Steel & Spellfire
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4.0 • 1 Rating
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- $10.99
Publisher Description
Divine Rivals meets The Witch Haven in this young adult romantasy in which a powerful mage posing as a debutante during the court social season must work with a member of the royal guard to catch a killer with powers much like her own.
In the city of Valora, where mages are feared and closely governed by the law, Pandora Small spends her life pretending to be someone she is not. Raised in seclusion by a shrouded guardian, Pandora learned to wield her magic in a way the world has never seen, making her more weapon than girl.
Pandora may have escaped her guardian, but powerful forces keep them bound together and she’ll do anything to find them again to break their bond for good. Posing as an Ingenue, a well-off young woman with limited magic, Pandora hopes to gain access to the royal court’s social season and the wealthy elite who make it their playing ground. Pandora’s arrival at court becomes more complicated when Ellis Beacon, a promising young member of the royal guard, discovers the true scope of Pandora’s deadly magic. Secretly sympathetic towards mages and convinced that Pandora is no harm to the public, Beacon agrees to keep her secret.
But when someone or something with powers terribly like Pandora’s own begins killing her fellow Ingenues, Beacon must decide whether Pandora is truly innocent or if there’s ruthless killer lying under her masterfully crafted facade. And Pandora will have to open up to gain Beacon’s trust because joining forces may be the only way for Pandora to find her freedom and catch the real killer plaguing the city.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
After five years of instruction at the Bellwether School for Young Ladies, 17-year-old Pandora Small is ready to take her place in society as an Ingenue: a young woman who "seek out bindings and new lives" by tying her parlor trick magic to a wealthy—often male—patron. Secretly, Pandora is, "according to Hesperid's laws, an abomination," a magic user far more powerful than any mage the city of Valora has ever known. Pandora seeks to break free from her unknown patron, to whom she's been bound since she was a child. While navigating the intrigue and glamour of the social season on Palace Hill, she encounters Queen's Guard Ellis Beacon, who hides an ability to sense magic. As the two become unlikely friends, the magical murders of several other Ingenues threaten Valora's seemingly peaceful society and jeopardize Pandora's cover. And in discovering her power's origins and her patron's identity, Pandora could change the country forever. In this sweeping tale, Weymouth (The Voice Upstairs) weaves together decadent romance and dangerous mystery. Employing a glamorous setting reminiscent of Regency-era England, Weymouth explores the commodification of young women and power, making for an intriguing fantasy with thematic heft. Major characters cue as white. Ages 14–up.