‘A Constellation of Shadows’ is the debut, YA fantasy novel by Kay Rowan, and Book One in The Talliswood Series

BOOK ONE WILL BE PUBLISHED ON THE 6TH SEPTEMBER, 2026,

‘We live for peace’…her father made it sound so simple. 
 
As the daughter of one of The Talliswood’s Ambassadors, it’s Aerva’s job to hold everything together. Eredhest’s war on her people may have ended, but there is always a cost to staying alive, and tensions are starting to grow again. Now, as part of a last-ditch peace deal, she has been shipped off to Udela Arkanium, one of Eredhest’s finest schools, right in the heart of enemy territory. All she has to do is get to the end of the school year alive, and without making too many enemies, and her people might stand a chance of surviving.

But when a mysterious assassin breaks into the temple on a mission to kill a teacher, Aerva’s life is suddenly turned on its head.
With the help of a troubled poet, a healer from the wrong side of the mountains, and a killer who cannot kill,
Aerva sets out to unravel a plot that could threaten the whole world…
 
…and maybe, just maybe, she’ll be able to save herself in the process.

About the Author

Kay Rowan is an author and musician, based in England at the time of writing this biography. She is also trans which, as you can tell, has had absolutely no influence on this book whatsoever. A Constellation of Shadows is her first novel. When she isn’t coming up with useless bits of world building, (did you know that the traditional food of The Andalian Archipelago is spiced honey cake?), she can be found writing songs as ghostgirl, composing music for the stage and screen, and navigating an existential crisis (or four). Kay is terrible at talking about herself, so hides behind the use of third person narration as a way to cope with it.