My appreciation, once more, to the Mandela Rhodes Foundation and the 2016 cohort. Thank you to Imraan Coovadia for his input on this novel.

Sarah Boomgaard, thank you for being That Person from high school to get loudly excited about my books. Thank you to Ruby Parker and Kaitlin Cunningham. As always, thanks and love to Sabina Stefan.

Emma Kate Laubscher, you are brilliant and funny and passionate, and I think the world of you. Also, thank you for scheming to get your book club to read my work.

Thanks to my dad, Stephen Hall, for your support and love. I hope you enjoy this book, and are not unduly concerned about all the cannibalism and murder.

Thank you to Tessa Hall. I’m fortunate beyond measure to have a sister as exceptional as you are. Thank you for being my first reader and my most trusted friend.

And finally, thank you to Sylvia Hall. Writing this book was challenging, but you were behind me every step of the way. Thank you for believing in me. Thank you for your attention to detail, and for your encouragement. Thank you for everything. I hope, one day, to be half as brilliant as you.

Also by Kerstin Hall

ALSO BY KERSTIN HALL

THE MKALIS CYCLE

The Border Keeper

Second Spear

Praise for Star Eater

Praise for Star Eater

“Hall paints a lush and haunting world with a terrifying magic that forms the very foundation of society. Gripping and absorbing, Star Eater will leave readers lingering over its themes of heritage and power.”

—Andrea Stewart, author of The Bone Shard Daughter

“The intricate, bloody mechanics of Hall’s world-building come together with her perfectly assured prose to make an utterly compelling fantasy, both haunted and haunting.”

—A. K. Larkwood, author of The Unspoken Name

“Gut-churning, wonderful, and strange—a fantasy that knows where the bodies are buried.”

—Max Gladstone, coauthor of This Is How You Lose the Time War

“Written in beautifully agile prose, Star Eater is a layered and incisive examination of power, and Elfreda Raughn its beating heart. Her voice grabbed me from the first page and never let go.”

—Rory Power, New York Times bestselling author of Wilder Girls

“Systemic power structures built on the back of a dead god, ritualistic cannibalism, and magical disease are balanced with emotional themes of love and regret.… Hall’s solid world-building and strong prose create an utterly gripping novel that blends the boundaries of horror and fantasy.”

—Library Journal (starred review)

“An exquisitely gripping novel with a bloody, unflinching heart. And yet, for all the intricate brutalities of its world-building, it holds out the hope of revolutionary change.”

—Liz Bourke, Locus

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

KERSTIN HALL’s short fiction has appeared in Strange Horizons and Fireside, and she is the author of the novellas The Border Keeper and Second Spear. She lives in Cape Town, South Africa. You can find her at kerstinhall.com and on Twitter @Kerstin__Hall. Star Eater was her first novel. Sign up for email updates here.