14 must-read SFF releases that will make your September magical

The Bone Shard Daughter – Andrea Stewart

A complex and layered debut novel from author Andrea Stewart, The Bone Shard Daughter is the first novel in what is being called the “Drowning Empire” trilogy. It’s also the sort of grimdark epic that will immediately land on almost everyone’s Fall TBR lists.

In the world of the Phoenix Empire, magic involves a rather grotesque system of carving symbols on to the skull shards of the dead that in turn can power “constructs”, Frankenstein-esque creatures that do the magician’s bidding. Lin, the emperor’s daughter, is busy trying to master the same magic in order to prove herself worthy of the throne, as threats build both within the world of the castle (her cousin Bayan) and without (a resistance group known as the Shardless Few).

The storytelling of The Bone Shard Daughter is complex and layered, featuring no less than five separate POVs and a surprise appearance a talking animal companion that’s basically an aquatic cat. It’s difficult to summarize the way the various POV characters lives’ thread together without going deeply into the story, but its clear that the tale has been carefully and deliberately plotted.

The official synopsis describes the story as follows.

"The emperor’s reign has lasted for decades, his mastery of bone shard magic powering the animal-like constructs that maintain law and order. But now his rule is failing, and revolution is sweeping across the Empire’s many islands. Lin is the emperor’s daughter and spends her days trapped in a palace of locked doors and dark secrets. When her father refuses to recognise her as heir to the throne, she vows to prove her worth by mastering the forbidden art of bone shard magic. Yet such power carries a great cost, and when the revolution reaches the gates of the palace, Lin must decide how far she is willing to go to claim her birthright – and save her people."

The Bone Shard Daughter is available on September 8.