The Empress of Timbra

Award-winning author Karen Healey and co-writer Robyn Fleming create thrilling high fantasy adventure in an intricate world of magic and intrigue.

My father's eyes were steady on my face as I blew out the last bubbles of my breath. I pressed my knife into his hand but he could not make his fingers close around the hilt. I screamed for help with my first lungful of air, and dove again with my second. I was too late.

Fourteen-year-old Taver didn't know he was a nobleman's bastard until his real father died. Eleven-year-old Elaku has always known she was the bastard daughter of the same nobleman. When the two siblings meet in the Empress of Timbra's palace, they become fast friends.

Around them, intrigue and rumour swirl. Not everybody is happy with the rule of the Empress of Timbra. Some have plans for Taver and Elaku. And when treachery and war threaten their home, Taver and Elaku must rely on their magic, their wits, and each other to have any chance of preventing disaster.

"Reminiscent of the best of Robin Hobb, Tamora Pierce and Trudi Canavan, The Empress of Timbra is a clever, captivating and heartfelt read accessible to fantasy lovers of any age. Healey and Fleming have created a future YA classic." Foz Meadows, An Accident of Stars, A Tyranny of Queens.

"[The Empress of Timbra] gives me the same feels as the Patricia McKillip/Tamora Pierce fantasy adventures I read as a teen. Just wonderful!" - Stephanie Burgis, The Dragon with a Chocolate Heart, Snowspelled.

"This book made me remember the heady pleasure of being a kid consumed by reading." - Marianne Kirby, Dust Buth Revival.