In Katy Rose Pool's debut, an "Age of Darkness, brought by three harbingers," will be prevented--or caused--by five teenagers.
The Seven Prophets, who once governed humankind with visions of the future, disappeared a century ago. Before vanishing, the Prophets predicted an Age of Darkness accompanied by the emergence of a prophet with the power to save "or break the world entire." Now, the Hierophant, who "was not just a man with dangerous ideas... he had made himself into an idea, a new figure to worship and follow," pledges to rid the world of the magically gifted individuals known as the Graced. Amid rising tensions, the paths of five teenagers--an assassin known as the Pale Hand and her ailing sister, an exiled prince, a gambler trying to outrun his past and a leader with conflicted loyalties--collide, setting the prophecy in motion.
Pool populates her complex high fantasy world with a cast of flawed-yet-sympathetic protagonists whose choices, though motivated by good intentions, often lead them into morally fraught situations. Although the trope of "a savior, a bringer of light" prophesied to save the world may be a common one, There Will Come a Darkness is set apart by its immersive worldbuilding and compelling narrators. Pool raises difficult questions of fate, choice and morality as her characters are torn between their conflicting goals and the greater good, giving this epic tale human stakes. --Alanna Felton, age 18