National Book Award winner Sabaa Tahir will return to the world of her An Ember in the Ashes quartet with Heir, a new fantasy tale set in the same universe. Penguin Teen has announced Tahir’s new duology opener, which is scheduled for publication on October 1 from Putnam Books for Young Readers, with a first printing of 250,000 copies.
Heir follows the lives of a vengeance seeking orphan, a hopeful outcast, and an exiled prince as they seek out power and love in a world of danger. Fans of her original series will have the opportunity to experience the setting they know through new perspectives, with surprise appearances from beloved characters.
“Fantasy books are home to me, and I’m delighted to be returning to a familiar place—the World of Ember, with my new novel Heir,” Tahir said in a statement. “As ever with my work, the characters’ struggles allowed me to explore and make sense of modern turmoil through the lens of fiction.”
Inspired by the horrors of the global refugee crisis, Tahir launched her series in 2015 with An Ember in the Ashes, which was named one of Time’s 100 Best Young Adult Books of All Time; she ended it in 2020 with A Sky Beyond the Storm. For more about the series, see our interview with Tahir here.
