The first adventure in the Mirror Realm Cycle, a Spanish Inquisition–era fantasy trilogy inspired by Jewish folklore, with echoes of Naomi Novik and Katherine Arden.
Toba Peres can speak, but not shout; sleep, but not dream. She can write with both hands at once, in different languages, but she keeps her talents hidden at her grandparents’ behest.
Naftaly Cresques sees things that aren’t real, and dreams things that are. Always made to feel like the family disappointment, Naftaly would still risk his life to honor his father’s last wishes.
After the Queen demands every Jew convert or face banishment, Toba and Naftaly are among thousands of Jews who flee their homes. Defying royal orders to abandon all possessions, Toba keeps an amulet she must never take off; Naftaly smuggles a centuries-old book he’s forbidden to read. But the Inquisition is hunting these particular treasures—and they’re not hunting alone.
Toba stumbles through a pomegranate grove into the mirror realm of the Maziks: mythical, terrible immortals with an Inquisition of their own, equally cruel and even more powerful. With the Mazik kingdoms in political turmoil, this Inquisition readies its bid to control both realms.
In each world, Toba and Naftaly must evade both Inquisitions long enough to unravel the connection between their family heirlooms and the Mazik realm. Their fates are tied to this strange place, and it’s up to them to save it.
Brimming with folkloric wonder, The Pomegranate Gate weaves history and magic into a spellbindingly intricate tale suffused with wit, warmth, and heart.
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ARIEL KAPLAN began life as an imperfect baby, matured into an imperfect child, and remains an imperfect adult, though she does occasionally make a perfect chocolate cupcake (the trick, you see, is to leave out the eggs, which interfere with the chocolate flavor). Her first two books, Grendel’s Guide to Love and War and We Regret to Inform You received five starred reviews between them, and were included in best of the year lists from Kirkus and Bank Street, among other honors. She lives in Virginia with her family, where she is always working on her next novel.
Visit her at aekaplan.com
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