16 blockbuster September science fiction and fantasy releases to kick off Fall
By Lacy Baugher
September 2021 release: Dark Rise – C.S. Pacat
The first novel in a new trilogy from Captive Prince author C.S. Pacat, Dark Rise is a story of good and evil that sprawls across time, and a dark king who seeks to reclaim a throne lost long ago.
The story follows sixteen-year-old Will Kempton, a young boy who has spent months on the run, trying to avoid the pack of mysterious men who killed his mother. Young tomboy Violet wants nothing more than to follow in her brother’s footsteps and go work for Simon, who controls the local docks with an iron fist.
But when the pair’s paths cross unexpectedly, their lives will change forever as they’re introduced to a hidden world where light battles dark and a band of mystical Stewards are charged with protecting the modern world from a threat of a much more magical one.
The official synopsis offers more details about the story.
"The ancient world of magic is no more. Its heroes are dead, its halls are ruins, and its great battles between Light and Dark are forgotten. Only the Stewards remember, and they keep their centuries-long vigil, sworn to protect humanity if the Dark King ever returns. Sixteen-year-old dock boy Will is on the run, pursued by the men who killed his mother. When an old servant tells him of his destiny to fight beside the Stewards, Will is ushered into a world of magic, where he must train to play a vital role in the oncoming battle against the Dark. As London is threatened by the Dark King’s return, the reborn heroes and villains of a long-forgotten war begin to draw battle lines. But as the young descendants of Light and Dark step into their destined roles, old allegiances, old enmities and old flames are awakened. Will must stand with the last heroes of the Light to prevent the fate that destroyed their world from returning to destroy his own."
Dark Rise is available on September 28.