The Song of the Orphans

Price follows 2014’s The Flight of the Silvers with a dense second adventure for his ensemble cast of unlikely superheroes. It’s been nine and a half months since Hannah and Amanda Given, Zack Trillinger, Mia Farisi, David Dormer, and Theo Maranan—collectively the Silvers—were saved from the apocalypse by the mysterious, creepy Pelletiers and transported to San Francisco on an Earth in an alternate timeline that diverged from ours in 1912. They soon discovered that they have some unusual powers. Unfortunately, the apocalypse for this alternate Earth is coming in four years, and it’s up to Theo to find the single time string that leads to a safe future. The Silvers have honed their abilities (such as creating portals and slowing down time) and fighting talents, and they’ll need all those skills to contend with the Pelletiers, government agents, and the Gothams, who are convinced they can save the world by killing the Silvers. Price’s worldbuilding is dizzying and complex, and new characters (including a group of very odd children and a tiger named Bo) join the already enormous cast. Returning readers will be excited to get some answers about the Pelletiers, but this is certainly not a book for newcomers. Agent: Stuart Miller, Stuart M. Miller Literary. (July)