Fyrebirds

By: Kate J. Armstrong

Narrated by: Saskia Maarleveld

With tensions rising and their powers no longer a secret, the Nightbirds must decide for whom and for what they are willing to fight for and how far they will go in the spellbinding sequel to the international bestseller Nightbirds.

The Nightbirds were once their city’s best-kept secret, but now the secret’s out. What’s more, they can do feats of magic no one has seen in centuries. They’re like the Fyrebirds of old: the powerful women who once moved mountains, parted seas, and led armies. Some say that when four join together, they become a force that shakes the earth and sends magic rippling through it. It does seem as if something has awoken in Eudea, but the four girls responsible don’t want the world to know the full extent of what they can do—at least not yet.

As the new leader of Eudea works to lift the prohibition on magic, the churchmen who do not support it—and the gang lords who profit from it—whisper rebellion. The secret resistance who once sheltered the Nightbirds is rallying, too. Smelling blood in the water, an ambitious Farlands king threatens to take Eudea. As war looms, and the empire’s fate hangs from a knife’s edge, the Nightbirds have to decide if becoming more than that are—Fyrebirds—to protect Simta is worth losing themselves entirely and the lives and loves they might have had.

©2024 Kate J. Armstrong (P)2024 Listening Library

Critic reviews

"The fast-paced plot and resonant emotional beats organically explore pervasive, harmful patriarchal and misogynistic beliefs, choice and control, and resistance and revenge. Brief interstitials present vignettes from secondary characters’ perspectives and ephemera that further the immersive worldbuilding. The leads read white; the cast overall is broadly diverse in representation. Heart-pounding action and romance anchor timely themes of agency and self-actualization."—Kirkus Reviews, starred review