SO LET THEM BURN

Two sisters face near-impossible odds while trying to protect each other and their country.

Five years ago, 17-year-old Faron Vincent, from the island of San Irie, became the Childe Empyrean—the one chosen by the gods to liberate her country from the colonizing Langlish. Faron has access to the gods’ infinite power and is treated with reverence by her people, despite her often reckless and rebellious behavior. When San Irie hosts an international peace summit, Faron must be diplomatic toward predatory dignitaries from enemy nations. Unexpectedly, Elara, her mature, responsible 18-year-old sister, forms a bond with Zephyra, a forest green, golden-eyed dragon ridden to San Irie by a girl from the Langley Empire. When a phenomenon called the Fury turns dragons feral and deadly, the gods tell Faron that the only hope is destroying them—but doing so would also kill those bonded to them, Elara included. Faron is determined to save her sister, even if it risks betraying her country. The girls become entangled in conflicts reaching back before their time, and they’re desperate to emerge alive and in a free nation. This debut alternates between the sisters’ third-person perspectives and is infused with Jamaican cultural and historical influences. Cole’s astute prose brings the world and its characters, who are predominantly Black, to life in refreshing and complex ways as it highlights themes of family, patriotism, war, identity, and sacrifice.

An engaging new voice and a Caribbean-inspired fantasy to savor.