This remarkable debut pulsates with energy and drama…” —Daily Mail, Best Children’s Books of the Year

When Seven another of the Huntlings go missing during a training session the race is on to find her. She's been kidnapped by goblins and for what reason nobody knows. I’m sure I speak for many people when I say that I saw the cover for Fireborn and it was love at first sight. Yes, you can’t judge a book by its cover – but you can judge a cover, and Fireborn has a stunning cover that promises magic and adventure. The first spark of Fireborn's story came to me while I was watching my husband play a computer game called Horizon Zero Dawn. The main character, Aloy, is such a brilliant heroine and I wondered why I wasn't writing character like that; girls who were strong and brave and fierce. In a word: phenomenal. FIREBORN is vivid, daring, and epic in every sense. It’s impossible to read this book and not hold your breath.’ —Carlie Sarosiak, author of I, CosmoJoining Twelve is the stone guardian of the lodge. A resolute and surly dog who often despairs are being lumbered with children who hinder his progress, he's also the voice of reason and calm. There's also Five and Six, Twelve's fellow huntlings and her rivals. Five on the face of it is a bully, taunting Twelve and making her feel worse for every mistake she makes. However, looking deeper he's a deeply vulnerable boy who's just looking for love and affection. It just so happens that he tends to speak before he thinks. Six is more an enigma, the quiet and kind one. The brave one. But his past is just as murky as Twelve's. They're all richly developed and interesting characters, and I thought they all worked together well. The same could be said for all the smaller secondary characters we meet too. I found all of them interesting and multi faceted and integra to the plot. There were loads of things that I liked about this book. Aisling Fowler’s writing is fantastic. Her writing style is really easy to read and she maintains the pace all the way through the book. The Hunter's Lodge train fighter and people who honour their sacred pledge to serving all seven clans equally, to protect the people of said clans from the darkness and tyranny of the wild (mostly magical creatures that are rising again after the dark war - as always humans are the most terrifying of the creatures). The clans are known to fight each other but the hunters ensure that everyone remains at peace. Twelve should not be anywhere near the Forbidden Forest. After all, she’s a Huntling, not Blooded, still in training. However when a break-in at the Hunting Lodge left its walls penetrated and fellow student, Seven, stolen, Twelve was spurred into action. It’s not as though Seven is her friend. After all, Seven’s pathetic, a useless hunter, reviled and friendless. Not that Twelve bothers about friends. Yet there’s something in Seven’s kindness, in her gentle face, that reminds Twelve of Poppy. However Twelve does not want to remember Poppy, and all thoughts of home and before, are forbidden… The side characters are great too, and Twelve’s travel companions add so much to the plot. They are an unusual group, which makes for some interesting situations. Dog is one of my favorites, though I also love Twelve’s squirrel friend Widge. Widge is such a cute and intuitive little friend, and both characters show that allies and friends are everywhere. Five and Six, Twelve’s other travel companions, aren’t exactly Twelve’s friends. However, they all have the same goal – to rescue Seven before it’s too late. They have to put their differences aside and work together, which is not always easy. There are some great messages here about teamwork, forgiveness, the ability to change, and helping others.

I wouldn't cope well at all - I'd be terrible with the weapons and freeze up as soon as I came face to face with a monster. Honestly, I don't think the Hunters would have me! Astounding. An incredibly accomplished fantasy that’s not afraid of the dark side.” — Nicola Skinner, author of Starboard

First of all as usual I would like to thank Dave @The_WriteReads for organising the tour as well as the author and publisher for my stunning ARC copy of the book. It is always a pleasure to take part and help to promote such a brilliant book! Speaking of world-building, the world-building in this book is as strong as the character development. It’s so dark and mysterious and dangerous and vividly depicted. The monsters and supernatural creatures are scary and dangerous and so well described. I also love how the story includes descriptions of each monster from A Magical Bestiary, a textbook used by Twelve. The book provides pertinent information about each creature and ranks them based on aggression, difficulty to disable, and the danger posed. It’s such a great way to provide information about unique creatures without burdening the reader with too much information at once. It also adds to the suspense because when you read that a monster has a high ranking, you automatically prepare for a lot of danger and excitement. When they arrive at the lodge they give up their names, pasts and everything about them. They train in weapons and learn to defend themselves and fight monsters of all kinds. The digitally native, all year round, online literature and books festival, with new content released every week is a free-for-all-users festival. But when the Lodge’s walls are breached for the first time, and a little girl is taken, Twelve is the only one interested in going after the child…