Friends, I have NEWS! My debut novel A SONG OF LEGENDS LOST will be published by Orbit UK in Spring 2025. This book is the first in an epic fantasy trilogy, and I wrote it with my whole heart. You can read more about it in the acquisitions announcement on the Orbit website. You can add the book on Goodreads here!
From Orbit:
We can’t wait to share A Song of Legends Lost with readers! With its large cast of complex, vibrant characters, rich worldbuilding and propulsive narrative, it’s perfect for fans of The Rage of Dragons, The Bone Shard Daughter and The Unbroken.
There are also announcements up on The Bookseller and BookBrunch, which is super surreal and hang on while I lie down for a sec, please. The book sold at auction, an experience I found equal parts terrifying and, erm, terrifying, and the opening of the story won the Future Worlds Prize. I've been writing in the universe this trilogy is set in for... a very long time. It has a deep and layered history, and is the kind of fantasy I wish I'd had access to growing up. A bit more about what to expect...
If you combine THIS bit of Black Panther...
...and THIS bit of Lord of the Rings...
... with THESE battle vibes
... Then you have a flavour of what is to come. You can also expect: a huge cast, lost civilisations, working class protagonists, an underdog with mummy issues, a morally grey monk, a warrior with regrets, and LOTS of ancestor magic, all set in a queernorm world inspired by multiple precolonial cultures. Here's a small summary:
In the Nine Lands, only those of noble blood can summon the spirits of their ancestors to fight in battle. But when Temi, a commoner from the slums, accidentally invokes a powerful spirit, she finds it could hold the key to ending a centuries-long war. But not everything that can be invoked is an ancestor. And some of the spirits that can be drawn from the ancestral realm are more dangerous than anyone can imagine.
Now please excuse me while I go and cry twenty years' worth of happy tears...