Adrienne Young, the bestselling author of both young adult and adult works of fantasy, returns with FALLEN CITY, the first book in a duology set in the walled city of Isara.

Divided into two sections by a river, Isara has long been torn into unequal parts. Located in the Citadel District is the city’s governmental headquarters, which is surrounded by the homes of the Forum, a group of Magistrates who control the city’s politics, resources and economy under the leadership of the Consul. All residents of the Citadel District are highborn, wealthy and adept at playing political games to help themselves and their families climb the ranks. Across the river lies the Lower District, which is 10 times the size of the Citadel and is filled with, well, everyone else. Workers, many of whom keep the Citadel running through their service, laborers and poor soldiers make up the populace of the Lower District, far outnumbering their higher-ranking peers.

In the years since the city’s last war, Isara has enjoyed an era of prosperity, especially in their yearly grain harvests. This is all thanks to godsblood, the magical element that lives on in Isara’s Priestesses, stolen from a neighboring city nearly a century ago. A single drop of godsblood lends the strength of the gods to any mortal who takes it, and Isara’s entire foundation is now drenched in it. It has been sown into their fields, infused into medicine, and even forged into the weapons of the legionnaires.

"Timely, immersive and surprisingly accessible, FALLEN CITY is a terrific start to what will be an outstanding duology from an author who crafts her worlds so thoroughly that it’s hard to believe she doesn’t have a whole galaxy in her name."

But when an unsanctioned document circulates through both halves of Isara, it is revealed that the harvest has been drying up for years, and that the Magistrates --- who theoretically vote in favor of their factions, the people they represent --- have known about this and concealed it. When a vote is held to amend ration laws, cutting the rations of the Citadel citizens by a quarter and the Lower District citizens by half, a rebellion ensues, with unlikely soldiers at its helm.

When we meet Luca Matius and Maris Casperia, they have found themselves, despite their upbringings as heirs to Magistrate chairs, on opposite sides of Isara’s civil war. Luca, a lowborn boy whose adoption by a Magistrate gave him power previously unknown to a member of the Lower District, is the opposing side’s mascot. The golden light that floats around him is proof that he has been seen and favored by the gods. Along with the Consul’s own son, he has fought bravely for the safety and security of the Lower District, demanding change in the power-hungry, corrupt Forum. But the war that was supposed to save the people he represents has only cost them. And now, months since the first bloodshed, the people of the Lower District are angrier and hungrier than ever, and Luca is unsure how long their faith will hold.

Maris is also distrustful of the Forum and its Consul, but her faith in the gods whose blood has long upheld her city has convinced her that change is possible and that young, progressive people like herself and Luca can change the Forum from within. Now, with her mother dead as a result of her own cowardice, Maris knows that the stakes are higher than ever and time is running out for a peaceful conclusion to the war.

But unbeknownst to these idealists, the war that has taken over Isara has been brewing for far longer than the first upheaval --- far longer than even the revelation about the city’s harvest. And the players pulling the strings are not the ones either Luca or Maris suspects. As they fight, plot and commit treachery to save the city and everyone they love, they come to learn that there is no opting out of war, politics, or even the bizarre dialect of nuance that every policymaker must adopt, especially if you are to change the world into something better and more equitable.

With the final battle edging closer, and Luca and Maris’ fates becoming more clearly intertwined --- even beyond the forbidden romance they’ve already embarked upon --- they must try time and again to find each other amid Isara’s war-torn, ravaged streets…before there is nothing left to save.

If there is one thing that Adrienne Young knows how to do, it’s craft a deeply immersive setting, and once again her talents are on full display in FALLEN CITY. From Isara’s history of thievery and deceit to the intricate inner workings of its controlling body, the Forum, and even the boots-on-the-ground results of the current uprising, every single element of Isara is rendered in full. This strong foundation allows Young to play with godsblood, the conduit of Isara’s magic, in interesting and creative ways, laying bare the corruption that has seeped into the very blood of her magical setting.

However, it is in the forbidden romance of Luca and Maris where the book really comes to life. Writing the dynamic of opposing-sides romance is tricky, and many writers can fall into the trap of smoothing over the objectively evil actions of one side or the other, but Young suffers no such pitfalls. She is adept at handling complex belief systems. Although her characters are technically in opposition, she is able --- through a keen, compassionate gaze --- to find their commonalities, unveiling a larger universal truth about the costs of war.

Timely, immersive and surprisingly accessible, FALLEN CITY is a terrific start to what will be an outstanding duology from an author who crafts her worlds so thoroughly that it’s hard to believe she doesn’t have a whole galaxy in her name.