Below

Two teens from different worlds must work together to survive in this YA post-apocalyptic fantasy adventure, the first novel in the Broken Sky Chronicles.

Exiled from his home, estranged from his family, Hokk Feste lives off the desolate prairie lands of Below, finding just enough food and water to sustain him and his fox companion, Nym. When dead bodies rain down from the clouds, Hokk searches through the funeral wrappings desperate to find some valuable resources among the human remains that he can use to bargain his return to the City of Ago.

Elia lives with her family on the floating islands of Above. She is a laundress, serving the realm of the Twin Emperors, two rulers of an oppressive regime. Her thankless labor goes unnoticed until the day a royal servant pursued by an Imperial Guard gives her an ornate wooden box to hide. Within it lies something capable of toppling the monarchy. Fleeing the guard, Elia stumbles off her island home and plummets to Below, the final resting place for her people’s dead where monstrous scavengers roam.

Found by Hokk after falling into the ocean, Elia discovers a civilization far removed from her own and a cloud-shrouded land that has never known sunlight. Hokk is skeptical about Elia’s tales about Above, but he knows the fallen girl is just the rare gift he needs to end his exile. And as they challenge each other’s very beliefs while journeying across the dangerous landscape, the Imperial Guard ventures Below to find Elia and the secret she carries . . .

“Inventive world-building and epic scope. . . . A great read for fans of YA, fantasy, or anyone looking for a fresh vision.” —award-winning author Jennifer Brody

“Below is post-apocalyptic at its roots, but the nature of the world allows the introduction of tropes from fantasy, dystopia and science fiction, injecting much needed originality into this recently oversaturated genre.” —CM Magazine