'In a dazzling new fantasy world full of whispered secrets and political intrigue, the magic of women is outlawed but three girls with unusual gifts have the chance to change it all.
'Magic may be illegal in Simta, but you can find it if you know which whispers to heed. None as tantalising as the ones about the Nightbirds, Simta's best kept secret. These privileged girls have the ability to gift their magic to others with a kiss – something the church would have them killed for. But protected by the Great Houses, their identities safe behind masks, the Nightbirds are well-guarded treasures.
'Matilde, Æsa, and Sayer spend their nights bestowing their unique brands of magic to well-paying clients. But this Season's Nightbirds find themselves at the heart of a political scheme that threatens their secrets and their safety. When they discover that their magic is far more than they were ever told, they see the carefully crafted Nightbird system for what it is: a gilded cage.
'Now they must make a choice – to remain kept birds or take control, remaking the city that dared to clip their wings.
'Filled with sumptuous, cinematic writing and dazzling details, Nightbirds is a fiercely feminist fantasy debut where the most potent magic lies not in a kiss, but in the truth.'(Publication summary)
Fyrebirds
Crows Nest
:
Allen and Unwin
,
2024
28006662
2024
single work
novel
fantasy
young adult
'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 conclusion to the international bestseller Nightbirds.
'The Nightbirds were once their city's best-kept secret, but now the secret's out. Everyone knows there are girls who can gift their magic with a kiss, and everyone wants a piece of them. Such girls are in more danger than ever. But Matilde, Sayer, Æsa, and Fenlin can do feats of magic no one has seen in centuries. They're like the Fyrebirds of old: powerful women who once moved mountains, parted seas, and led armies. But they don't want the world to know the full extent of their power – not yet.
'Matilde is too busy trying to show the city that girls with magic can be trusted while Sayer stalks the night, punishing any man who dares cross her. Fen struggles to keep her gang together and her magic hidden while Aesa tries to settle back into life in the Illish Isles.
'But fate tugs them inexorably toward each other, and back into the fight to protect magical girls. As the new suzerain works to lift the prohibition on magic, the churchmen who support it – and the gang lords who profit from it – whisper rebellion. The Nightbirds' old enemies are rallying, too. Smelling blood in the water, a magic-mad Farlands king threatens to invade Eudea. As war looms, and the Republic's fate hangs from a knife's edge, the Nightbirds have to decide if becoming Fyrebirds is worth risking the lives and loves they might have had.' (Publication summary)
'Three new novels from Allen & Unwin explore gender power relations – with mixed results. In Ellie Marney’s Some Shall Break ($24.99 pb, 382 pp), a young woman helps law enforcement hunt a serial killer who is kidnapping and raping young women. Garth Nix’s latest offers interesting parallels, though The Sinister Booksellers of Bath ($24.99 pb 330 pp) includes plenty of fantasy elements to vary the formula. Meanwhile, Kate J. Armstrong’s Nightbirds ($24.99 pb, 462 pp) follows three different women who are navigating magical, political, and romantic intrigues.' (Introduction)
Kate J. Armstrong in Conversation
Lucie Dess
(interviewer),
2023
26349152
2023
single work
podcast
interview
'In this episode, a conversation with Kate J. Armstrong, author of the new YA novel, Nightbirds.
'Set in a dazzling new fantasy world full of whispered secrets and political intrigue, the magic of women is outlawed but three girls with unusual gifts have the chance to change it all. Filled with sumptuous, cinematic writing and dazzling details, Nightbirds is a fiercely feminist fantasy debut where the most potent magic lies not in a kiss, but in the truth.'(Introduction)
'Three new novels from Allen & Unwin explore gender power relations – with mixed results. In Ellie Marney’s Some Shall Break ($24.99 pb, 382 pp), a young woman helps law enforcement hunt a serial killer who is kidnapping and raping young women. Garth Nix’s latest offers interesting parallels, though The Sinister Booksellers of Bath ($24.99 pb 330 pp) includes plenty of fantasy elements to vary the formula. Meanwhile, Kate J. Armstrong’s Nightbirds ($24.99 pb, 462 pp) follows three different women who are navigating magical, political, and romantic intrigues.' (Introduction)
Kate J. Armstrong in Conversation
Lucie Dess
(interviewer),
2023
26349152
2023
single work
podcast
interview
'In this episode, a conversation with Kate J. Armstrong, author of the new YA novel, Nightbirds.
'Set in a dazzling new fantasy world full of whispered secrets and political intrigue, the magic of women is outlawed but three girls with unusual gifts have the chance to change it all. Filled with sumptuous, cinematic writing and dazzling details, Nightbirds is a fiercely feminist fantasy debut where the most potent magic lies not in a kiss, but in the truth.'(Introduction)
