The Empire Wars

by Akana Phenix

Overview

“An exciting new voice in YA, Akana Phenix has written a gripping tale of resilience and courage that powerfully echoes the realities of conflict and injustice. The Empire Wars will resonate with young readers long after they turn the final page.”—Angie Thomas, #1 New York Times bestselling author

The Empire Wars is a powerful new YA fantasy in which magic may be a young woman’s only hope for survival.

Coa, who was born feral in the North Transatlantic wilds, has been captured. Now, Coa is subject to public humiliation and execution in a gruesome spectacle known as the Great Hunt.

If participators die in the Great Hunt, their entire families will be executed—in front of everyone. The nationalist regime known as the Allied Force will not rest until all foreigners are exterminated. Coa’s best hope of survival might be Princess Ife—born of privilege but newly married into the authoritarian lineage.

Her riskier choice is an alliance with a gorgeous, cunning fellow participator, marked as a traitor to his militarized nation. Coa entangles herself with the captivating young man but soon finds he could be her ultimate downfall …

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9798212913577
Publisher:	Blackstone Publishing
Publication date:	08/06/2024
Series:	The Empire Wars Series , #1
Pages:	464
Sales rank:	192,415
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x 1.50(d)
Age Range:	12 - 17 Years

About the Author

Akana Phenix is a Harvard alum and screenwriter. The Empire Wars is her debut fantasy novel. As a nostalgic 2000s kid, she’s always eating Oreos and streaming Avatar: The Last Airbender. She’s based in the United States.

Editorial Reviews

An exciting new voice in YA, Akana Phenix has written a gripping tale of resilience and courage that powerfully echoes the realities of conflict and injustice. The Empire Wars will resonate with young readers long after they turn the final page.”

#1 New York Times bestselling author Angie Thomas

2024-06-15
Two young women, trapped on different sides of a tyrannical regime, become connected through their shared oppression.

Eighteen-year-old Coa Rangecroft has been forced to enter the Great Hunt, an annual tradition that takes place over the course of seven days in the totalitarian Arctic nation called the Allied Force. Soldiers target and hunt down the foreign participants, and the family members of anyone they kill are publicly executed afterward. Few of the hunted even survive until the fifth day, but Coa is harboring a secret: She’s a fireborn who possesses magic, a rare ability among the world’s remaining population. Fellow captive Hazen Creed appears to be onto Coa’s powers, and, despite being a fellow Great Hunt competitor, he also seems to be looking out for her. Coa finds she may have yet another ally in Ife Størmbane, a princess from the Makari-African Empire who’s married into the most powerful family of the Allied Forces; she has plans to do far more than just save Coa. Debut author Phenix’s poignant storytelling will evoke strong emotions from readers. While the story contains a lot of exposition, the robust worldbuilding is supported by the alternating first-person perspectives of Coa and Ife. Most characters are white; Ife is dark-skinned.

An absorbing fantasy novel with dystopian themes that explores human endurance in its varied forms. (author’s note)(Fantasy. 14-18)

Kirkus Reviews