Shadow Sister

Shadow Sister takes place in the vast Obsidian City, at the heart of a cruel and powerful empire. It tells a story of Saiyali Ambon, kidnapped from her forest home as a girl and sold on to a wealthy family from far across the ocean. It unfolds in two arcs that interweave, revealing her character along two alternating timelines: 'Past' and 'Present'. Between these are scattered pages of a guidebook, which illustrate a living, breathing and rather mundane fantasy world.

In 'Past', Saiyali is enslaved, and used as a thief and a killer. Her actions echo and catch up with her in 'Present', where she works for a criminal gang and finally becomes an assassin for the legendary Sisterhood of Shadows. In both timelines she grows to enjoy her life of crime – but forces are moving beyond her control, that will ultimately lead her to face both past and present together in a bloody climax, with choices and opportunities she could never have imagined.

Shadow Sister is set in a far-future Earth, where singing can activate aenimus, a kind of life energy that originates from ancient apocalypse and ruin. Descended from survivors of the end of the world, these people are recognizably human despite their magical abilities – and their flawed society in many ways mirrors our own. It is an immersive, sensuous, emotional adventure, populated by vivid and morally-ambiguous characters; speculative fiction with shades of noir.