Seraphina
core novel 2012 Seraphina
Record
| First published | 2012 |
|---|---|
| Original language |  EN |
| Work type | novel |
| Canon status | core |
| Reader rating | 3.94 (89,960 ratings, collected 2026-08-19) |
| Page count | 499 |
| First-edition ISBN | 9780375866227 |
| Internal chronology | 2 |
Synopsis
In the kingdom of Goredd, sixteen-year-old Seraphina, a gifted court musician hiding a dangerous secret about her own nature, becomes entangled in a murder mystery when the Crown Prince is found dead in a manner suggesting dragon involvement, a killing that threatens to shatter a fragile forty-year peace treaty between humans and the shapeshifting dragons who can take human form. Enlisted to help investigate because of her position at court, Seraphina must navigate the prejudices both humans and dragons hold against each other while concealing the truth of her own mixed heritage, which would make her an outcast, or worse, if discovered by either side. Her search for the killer draws her deeper into court intrigue just as the anniversary of the treaty approaches, with tensions between the two peoples rising dangerously.
Where it sits
- Universe: Seraphina
- Series: Seraphina core; position 2 of 5 in the series' recorded order
- Author: Rachel Hartman
Awards (verified)
- William C. Morris Award (Best YA Debut), 2013: won; Awarded by YALSA (American Library Association) for the best debut young-adult novel published in 2012.
Notes
- From the series record (Seraphina): Internal chronology (per the books' own settings, not publication order): Among Ghosts (2025) is set roughly a century before Seraphina (2012) in the same world of dragons-in-human-form and human/dragon diplomacy; Shadow Scale (2015) directly continues Seraphina; Tess of the Road (2018) and its own sequel In the Serpent's Wake (2022) are same-world companion novels following a different protagonist. Publication order differs from this internal order; both are recorded, following this project's standing convention for a settled, author-established chronology divergence.
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.
- Publication order, within the series Seraphina: position 1 of 5: next Shadow Scale (2015)
- Internal chronology, within Seraphina: position 2 of 5: previous Among Ghosts (2025) · next Shadow Scale (2015)
Sources
- Wikipedia: Rachel Hartman
- Wikipedia: Seraphina (novel)
- Wikipedia: Shadow Scale
- Wikipedia: Tess of the Road
- Wikipedia: Among Ghosts
- Rating-platform listing: In the Serpent's Wake
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