what rises in the night.
Twenty years ago, Lirien’s magic fractured the world and unleashed nocturnal creatures that brought civilization to its knees. Amidst the carnage came salvation: The most powerful survivors were invited to board Dawnrider, a high-speed rig that would deliver those aboard into a new era.
The rest of humanity was left to die.
Instead, a king rose from the darkness to lead them.
In the years since, Lirien has dedicated her magic to Dawnrider while secretly plotting to overthrow the tyrant who rules the rig with an iron fist. But just as Lirien is ready to strike against him, she is violently abducted by Vox—the king of the feralists.
The mercurial Vox gives her two choices: Fight the creatures that hunt the night or be fed to them. Lirien agrees to join his ranks, but embarks on a strategy of seduction that will return her to Dawnrider.
Yet as Vox pushes the limits of her magic, Lirien begins to question whether defying the dusk is the true path to salvation. Intoxicated by both Vox and his war against the night, Lirien must decide where her loyalties truly lie—and how far she’s willing to go for redemption.
Book One of The Sundering Duet
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
In the first book in Danielle L. Jensen’s The Sundering Duet, powerful elemental magic has left a brutal, postapocalyptic world in its wake. Lirien was only nine when her powers first catastrophically manifested, ripping up the continents and making way for an invasion of monsters. Two decades later, she lives with the other surviving magic users aboard a massive, constantly moving, train-like rig. It’s run by a draconian overlord named Taimen, who enforces a bigoted, magical-supremacist social hierarchy…and Lirien is quietly plotting his demise. Jensen does some truly clever world-building here, combining a well-thought-out magic system with gritty elements reminiscent of Snowpiercer, Mortal Engines, and even The Walking Dead. But what really propels the story is Lirien’s abduction by Vox, the leader of the nonmagic users Taimen left behind, who thinks he’s kidnapped Taimen’s right hand. As they develop a fiery, exhilarating connection, the story that unfolds becomes one about human resilience and cooperation in the face of tyranny and fear.
