THE RED-HAIRED GIRL
Love.
Honor.
Betrayal.
Survival.
“Blanchard’s prose is swift and cinematic.” — Publisher’s Weekly
In a mist-soaked world, 18-year-old Lily Warlander is about to break all the rules and uncover the truth about her past in this dark eipc fantasy, for fans of “From Blood and Ash,” “Fourth Wing,” “Divergent,” “Game of Thrones” and “A Court of Thorns and Roses."
The planet is in ruins and only the continent of Darkstep remains. Human beings have been relegated to the bottom of the food chain, while three species of lab-created animal-human hybrids have taken over the world—or what’s left of it. They call themselves the Three Crowns of Darkstep.
In this brave new world, humans are either killed for sport or culled from a young age to be trained as athletes, and only the cream of the crop will have the honor of representing their kingdom in the Annual Games. For these young athletes, winning is everything. Because losing is unthinkable.
18-year-old Lily Warlander knows how serious the stakes are. As she confronts the most dangerous challenge of her young life, she must lead her team to victory while facing impossible odds, or else die trying.
From the author of the bestselling thriller “The Breathtaker” comes a riveting epic fantasy about a young woman's quest to find true love and her true destiny.
“Blanchard is a superb storyteller.” ― Mystery & Suspense Magazine
“Blanchard writes with a gifted pen.” — Bookreporter
“A veteran storyteller at the peak of her powers.” — NYT bestseller Jacquelyn Mitchard
I’m a mystery author. I’ve written literary thrillers, psychological thrillers, murder mysteries and a variety of other suspense novels, but I’ve never written in the fantasy genre before.
However, Lily wouldn’t leave me alone. She whispered “Once upon a time” in my ear. Her voice was persistent and clear. So I interrupted whatever I was doing and jotted down the stories she wanted me to tell.
I typed up all the terrible and wonderful things that happened to her into a large messy file called “fantasy book” and forgot about it. I didn’t take it seriously. Why should I? I was a mystery writer.
But her dark and haunting story got told. And here it is.
Love.
Honor.
Betrayal.
Survival.
Book One of The Three Crowns of Darkstep series.
