To save the kingdoms, Bristal must find the courage to show her true form.īuilding on homages to Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Jane Austen’s Emma and the Chinese legend of Hua Mulan, Hannah West makes a spectacular debut. As an army of dark creatures grows closer, Bristal faces a supernatural war. Should she vow to seek the good of the world, to protect and serve mortals? Or should she follow the strength of her power, even if it leads to unknown terrors? She draws on her ability to disguise herself as a man to infiltrate a prince's band of soldiers, and masquerades as a fairy godmother to shield a cursed princess, but time is running out. Their gifts are fraught with responsibility, and sixteen-year-old Bristal is torn between two paths. An ancient breed of immortal magic beings, elicromancers have been winnowed down to merely two - now three - after centuries of bloody conflict in the realm. Redwine, New York Times best-selling author of The Shadow Queen 'A world both terrifying and wonderful.Bristal, an orphaned kitchen maid, lands in a gritty fairy tale gone wrong when she discovers she is an elicromancer with a knack for shape-shifting. 'One of the best books I've ever read.'-C.J. The paperback edition includes the short story Fields of Fire, an illustrated map of Nissera, and a dazzling metallic foil cover. The Nissera Chronicles begin here and continue with Fields of Fire, a short story set against the events of Kingdom of Ash and Briars, and Realm of Ruins, a gripping companion novel.

With clever homages to Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, and the Chinese legend of Hua Mulan, Hannah West makes a fast-paced, exciting, and wholly original debut. There are princesses to protect, royal alliances to forge, and fierce monsters to battle-all with the hope of preserving peace. Together, Bristal and Brack must guard the three kingdoms of Nissera against Tamarice's black elicromancy. Tamarice is plotting a quest to overthrow the realm's nobility and take charge herself. Bristal joins their ranks without knowing that one of them has a dark secret. She's descended from an ancient line of immortal sorcerers called elicromancers-a race that has all but died out in her world, but only two remain in Nissera after a bloody civil war. Bristal, a sixteen-year-old kitchen maid, finds herself in a gritty fairy tale gone wrong when she discovers she has magic in her blood.

Welcome to Nissera, land of three kingdoms and home to spectacular magic.

Kingdom of ash and briars