Victoria Aveyard is best known for her Red Queen series, but the author is just getting started. Her next novel is a YA fantasy called Realm Breaker, and fans can now read an excerpt from and check out the cover for Aveyard’s upcoming book.
EW released the cover earlier this week, along with a synopsis and an excerpt from Realm Breaker, which is set to hit shelves on May 4, 2021.
“Did you want a cover? Did you want an excerpt? Did you want BOTH…because we got ‘em,” Aveyard said in a tweet on Tuesday shortly after the reveal.
Check out the Realm Breaker cover:
Realm Breaker was first announced in July, when Aveyard shared a surprising amount of info about the book during a live Q&A session with fans. According to Aveyard, the book’s inspiration comes from fantasy books like J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings — though Aveyard emphasized that she hopes her novel is an inclusive one.
“I wanted to find myself in that series,” she said in July. “A lot of my work is giving myself something that I wanted.”
Aveyard is already in talks to adapt the book for television and/or film.
Fans don’t have to wait any longer to know what the book’s about. You can read the synopsis below:
A strange darkness grows in Allward.
Even Corayne an-Amarat can feel it, tucked away in her small town at the edge of the sea.
She soon discovers the truth: She is the last of an ancient lineage–and the last hope to save the world from destruction. But she won’t be alone. Even as darkness falls, she is joined by a band of unlikely companions:
A squire, forced to choose between home and honor.
An immortal, avenging a broken promise.
An assassin, exiled and bloodthirsty.
An ancient sorceress, whose riddles hide an eerie foresight.
A forger with a secret past.
A bounty hunter with a score to settle.
Together they stand against a vicious opponent, invincible and determined to burn all kingdoms to ash, and an army unlike anything the realm has ever witnessed.
As for the Realm Breaker excerpt, you can catch a little bit of it below, but you’ll have to mosy on over to EW for the full thing:
There was clear sight for miles. A good day for the end of a voyage.
And a good day to begin one.
Corayne loved the coast of Siscaria this time of year, in the mornings of early summer. No spring storms, no crackling thunderheads, no winter fog. No splendor of color, no beauty. No illusions. Nothing but the empty blue horizon of the Long Sea.
Her leather satchel bounced at her hip, her ledger safe inside. The book of charts and lists was worth its weight in gold, especially today. She eagerly walked the ancient Cor road along the cliffs, following the flat, paved stones into Lemarta. She knew the way like she knew her mother’s own face. Sand-colored and windcarved, not worn by the sun but gilded by it. The Long Sea crashed 50 feet below, kicking up spray in rhythm with the tide. Olive and cypress trees grew over the hills, and the wind blew kindly, smelling of salt and oranges.
Finish the excerpt on EW.com!
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