book details

Book: The Fire-Moon by Isabel Pelech

categories: Book, Egypt, Middle-Grade, Female Protagonist, Magic, Gods, Undead, Tomb, Fantasy Fiction

Isabel Pelech

about this book: Months ago, Teshar escaped an evil magical ritual. Months ago, she came back out of the desert, changed enough that her family suspected she was a demon. Now, her life is hellish—she has been enslaved and mistreated by her own family, her best friend is dead, and evil magic is building in the west. Worse, there's a sorceror-priest investigating the events in Teshar's home village of Hasmahi. Teshar is the center of the puzzle, the only one who knows for certain what happened that night. If she understands and accepts what she has become, she can end the evil and rescue the unquiet dead. But she can't do it alone.

The Fire-Moon is a novella set in an Egypt-like empire. Magic is the domain of priests and religion influences every aspect of life, including feelings toward the dead—something that becomes significant when the dead turn murderous. Take a break from traditional fantasy and escape into a world of gods, tombs, desert, and barley ripening in the blistering sun. I hope that my readers come away as fascinated by this setting as I became when I was writing about it. I did research into actual ancient Egyptian culture and even the language. Writing this book was like stepping into a different world; I hope reading it is the same.

• "Lyra Belacqua meets The Mummy . . . This left me wanting to read more about Teshar and more about the Khemtesh empire."
— Oscar Allen, on Goodreads

• "It's an excellent story. I'm looking forward to more works from Isabel."
— PJ on Kobo