The Songbird & the Heart of Stone

Kicking off a new era of the Crown of Nyaxia series after the conclusion to the Nightborn Duet duology, Broadbent brings a beloved secondary character into the spotlight for an emotionally intense and richly detailed descent into the underworld. Mische is set to be executed for the murder of the Shadowborn King Raoul’s heir, who forcibly turned her into a vampire and thus tainted her in the eyes of the sun god Atroxus to whom she was devoted as a Dawndrinker. Her hanging is interrupted by the arrival of Raoul’s younger son Asar, the Wraith Warden who guards the underworld. Asar commandeers Mische to be his companion on a quest given to him by the vampire goddess Nyaxia: they must collect artifacts hidden along the path to the underworld to be used in a necromantic ritual that will return Nyaxia’s husband to life. Pursued by hordes of wraiths and the shades of the people they have wronged, Mische and Asar come to rely on one another. Along the way, Mische learns to reconcile her Dawndrinker and vampire heritages. It adds up to a mostly self-contained story of personal growth and risky romance, with just enough ties to the larger mythology to keep returning readers satisfied. Broadbent proves this series has legs. (Nov.)