Idolfire

An unlikely trio embarks on an epic journey in this captivating fantasy from Curtis (The Floating Hotel). After Kirby’s modest vision of a comfortable future is shattered by disease and destruction, she sets out from her dying village to reclaim the local goddess’s idol from Nivela, the distant seat of the now defunct conquering empire. Meanwhile, cosmopolitan Aleya has been a thorn in her royal family’s side her whole life and now they’re carting her off to Nivela, where she hopes to prove her worth. The path of Nylophon of Carthe, a young mercenary commander, collides and intertwines with Kirby’s and Aleya’s by pure chance. Acquaintances become lovers and enemies become companions as the three grapple their way across a magically infused analogue of the Late Roman Empire. This fantastical travelogue provides the ideal showcase for the nuanced world Curtis builds, and the characters are appealing, if archetypical. Most striking is the magic system, in which power is wrought from objects that are foci of strong belief. Readers looking for a sure-handed, page-turning historical saga will be thoroughly sucked in. Agent: Zoe Plant, Bent Agency. (Mar.)