The Sun Blessed Prince by Lindsey Byrd (Hardback)

The burning, lyrical fantasy of star-crossed lovers in a mythological war. The Sun Blessed Prince is the first book in Lindsey Byrd’s Tale of Two Crowns duology, a character-driven queer fantasy for those who loved She Who Became the Sun, The Song of Achilles and Sistersong.

On a hotly contested battlefield, a prince whose touch creates life meets a soldier chosen by death. Prince Elician is a Giver: he can heal wounds and return the dead to life, and he cannot himself be killed, cursed to watch his country wage an endless war. Reapers, by contrast, can kill with a single touch. So when one attacks Prince Elician, the Reaper expects a terrible punishment. Instead, Elician offers Cat sanctuary on enemy territory. Cat had never realised life could be worth living, until the prince. Yet Elician’s enemy plans to turn this very kindness against him.

Meanwhile, Elician’s sister, Fen, must somehow master her own volatile powers to serve her country, as a deadly plot comes to light, one of abduction, treachery and forbidden magic. Tensions escalate from the court to the battlefield, and those who wield the powers of life and death must ask whether any path to peace remains.

Perfect for readers who love a lyrical queer fantasy, an enemies-to-lovers slow burn across a great war, and a sweeping, found-family adventure of life, death and forbidden magic.