“An imaginative premise and questions of free will vs. fate prove captivating.” Publishers Weekly
Description
From a lush, dazzlingly original new voice in YA fantasy comes an epic clash of witches, gods, and demons as the fate of humanity hangs in the balance.
Elysium, Oklahoma, is a town like any other. Respectable. God-fearing. Praying for an end to the Dust Bowl—until the day the Dust Soldiers arrive—until the people of Elysium learn it’s all a lie. You see, there isn’t only one god. There are two sisters: Life and Death. And the Sisters like to gamble against each other with things like time and space and human lives.
Elysium is to become the play board in a ruthless game between the goddesses. The Dust Soldiers will return in ten years’ time, and if the people of Elysium have not proved themselves worthy, all will be slain.
Nearly ten years later, seventeen-year-old Sal Wilkerson is called upon to lead Elysium as it prepares for the end of the game. But then an outsider named Asa arrives at Elysium’s gates with nothing more than a sharp smile and a bag of magic tricks, and the frightened townspeople flock to this side. Sal tries to prove herself the best witch to lead Elysium, only to trigger a terrible accident that gets both her and Asa exiled into the brutal Desert of Dust and Steel.
There Sal and Asa stumble upon a gang of girls headed by another exile—a young witch everyone in Elysium believes to be dead. As the apocalypse looms, seven girls and one demon will use their gifts to create a cavalry of magic-powered scrap-metal horses to ride to Elysium’s aid. But they must do more than simply tip the scales in Elysium’s favor. Only by reinventing the rules can they beat Life and Death at their own game.
Praise
“An imaginative premise and questions of free will vs. fate prove captivating.” Publishers Weekly
“Readers who enjoy apocalypse-infused danger will enjoy this neo-Westernized dystopian world filled with the good and evil magic of witches and demons, LGBTQ romance, steampunked mechanics, and hero moments.” School Library Journal
“Western…steampunk…fantasy…dystopia…Regardless of genre, I’m fascinated by an author who would combine all of these seemingly disparate elements in one book, and eager to discover how they all come together.” BookPage
“A magical, mechanical, dusty, electric, and empowering read of cosmic proportions.” Cynthia Leitich Smith, New York Times bestselling author
“Elysium Girls is a storm—purely electric with epic, vengeful mythology and fiercely lovable characters. Masterfully written, evocative, and soundly feminist; Pentecost has fashioned a bewitching new fantasy out of literal dust.” Cori McCarthy, coauthor of Once & Future
Details
| Language | English |
|---|---|
| Release Day | Apr 13, 2020 |
| Release Date | April 14, 2020 |
| Release Date Machine | 1586822400 |
| Imprint | Blackstone Publishing |
| Provider | Blackstone Publishing |
| Categories | Teen & Young Adult, Science Fiction & Fantasy, Literature & Fiction, Children/YA, YA, Fiction - All, Fiction - Child |
Author Bio
Kate Pentecost is the author of her debut novel Elysium Girls. She was born and raised on the Texas/Louisiana state line and worked in teaching, indie publishing, anti-censorship advocacy, and hand-selling children’s books at New York City’s famous Strand Bookstore. She has an MFA degree in writing for children and young adults from Vermont College of Fine Arts and has studied with Susan Fletcher, Louise Hawes, A. S. King, Micol Ostow, and Nova Ren Suma as well as adult authors such as Ken Liu and Antonya Nelson.
Narrator Bio
Rebecca Gibel is an award-winning stage, television, and voice actress. The narrator of over fifty audiobooks, Rebecca is facile in a wide variety of genres. Rebecca has worked across the country at theaters such as Trinity Rep, Cleveland Play House, Actors Theatre of Louisville, Intiman Theatre, and the Arden Theatre Company. She holds a BA from the College of William & Mary and an MFA in acting from Brown University/Trinity Rep.
Overview
From a lush, dazzlingly original new voice in YA fantasy comes an epic clash of witches, gods, and demons as the fate of humanity hangs in the balance.
Elysium, Oklahoma, is a town like any other. Respectable. God-fearing. Praying for an end to the Dust Bowl—until the day the Dust Soldiers arrive—until the people of Elysium learn it’s all a lie. You see, there isn’t only one god. There are two sisters: Life and Death. And the Sisters like to gamble against each other with things like time and space and human lives.
Elysium is to become the play board in a ruthless game between the goddesses. The Dust Soldiers will return in ten years’ time, and if the people of Elysium have not proved themselves worthy, all will be slain.
Nearly ten years later, seventeen-year-old Sal Wilkerson is called upon to lead Elysium as it prepares for the end of the game. But then an outsider named Asa arrives at Elysium’s gates with nothing more than a sharp smile and a bag of magic tricks, and the frightened townspeople flock to this side. Sal tries to prove herself the best witch to lead Elysium, only to trigger a terrible accident that gets both her and Asa exiled into the brutal Desert of Dust and Steel.
There Sal and Asa stumble upon a gang of girls headed by another exile—a young witch everyone in Elysium believes to be dead. As the apocalypse looms, seven girls and one demon will use their gifts to create a cavalry of magic-powered scrap-metal horses to ride to Elysium’s aid. But they must do more than simply tip the scales in Elysium’s favor. Only by reinventing the rules can they beat Life and Death at their own game.
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