Cover of A Shadow in the Ember

A Shadow in the Ember

core novel 2021 Blood and Ash

Record

First published2021
Original language EN
Work typenovel
Canon statuscore
Reader rating4.45 (263,112 ratings, collected 2026-08-26)
Page count647
First-edition ISBN9781952457647
Internal chronology1

Synopsis

A Shadow in the Ember opens the Flesh and Fire duology with Seraphena Mierel, known as Sera, a young woman chosen before her birth to fulfill an ancient bargain struck by one of her ancestors: she is destined to become the Consort of Nyktos, the Primal of Death. What the royal court that raised her does not know is that Sera's true purpose is far more dangerous than a ceremonial marriage. Trained since childhood as an assassin, she has been sent to the Shadowlands with a covert mission, to make the feared Primal fall in love with her so that he can be turned into a weakness that can be exploited, a task that requires her to hide her real identity and intentions from the very man she is meant to seduce and ultimately betray.

Where it sits

Notes

  • From the series record (Flesh and Fire): A prequel series set generations before the main arc, following Seraphena, a maiden destined to seduce and destroy the Primal of Death; still being published as of 2026, with further volumes expected to connect the two series' timelines.

Neighbouring works

Publication order and internal chronology are tracked as two separate orderings and are never conflated: a book's place in one says nothing about its place in the other.

Sources

← Blood and Ash dossier · All universes

Part of the Library. Fields without an identified source are omitted, never guessed.