Young King Harristan is forced to maintain the peace with a ruthless hand – doing his best to provide medicine equitably to all his subjects, while ruthlessly punishing those who would steal it, with the help of Prince Corrick, the King’s Justice who viciously enforces his older brother’s laws.īut, to what is likely the surprise of no one, this system doesn’t entirely work – corruption is rampant, the consuls who control the sectors that produce Moonflower are constantly demanding higher prices, and the wealthy elites are using their considerable means to buy more medicine for the Royal Sector, while the poor who live in the outer realms known as the Wilds sicken and die with greater frequency.Īpothecary Tessa Cade does what she can to treat the poorest of her neighbors: Mixing medicine, treating those who are already ill, and sneaking out every night with her best friend – and sometime crush – Wes to steal Moonflower petals for those who need them most. The plague can only be treated by an elixir made from a specific plant known as the Moonflower, which naturally only grows in two sectors of the kingdom. (Oh, is the roguish outlaw secretly helping the sick find medicine also the cruel prince who punishes traitors? Whoever could have guessed? He’s just the second POV character!) But that’s not what makes this story an enjoyable read – or one that’s worthy of a sequel.ĭefy the Night is set in the kingdom of Kandala, a land that has been suffering for years from an ongoing epidemic of a deadly fever.
Many of the beats of this tale will likely feel more than a little bit familiar to fans of Kemmerer’s recent Cursebreakers trilogy: The fish out of water heroine forced to live and learn in an environment she had initially despised, the supposedly monstrous romantic lead who is secretly not that monstrous at all, repeated exploration of the ways that both love and politics require us to attempt to understand – and offer grace – to those beyond our own point of view.Īnd to that end, much of this story is easily predictable – most of its twists are fairly obvious from the start, and there aren’t any real huge twists along the way.
If that summary sounds more than a little like you’ve heard it before, well, it probably should. Bestselling author Brigid Kemmerer is back with her latest high fantasy story, Defy the Night,a dramatic tale of politics and romance, with the fate of a kingdom hanging in the balance.
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