<b>Portal fantasy grows up in this immersive series kickoff featuring “a life-changing adventure, . . . compelling characters and a fascinating world” (Martha Wells, author of The Murderbot Diaries)</b><br><br> When Saffron Coulter stumbles through a hole in reality, she finds herself trapped in Kena—a magical realm on the brink of civil war. It’s there that her fate becomes intertwined with that of three very different women: Zech, the fast-thinking acolyte of a cunning, powerful exile; Viya, the spoiled, runaway consort of the empire-building ruler, Vex Leoden; and Gwen, an Earth-born worldwalker whose greatest regret is putting Leoden on the throne. But Leoden has allies, too, and chief among them is the Vex’Mara Kadeja, a dangerous ex-priestess who shares his dreams of conquest.<br><br> Pursued by Leoden and aided by the Shavaktiin—a secretive order of storytellers and mystics—the rebels flee to Veksh, a neighboring matriarchy ruled by the