Rebecca Hall’s YA Fantasy series Symphony of the Cursed kicks off with Instrument of Peace which will be published in a digital edition in June. We can now reveal the cover, but first a little scene-setting:
Raised in the world-leading Academy of magic rather than by his absentee parents, Mitch has come to see it as his home. He’s spent more time with his friends than his family and the opinion of his maths teacher matters far more than that of his parents. The best maths student in the school, Mitch is unhappy to discover that Hayley, a girl who beat him in last year’s inter-school competition, has just transferred to the Academy. Nobody expects her to stay long and no-one befriends her. But when a devastating earthquake strikes the school, Mitch’s little brother Cullum is trapped and Hayley rescues him. Mitch is torn between his rivalry with her and being grateful that she saved Cullum’s life. He already knew that Hayley carries a golden feather around with her, but now he discovers that it is an Archangel feather, although he doesn’t yet know how significant it will turn out to be…
The Academy is overshadowed by Mount Ruapehu and the ongoing battle between Heaven and Hell is causing not just earthquakes but volcanic eruptions. Very quickly the school and its grounds are covered in grey ash. In the cover we can see the golden Archangel feather lying on a blanket of ash. As you can imagine it proved to be very difficult for us to get hold of an Archangel feather to photograph – they are rather rare!
based on feather photo by KPG_Payless/shutterstock.com
The paperback edition of Instrument of Peace will be launched at FantasyCon by the Sea in Scarborough in September.