Europe is a land of magic now.

In an allegory to the Iron Curtain, Marie Lunga cloaks the continent behind an impenetrable, magical barrier. She takes you inside a changed world where magic stretches the limits of what you can do, making it all the more important to remember what you should do.

But humans remain human – and we are flawed.

Expect: female-protagonist, little-to-no-romance, multi-POV, reluctant-hero, high-stakes fantasy adventure with a smidge of mystery and history.

Europe is a land of magic now.

“We exist,” wizards announced to the world, intending to rule it. They succeeded.

Ølsa’s family didn’t share that ambition. They fought a war against it. Now Ølsa is held hostage to her parents’ good behaviour and fights only for a scrap of normalcy and the privilege of being left alone. Until an ambitious coach picks her for the wild card into her team. Safety in obscurity is gone. Everyone’s watching now. In the outskirts of the Realm, the dissent watches too. And they make plans.

For fans of Hunger Games or The Fifth Season comes a high-stakes debut from a Czech author.