Laini Taylor's blog: Daughter of Smoke and Bone trilogy

The final book in the

DAUGHTER OF SMOKE & BONE saga

is almost here!

DREAMS OF GODS & MONSTERS

COMING APRIL 8, to bookstores and libraries everywhere.

* * *

THE SEQUEL TO DAUGHTER OF SMOKE & BONE:

New York Times bestselling
DAYS OF BLOOD & STARLIGHT

NOW AVAILABLE IN BOOKSTORES EVERYWHERE!

"Taylor’s dazzling writing and skill at creating suspense are strong as ever; fantasy lovers will gobble up this book with satisfaction."

-Publisher's Weekly, starred review

"I read Days of Blood & Starlight last weekend and I'm all fired up about it. Thank you, Ms. Taylor, for a thrilling couple of days. I am in your debt."
-Stephenie Meyer, author of Twilight

US edition

Art student and monster's apprentice Karou finally has the answers she has always sought. She knows who she is--and what she is. But with this knowledge comes anoher truth she would give anything to undo: She loved the enemy and he betrayed her, and a world suffered for it.

In this stunning sequel to the highly acclaimed Daughter of Smoke & Bone, Karou must decide how far she'll go to avenge her people. Filled with heartbreak and beauty, secrets and impossible choices, Days of Blood & Starlight finds Karou and Akiva on opposing sides as an age-old war stirs back to life.

While Karou and her allies build a monstrous army in a land of dust and starlight, Akiva wages a different sort of battle: a battle for redemption. For hope. But can any hope be salvaged from the ashes of their broken dream?

UK edition

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
USA TODAY BESTSELLER
INDIEBOUND BESTSELLER
FILM RIGHTS SOLD TO UNIVERSAL PICTURES
AMAZON BEST TEEN BOOKS OF 2012
AMAZON BEST BOOKS OF THE MONTH, NOVEMBER 2012
starred review, PUBLISHER'S WEEKLY
A JUNIOR LIBRARY GUILD SELECTION, 2012
LOS ANGELES PUBLIC LIBRARY BEST OF 2012

"Taylor has a gift for nimble plotting and exquisite detail."

-Entertainment Weekly, 'A' review

"If you're suffering a surfeit of hackneyed paranormal fantasy, Laini Taylor's second novel (Days of Blood & Starlight) will restore your faith in the genre ...This is Romeo and Juliet on a sprawling fantasy stage."
-Guardian, UK

"Plunges us into a world of beauty and horror… intricately plotted… it’s a book that flies between worlds on blood-tipped wings and grips like a magical vice."

-Daily Mail, UK

"Never fear, fans of Daughter of Smoke & Bone--Days of Blood & Starlight is just as good, if not better."

-Amazon, Best Books of the Month

"Taylor creates her worlds with poetry, twisting our perceptions of the genre with each word, creating something both comfortable and unique with a magician's touch."

-The Guilded Earlobe, audiobook reviews

"Taylor manages to make a five-hundred-page epic read at a breakneck speed that will have readers struggling to finish in one sitting."

-VOYA, '5' review

* * *

DAUGHTER OF SMOKE & BONE

US edition

Around the world, black handprints are appearing on doorways, scorched there by winged strangers who have crept through a slit in the sky.

In a dark and dusty shop, a devil's supply of human teeth grown dangerously low.

And in the tangled lanes of Prague, a young art student is about to be caught up in a brutal otherwordly war.

Meet Karou. She fills her sketchbooks with monsters that may or may not be real; she's prone to disappearing on mysterious "errands"; she speaks many languages--not all of them human; and her bright blue hair actually grows out of her head that color. Who is she? That is the question that haunts her, and she's about to find out.

When one of the strangers--beautiful, haunted Akiva--fixes his fire-colored eyes on her in an alley in Marrakesh, the result is blood and starlight, secrets unveiled, and a star-crossed love whose roots drink deep of a violent past. But will Karou live to regret learning the truth about herself?

UK edition

32 FOREIGN TERRITORIES SOLD
FILM RIGHTS SOLD TO UNIVERSAL PICTURES
AMAZON TOP TEN BOOKS OF 2011
AMAZON #1 TEEN BOOK OF 2011
AMAZON UK #1 YA BOOK OF 2012
YALSA TOP TEN BEST FICTION FOR YOUNG ADULTS, 2012
WINNER, AUDIE AWARD FOR BEST FANTASY AUDIOBOOK, 2012
A NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE CHILDREN'S BOOK OF 2011
PUBLISHER''S WEEKLY BEST BOOKS OF 2011
SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL BEST BOOKS OF 2011
KIRKUS REVIEWS BEST TEEN BOOKS OF 2011
LOS ANGELES PUBLIC LIBRARY, BEST OF 2011
CHICAGO PUBLIC LIBRARY, BEST OF THE BEST 2012
BARNES & NOBLE REVIEW, BEST YA FICTION OF 2011
LOCUS (MAGAZINE OF SCIENCE FICTION & FANTASY) REC READING LIST 2011
YALSA 2012 READER'S CHOICE BOOKLIST
A JUNIOR LIBRARY GUILD SELECTION, 2011
ABC BEST CHILDREN'S BOOK CATALOG, 2011
FINALIST, ANDRE NORTON AWARD
FINALIST, CHILDREN'S CHOICE BOOK AWARDS TEEN BOOK OF THE YEAR
WINNER, OREGON SPIRIT BOOK AWARD
starred reviews, PUBLISHER'S WEEKLY, KIRKUS, SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL, BCCB, THE HORN BOOK

"Wow. I wish I had written this book."

-Patrick Rothfuss, NYT-bestselling author of The Kingkiller Chronicles

"This smartly plotted, surprising, and fiercely compelling read will hook you from its opening pages. (Seriously, cancel all plans once you begin; you won't want to put it down.) ... Bring on book 2! A-"
-Entertainment Weekly

"A breath-catching romantic fantasy about destiny, hope and the search for one's true self that doesn't let readers down ... the world-building descriptions and language stop your heart and then, like a defibrillator, start it up again."
-The New York Times Book Review

"It's to Taylor's great credit that evil incarnate and its love match in Daughter of Smoke and Bone are such imaginative interpretations and that the worlds in which this romance unfolds are likewise so unique: Telling a tale this apocryphal requires serious outside-the-box plot work to pull off. Taylor manages her self-imposed challenge with aplomb."
-The Los Angeles Times

"Yes, it is fantasy romance, complete with angels and devils, but Taylor's prose is fresh and sassy enough to blow away any ennui with the genre ... A cracker story and a truly entertaining read."
-New Zealand Herald

"Daughter of Smoke and Bone is a lush, sweeping, romantic marvel of a book. Taylor's writing is a revelation, masterfully blending an intricate fantasy world into our own, with an artist's flair for exquisite details. Funny, devastating, delightful, unforgettable. Pure storytelling perfection."

-Kiersten White, NYT-bestselling author of Paranormalcy and Supernaturally

"Daughter of Smoke and Bone is that rare beast: a novel that takes the familiar and makes it appear startling and new. Taylor has embraced the mythology of angels and reworked it in an extraordinary form, so that by the end of this lyrical, haunting book, I wanted to believe in the existence of these violent, tormented beings. I can hardly wait for the next installment."

-John Connolly, author of The Book of Lost Things

"Taylor again weaves a masterful mix of reality and fantasy with cross-genre appeal. Exquisitely writeen and beautifully paced ..."
-Publisher's Weekly, starred review

"Rarely—perhaps not since the author’s own Faeries of Dreamdark: Blackbringer (2007)—does a series kick off so deliciously."
-Kirkus Reviews, starred review

"Fans of torturously star-crossed lovers à la those in Marr’s Wicked Lovely and Black’s Tithe will find much to enjoy here, but those who flock to innovative, character-driven fantasy with thematic depth will be equally enthralled."
-BCCB (Bulletin for the Center for Children's Books), starred review

"Lush description of gothic and ghostly Prague beckons readers from the first page and fulfills its promise, leading to a star-crossed romance that spans worlds and transcends death."
-The Horn Book, starred review

"National Book Award finalist Laini Taylor has created a lushly imaginative, fully realized world in Daughter of Smoke and Bone. Taylor’s writing is as sumptuous as poetry, and the story overflows with dark and delightful magic, star-crossed love, and difficult choices with heartbreaking repercussions. Readers of all ages will be utterly enchanted."
-Juliet Disparte, Amazon.com; Amazon Best Book of the Month pick, Sept 2011

Official Websites:

OFFICIAL WEBSITE USA

teaser trailer: