Of Blood and Bone

Roberts’s fun follow-up to 2017’s Year One focuses on the training phase of mankind’s chosen savior, 13-year-old Fallon Swift. After most of the world’s population dies from a virus known as The Doom, people called Uncannys develop magical powers and separate into good and evil factions. Fallon’s mother, Lana, is told by a man named Mallick that Fallon is destined to train with him for two years, beginning on her 13th birthday, to prepare for her role. Fallon decides to leave her family and moves with Mallick to an undisclosed location to hone her magic and fighting skills. While this isn’t particularly new territory—a reluctant heroine butting heads with her square mentor, a series of quests to prove the heroine worthy, a meet-cute with a boy who will obviously play a greater role in her life—Roberts is a natural storyteller, and the narrative is consistently enjoyable. Fallon’s training culminates with her attempts to raise an army, and an opportunity for her to save her mother’s old pals and their kids in the colony of New Hope, which is targeted by evil Uncannys. Though it’s the middle book in a planned trilogy, this can be read on its own and will appeal to fans of fast-paced dystopian tales with a strong heroine. 1,000,000-copy announced first printing. (Dec.)