The Bone Maker

This epic fantasy follows a group of seasoned warriors who, two decades after a hard-won victory against a powerful bone maker, find themselves drawn back into a world of dark magic. Kreya, their leader, is consumed by grief and a forbidden quest to bring her husband back from the dead, a mission that requires a grave sacrifice and defies societal laws. As she seeks the bones of the fallen, she uncovers a chilling truth about the afterlife, forcing the scattered heroes to confront not only a renewed threat but also their own past traumas and the cost of their previous triumph. This is a story for mature young adults and adults, exploring themes of grief, sacrifice, love, and the enduring nature of evil.

"Durst consistently defies expectations."—Publishers Weekly (starred review) From award-winning author Sarah Beth Durst, a standalone epic fantasy set in a brand-new world of towering mountains and sparkling cities, in which a band of aging warriors have a second chance to defeat dark magic and avenge a haunting loss. Twenty-five years ago, five heroes risked their lives to defeat the bone maker Eklor—a corrupt magician who created an inhuman army using animal bones. But victory came at a tragic price. Only four of the heroes survived. Since then, Kreya, the group’s leader, has exiled herself to a remote tower and devoted herself to one purpose: resurrecting her dead husband. But such a task requires both a cache of human bones and a sacrifice—for each day he lives, she will live one less. She’d rather live one year with her husband than a hundred without him, but using human bones for magic is illegal in Vos. The dead are burned—as are any bone workers who violate the law. Yet Kreya knows where she can find the bones she needs: the battlefield where her husband and countless others lost their lives. But defying the laws of the land exposes a terrible possibility. Maybe the dead don’t rest in peace after all. Five warriors—one broken, one gone soft, one pursuing a simple life, one stuck in the past, and one who should be dead. Their story should have been finished. But evil doesn’t stop just because someone once said, “the end.”