Published By: Hodderscape
Pages: 368
Released On: 18/06/2026
Be careful what you pray for . . .
Cod became an archaeologist to chase the ghost of her hero, Aleya Ana-Ulai. History may have written Aleya off as a myth, but Cod is determined to prove she existed, even if it means sifting through relics for the rest of her life.
Then a message arrives summoning her home. Cod’s former teacher has found something monumental: the ruins of an enchanted city, slumbering beneath the soil.
This could be the breakthrough they’ve always dreamed of. But with war brewing, rival powers circling, and ancient magics stirring underfoot, their discovery soon becomes far more trouble than it’s worth. Even Cod starts to wonder if some things are better left buried . . .
*****
Thanks to NetGalley and Hodderscape for the advanced copy of this title in return for an honest review.
I read Idolfire (of which this follows on) the day before.
Having read Idolfire, that was set so far in the past that it’s become almost myth, and so I wasn’t expecting this to be in the modern time so that took me by surprise. I didn’t mind it, because it showed the longevity of the story.
I didn’t enjoy this one as much as Idolfire, which is weird because very little actually happened in that one, whereas this one has more plot. But I don’t think the modern setting fitted with the subject matter, and it felt like they were fighting.
It didn’t have the same feel, the same magic, the same spark. Maybe if I’d left a gap between reading Idolfire and this one then it might have been okay, but I had Idolfire fresh in my mind and couldn’t help but compare.
I’m going to say something contradictory here. I would have preferred it if she’d set this in a slightly less modern time, a time closer to Idolfire, so it still felt like the same world. Having said that, I did enjoy this idea of fact turning into myth and how easy it is to disregard something from the past.
She has once again stuck to a small cast of characters and they’re all well written. I wasn’t completely enamoured with them like I was with the characters in Idolfire but they were still interesting to follow.
I don’t think you need to read Idolfire to understand this. In fact you might benefit by not reading it because then you have nothing to compare it to.
I still enjoyed it, don’t get me wrong, but it felt completely apart from the Idolfire world, and to say it’s linked doesn’t feel right, the link is too tenuous. It becomes this murdery, archaeological mystery without any of the magic that Idolfire had.
I think it would have benefitted by saying it is set within the world of Idolfire, and that’s it. By linked it specifically to the characters and plot from Idolfire, it means we’re asked to link the two stories and compare them, and this, whilst I liked it, meant it fell short of every stage of Idolfire.
Books By Your Bedside 