ISBN 9781946395498 | hardcover | $17.99 | publication date July 2021
The second book in Helen Brain’s trilogy, The Fiery Spiral. Set in Cape Town, South Africa in 2055, this dystopian series for young adult readers draws from South Africa’s past and present and imagines a futuristic post-apocalyptic, post-technological world.
Book Two: The Rising Tide
Sixteen-year-old Ebba den Eeden is dealing with all the typical teenage things: first boyfriends, mean girls, overbearing aunts – and, of course, navigating the political schemes of a murderous dictator, running a farm to feed an entire city, preventing the genocide of 2,000 teenagers trapped inside South Africa’s famous Table Mountain, and saving the world from another apocalypse by reuniting four ancient amulets with the help of her ghostly ancestors. Just another day for a den Eeden!
In The Thousand Steps, we met Ebba, a teen with fiery red hair and a mysterious birthmark that holds the secret of her heritage. After spending sixteen years underground when nuclear war caused massive sea level rise and flooded her home city of Cape Town, Ebba must use her power to stop a second apocalypse. She must listen to her instincts, even if it means destroying the things she holds most dear. Who can she trust to help stop the second “Calamity,” now just days away? Who will betray her?
In the second installment of Helen Brain’s Fiery Spiral trilogy, Ebba will learn the impossible decisions – and great sacrifice – that sometimes come with destiny.
Other books in the series:
The Thousand Steps
Reviews
“Plagued by secrets and a new source of insecurity in the form of a perceived rival in love, it’s uncertain whether Ebba will figure out to whom she can turn to help save herself and those she cares about.” —Kirkus
About the author
Helen Brain was born in Australia in 1960 and raised in South Africa. Before settling to a life writing and teaching writing through an international online college, she was a musician, a textile crafter, and taught English, music, and Ancient Greek. Brain lives in Muizenberg, South Africa with her husband, three dogs and the family of wild otters that frequent her lake-front garden.