From bestselling and award-winning author Traci Chee comes a stand-alone fantasy set against a
war-ravaged world where kindling warfare—the use of elite magic-wielding teenage soldiers—has
been outlawed. In this rich and evocative novel seven kindlings search for purpose and
identity as they prepare for one final battle. For fans of the classic films Seven Samurai and
The Magnificent Seven . A Los Angeles Times Book Prize finalist A Kirkus Best Book of the 21st
Century (So Far) An ALA Rainbow Round Table Top Ten Title for Teens An SLJ Best Book A Booklist
Editor’s Choice Four starred reviews! Once the war was fought with kindlings—elite
magic-wielding warriors whose devastating power comes at the cost of their own young lives. Now
the war is over and kindlings have been cast adrift. Violence still plagues the countryside
though and memories haunt those who remain. When a village comes under threat of siege it
offers an opportunity for seven kindlings to fight one last time. But war changed these
warriors. And to reclaim who they once were they will have to battle their pasts their trauma
and their grim fates to come together again—or none of them will make it out alive. Traci Chee
brilliantly crafts a gut-wrenching introspective fantasy about seven lost soldiers searching
for the peace they once fought for and the future in which they’re finally daring to believe.
