A Memory of Blood and Magic

A life is lived one step at a time. Arin's future was foretold at birth: They would be neither girl nor boy, and a witch besides. When the prejudices of powerful neighbors intrude on the idyll of their isolated Freelander childhood, Arin's magic is awakened and their life spirals into violence and tragedy. Taken captive and sold into household service, instead of toil and indignity Arin discovers a new family and a place of safety and healing. But even as they settle into a kind of peace, violence finds them again and their power intercedes once more. Then an unexpected ally sets them on a new path, leading Arin to a true place of refuge-and an unsettling understanding: Their magical abilities are rooted in the very pain and trauma that has overturned their world. When Arin unexpectedly comes face-to-face with the author of that trauma, can they find a balance in themself between healing and vengeance? Or will the demons of their past bring all that they love to ruin? The paths of memory are sown with the seeds of both pain and strength. The future can be shaped by either. The first book in K.N. Brindle's debut fantasy duology, A Memory of Blood and Magic twists the genre of epic fantasy to create a moving portrait of trauma and healing. In this first-person oral history set in a world where magic is powered by pain and trauma, readers will come to know the main character and narrator Arin through the worst and best moments of their life.