In this sweeping epic fantasy comes a story of magic, betrayal, love, and loyalty, where two sisters will clash on opposite sides of a war against the gods.
THE GODS BELOW
(The Hollow Covenant, Book 1)
by Andrea Stewart
Orbit, September 2024
(via Mushens Entertainment)
A divine war shattered the world leaving humanity in ruins. Desperate for hope, they struck a deal with the devious god Kluehnn: He would restore the world to its former glory, but at a price so steep it would keep the mortals indebted to him for eternity. And, as each land was transformed, so too were its people changed into strange new forms―if they survived at all.
Hakara is not willing to pay such a price. Desperate to protect herself, and her sister Rasha, she flees her homeland for the safety of a neighboring kingdom. But when tragedy separates them, Hakara is forced to abandon her beloved sister to an unknown fate.
Alone and desperate for answers on the wrong side of the world, Hakara discovers she can channel the magic from the mysterious gems they are forced to mine for Kluehnn. With that discovery comes another: her sister is alive, and only the rebels plotting to destroy the God Pact can help rescue her.
But only if Hakara goes to war against a god.
‘Andrea Stewart is one of the best fantasy writers I’ve read in a long time’ —Sarah J. Maas
‘An epic and heart rending struggle between gods and mortals, lovers and siblings . . . Stewart is a writer of genius and brilliance’ —Hannah Kaner
‘Stewart’s worlds are some of the most exceptionally inventive in modern fantasy. A must read!’ —Shannon Chakraborty
‘THE GODS BELOW is as breathtaking as its magic system promises. Expect old gods, altered beings, magic stones, fighting, romance, and rollicking good fun. Stewart’s newest series cements her as a bright voice in the fantasy genre’ —L. R. Lam
‘This awe-inspiring trilogy-starter is everything fans of high fantasy have been looking for. Its characters are compelling, its world is vivid, new, and visceral’ —Booklist (starred review)
Andrea Stewart is the Chinese American daughter of immigrants, and was raised in a number of places across the United States. When her (admittedly ambitious) dreams of becoming a dragon slayer didn’t pan out, she instead turned to writing books. She now lives in sunny California.
The moon is stuck like a broken clock in the midnight sky, the sun a distant memory. No one in this quiet seaside town can remember how long this unnatural darkness has lasted. No one, that is, except for the curious girl who lives in the graveyard, caring for the dead: twelve-year-old Madeline Tock. In gratitude, the departed whisper their worries to her: beware this endless night and she who causes it.
DON’T PUSH THE BUTTON
On his twelfth birthday, Jackson « Jax » Freeman arrives at Chicago’s Union Station alone, carrying nothing but the baggage of a scandal back in his hometown. He’s been sent away from home to live with relatives he barely knows. But even worse are the strangers who accost him at the train station, including a food vendor who throws dust in his face and a conductor who tries to steal his skin.
Luna rides a battered old broom that keeps crashing itself into the school pond. She has a witch’s hat and wand and sometimes she’s quite good at magic, but she isn’t completely sure that she’s a real witch. She doesn’t have a familiar for one thing, and she doesn’t know where she came from-only that she was found by three witches who she now calls her aunts. When she swaps her moonstone ring for an Australian boobook owl in the Lost Forest, the mysterious bird seller makes her promise to keep the bird hidden for as long as she can. This is not easy when you live with very inquisitive aunts. And it’s not easy when you find out that the fearsome Madame Valadon, the Best Witch in Paris, is missing her boobook owl and she’s sure that Luna knows something about it.