""Brilliantly inventive."" âChloe Gong, #1 New York Times bestselling author of These Violent Delights
""Gorgeously written and unforgettable."" âKamilah Cole, indie bestselling author of So Let Them Burn
Alchemy and ancient spirits come to life in this debut fantasy inspired by African diasporic folklore and the 1920s World Fair, wherein sixteen-year-old Kellan DuCuivre, an orphan from a reviled class, must compete for a coveted apprenticeship among the nationâs elite in order to save her adoptive father from a twisted fate.
Sixteen-year-old Kellan DuCuivre is the descendant of traitors. She never knew her family members or which one of them betrayed the isle of Nanseau. But like all Du orphaned after the war, Kellan is forbidden by law from practicing makecraft, the trade of carving magic into metal that was perfected by the Guild of Engineers and their maker apprentices. No one can know that Kellan has been using makecraft in secret and that, in the wake of a tragic miscarve, sheâs been helping her adoptive father, Edgar, run his celebrated makeshop.
But Edgarâs condition is worsening, and his shop is on the brink of ruin. On the eve of the Eighty-Fourth Annual Makersâ Exposition in Nanseauâs sparkling city of Riz, Kellan is thrust into the Guildâs twisted web of political intrigue and ancient secrets when she strikes a dangerous deal with one of its members to save Edgar and his shop. Now Kellan must compete in a rigorous gauntlet against the nationâs elite for a coveted spot as a makerâs apprentice.
But danger lurks at every turn. And as Kellan falls into a budding relationship with the illegitimate son from one of Nanseauâs most revered families, sheâs put into the limelight when something sinister begins targeting the Gauntletâs competitors and wreaking havoc on Riz. Amid a crumbling city and a ticking clock, winning the Gauntlet wonât just be a test of survivalâit will mean pulling back the veil of secrets behind the Guild and uncovering the shrouded legacies of Nanseau itself.
