EMBERS OF ETERNITY

In Shaffery’s YA fantasy novel, a 17-year-old with newfound magic faces an evil sorceress.

Young Nyla, of the medieval-like realm of Tenebris, has survived a battle with the powerful sorceress Dinora. But now she’s stuck; a curse binds the teenager to a manor house. Apparently, her magic, which she suddenly inherited from a long-dead Mage, can’t free her. So she needs help from her friends: Xander, a boy who doubles as Nyla’s potential romantic interest, and Shamira, a female, magic-wielding, catlike creature called a “pumpkie” who communicates telepathically. Meanwhile, Dinora harbors animosity for the friends’ island country of Tenebris and plots its annihilation. Nyla and the others anticipate a war with Dinora, who has the capacity to literally build her own army, including “rock creatures” that she conjures. If the youngsters can get word to Tenebrese cities as well as the pumpkie clans, the citizens of Tenebris can gather arms and brace themselves for the inevitable clash with evil. The author eases readers into this second installment of her series, continuing the story with accommodating reminders of the preceding book’s events. The trio of friends is endlessly appealing, particularly regarding Nyla and Xander’s subtle romance and descriptions of Shamira’s distinctive features (twitching whiskers, occasionally standing on her hind legs). Much of this narrative is a buildup to whatever calamity the angry sorceress has planned, and it feels more invested in setting the stage for the trilogy’s finale than in standing on its own. As such, the villainous Dinora appears only periodically, and often alone. She can, however, still send creatures to attack the people of Tenebris as Nyla contends with a formidable curse with her loyal comrades by her side. Shaffery ornaments her novel with colorful prose, deftly limning “scarlet and plum leaves,” a pumpkie’s “tawny fur,” and Nyla’s signature “silver hair and lilac-colored eyes.”

A radiant cast headlines this diverting tale set in a wondrous, faraway land.