Ember Shadows and the Lost Desert of Time
Rebecca King, illustrated by Raquel Ochoa
Orion

Having saved her sister, taken down the Fate-Weaver and freed the future, Ember expected things in Everspring to be easier. However not everybody is happy. Ember herself is struggling with the consequences of her actions for there are people who don’t know how to live their lives without the Fate Cards telling them what to do. Then, she discovers something awful on Mount Never: someone has been cutting people’s Fate Threads. 

Convincing herself that this is her fault, Ember is determined to stop the Thread Cutter and so together with Hans, she sets off in search of clues, eventually realising that her only chance of preventing the Thread-Cutter from doing more harm is to go back in time to put a stop to it.

Following the strange signs S.E.C.R.E.T. lead Ember and the ever supportive Hans into an astonishing and unbelievably strange world. It is fortunate indeed that Hans is with her for Ember encounters several characters that she’s not sure she can trust, one being a boy named Falcon.

With time running out in which to find the Thread-cutter, can Ember work out who this is and even if she can’t change the past, can she help to forge the best future possible for Everspring residents.

The author has a special talent for both world-building and word play, which she uses to great effect in this inventive, hugely thought-provoking fantasy. Hans’ description of the boat they use at one point as ‘amaza-brillia-fabu-ling’ is terrific and the creation and naming of the underwater world of Emocean, where Ember finds herself, is ingenious. 

I love what Ember says as she addresses a meeting in the final chapter, “Most of all, you’ve got to believe in yourself, no matter what. because you can choose who to be now. So, make it someone good.” For that I add my applause to that which filled the meeting hall.

Raquel Ochoa’s black and white illustrations make the story even more exciting.