When your bloodline awakens, how do you choose between family and freedom?
Émi’s father used to weave beautiful tales of the magick and mystery beyond the wall, but she never knew if they were true. Now, her father is gone and Émi has been banished to the Red Quarter, where she toils to support herself and her mother – obeying the rules, hiding secrets and suffering the cruelties of the council’s ruthless Cadets.
But when Émi turns seventeen, sparks fly – literally. Her blood line surges into life and she realises she has a talent for magick… a talent that could get her killed.
Émi makes her escape, beyond the wall and away from everything she’s ever known. But in a world of watchers, elephant riders and sorcery, can she discover the truth about who she really is? And can the new Émi live up to her destiny?
AN INTERVIEW WITH THE AUTHOR
What do you love about Fire Lines and what can the reader expect?
For me, Fire Lines is a mixture of all the things I loved to read when I was growing up - and still do. It's very much a coming of age, quest-based, story and it's packed to the brim with magic and adventure. But it's also got strong hints of what we've come to know as dystopian fiction at the beginning. I think it's a little unusual to mix those elements, but essentialy I just wrote from the heart and that's what came out!
What can you tell us about Émi?
Émi is flawed in many ways - she's grown up having to be the adult and look after her mother, so she definitely resents that. She also very strongly feels that she doesn't quite fit in and, although they're forbidden from talking about it, she's convinced that there is life beyond the wall. She was always fascinated by the stories her father told her, about magick, watchers, elephant riders, and mythical creatures... so when she encounters them for real she's part enthralled and part guilty because she knows there's a bigger purpose that she should be focussing on. Throughout the series Émi's hot-headedness and loyalty will be tested. Her heart is usually in the right place, but that doesn't mean she makes the right decisions!
What, or who, are watchers?
Watchers are winged creatures, a bit like angels, who guard the Fire Stone. They live in the city of Abilene and they're very ethereal in their appearance. They're not necessarily as infallible as they might appear to be though...
When will Book Two in the Daughters of Fire series be available?
Book Two - Fire Burns - is coming very, very soon! It'll be available in October 2019 and for all those desperate to know more about the walled city of Nhatu this will hopefully give you some answers. In the meantime though, if you sign up to my mailing list you'll get an exclusive prequel called Magick's End which goes right back to the beginning and introduces some much-loved characters in their younger days. (Links are at the back of the book.)
Cara Thurlbourn writes children's and young adult fiction. Fire Lines is her first novel and it's a story she's been planning since she was fifteen years old. Cara has a degree in English from the University of Nottingham and an MA in Publishing from Oxford Brookes University. She lives in a tiny village in Suffolk and has worked in academic and educational publishing for nearly ten years. Cara blogs about her author journey and in November 2016 she crowdfunded her first children's book. 10% of its profits are donated to animal rehoming charities. Cara plans to write at least two more books in the Fire Lines series, as well as a young adult mystery series, and has lots more children's stories waiting in the wings. You can sign up for Cara's newsletter, for giveaways, updates and latest releases, here: www.carathurlbourn.com/contact
