YA FANTASY
KINDLING
HarperCollins, February 27, 2024
HarperCollins, February 27, 2024
Come victory or come death
Once, the war was fought with kindlings—elite, magic-wielding warriors whose devastating power comes at the cost of their own young lives.
Now, the war is over, and kindlings have been cast adrift—their magic outlawed, their skills outdated, their formidable balar weapons prized only as relics and souvenirs.
Violence still plagues the countryside, and memories haunt those who remain. When a village comes under threat of siege, it offers an opportunity for seven kindlings to fight one last time. But war changed these warriors. And to reclaim who they once were, they will have to battle their pasts, their trauma, and their grim fates to come together again—or none of them will make it out alive.
From bestselling and award-winning author Traci Chee comes a gut-wrenching, introspective fantasy about seven lost soldiers searching for the peace they once fought for and the future in which they’re finally daring to believe.
Once, the war was fought with kindlings—elite, magic-wielding warriors whose devastating power comes at the cost of their own young lives.
Now, the war is over, and kindlings have been cast adrift—their magic outlawed, their skills outdated, their formidable balar weapons prized only as relics and souvenirs.
Violence still plagues the countryside, and memories haunt those who remain. When a village comes under threat of siege, it offers an opportunity for seven kindlings to fight one last time. But war changed these warriors. And to reclaim who they once were, they will have to battle their pasts, their trauma, and their grim fates to come together again—or none of them will make it out alive.
From bestselling and award-winning author Traci Chee comes a gut-wrenching, introspective fantasy about seven lost soldiers searching for the peace they once fought for and the future in which they’re finally daring to believe.
ACCOLADES
A Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection
Booklist Top 10 SF/Fantasy Books for Youth: 2024
Booklist Top 10 SF/Fantasy Books for Youth: 2024
PRAISE
★ "Both a mesmerizing fantasy adventure and a haunting meditation on shared trauma."--Kirkus Reviews, starred review
"Inventive."--Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books
★ "A thorough and gut-wrenching exploration of finding reasons to move forward after devastating loss and darkness and how community and connection can breed hope that will linger with readers long after the last page."--Booklist, starred review
★ "Employing simple yet brutal worldbuilding rendered in raw prose, Chee (A Thousand Steps into Night) offers an unflinching look into the horrors of war in this Seven Samurai–inspired tale."--Publishers Weekly, starred review
★ "A heartrending, must-read fantasy about youth searching for home and learning to survive a world not designed for them."--School Library Journal