CITY OF BASTARDS finds Tilla investigating new threats as war swiftly approaches Lightspire!

Andrew Shvarts‘ debut novel Royal Bastards reeled us in with magic, mayhem, strong friendships, outcasts, rebellion, and a medieval fantasy universe that reminded us of Game of Thrones. We love the book– as you can see in our review— but the end definitely left us wanting more.

Tilla, Lyriana, Zell, and more will return next spring in City of Bastards, the continuation of their wild journey as their troubled nation goes to war. YA Books Central hosted an exclusive cover and reveal for the sequel (and if you haven’t read Royal Bastards yet, they’re also hosting a giveaway!) The cover seems to be a very ominous depiction of the Kingdom of Lightspire, Lyriana’s home city where Tilla and Zell have taken refuge, with clouds circling carefully and a path of blood leading up to the gates.

Synopsis:

While war rages in her Western homeland, Tilla of House Kent is far away, safely cloistered as a ward of the King in Lightspire. She’s best friends with the Princess, treated like nobility, and is even given a spot at the prestigious University, where only the Kingdom’s finest are educated. And yet, she finds herself unhappy, haunted by memories of her beloved brother, Jax, and plagued by a deeper sense of uncertainty, of not fitting in.

Her boyfriend, Zell, who is now a recruit for the City Watch, puts on a brave face to hide the pain of leaving behind his Zitochi identity, while Princess Lyriana, stripped of her role as Mage, has begun rebelling against her conservative upbringing: drinking, partying, and hooking up with random boys.

Then, Tilla returns to her quarters one night to find the cold body of her roommate. The girl was the daughter of an Eastern diplomat, well-known to be troubled, so the school has no trouble ruling it a suicide and sweeping it under the rug. Tilla doesn’t buy it. And despite the urging of just about everyone in her life, she can’t let it go. She digs deeper, along with Zell, Lyriana, and the Archmagus-to-be Ellarion, unearthing a conspiracy that goes from the highest of the nobility to the most dangerous depths of its criminal underbelly…and whose sinister mastermind is a face all too familiar.

City of Bastards comes out on June 5, 2018.