The Book of Fire series

Life outside the domes is not possible. At least that’s what Insiders are told.

Twins Eli and Talia shouldn’t exist. They’re Outsiders.

Their home is a secret. Their lives are a secret. Arafel is a secret.

An unexpected forest raid forces Talia into a desperate mission to rescue her family while protecting the sacred Book of Arafel from those who would use it as a weapon. As Talia and her lifelong friend Max enter the dome, she makes some unexpected discoveries and an ally – in the form of rugged Insider August – that will change the course of her life for ever.

She’ll stop at nothing to save her family but will she sacrifice her heart in the process?

The Fire Sermon meets Gladiator in this brilliant YA debut.

Book of Fire

Michelle Kenney

ONE PLACE. MANY STORIES

Contents

Cover

Blurb

Title Page

Author Bio

Acknowledgements

Dedication

Prologue

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Nineteen

Epilogue

Glossary

Endpages

Copyright

MICHELLE KENNEY

is a self-confessed scribbleaholic. She can usually be found daydreaming about mystical, fantasy worlds, and doctors say she’s pretty incurable.

Michelle is a graduate of the Curtis Brown Writing for Children Novel Course. She also holds a LLB (Hons) Degree and is currently an Accredited Practitioner with the CIPR, with whom she has won several national awards for her Magazine & Media/PR related work.

Michelle is currently represented by Chloe Seager of Diane Banks Associates and can be found, along with her Curtis Brown scribbling friends, at www.thescribblersonline.com

Acknowledgements

Working with HQ Digital has felt like stepping inside a story itself, and wouldn’t have happened without the belief of the fantastic people who’ve supported my writing adventure so far.

So, special thanks to:

Hannah Smith, my inspirational editor, for all her time and effort in helping shape and edit Book of Fire, and to the amazing HQ design team for one of the most dramatic covers I’ve ever seen.

Chloe Seager (Diane Banks Associates), the best fragent a girl could ever want to do a Haga with, and for spotting Book of Fire in the slush pile in the first place.

Catherine Johnson, the Curtis Brown Creative team and Aki Schilz at The Literary Consultancy, for providing advice and valuable words of encouragement when I needed them most.

My amazing family and friends who’ve put up with all the late night texts, cancelled coffees and overcooked pizzas - Nick, my North Star from the South; and the entire Kenney clan for showing me, every day, that life is precious.

And finally to…the coolest gang of writers I’ve ever been proud to call my own, The Scribblers, you know who you are - and you rock!

Dedicated to:

My precious Mum and Dad,

for encouraging me to dream

&

Gramp

George Frankum, 1910-1999

who always believed I’d do it.

Prologue

In the old world, people foraged for food in bright cities the size of the forest, Grandpa said, and rode toxic boxes on wheels, instead of running with the sun.

Embellished truth or plain fiction, Grandpa’s fireside myths were my favourite part of the day. And as my twin brother and I grew, the myths turned into stories from his own childhood, like the time he found a tattered advert for the Lifedome on a creeper-choked wall. When he pulled the foliage aside, it still bore the ripped, black lettering of its utopian dream.

It was only when Eli and I turned sixteen that, in keeping with village tradition, we learned the real story of Arafel’s forefathers from the Council. We plagued Grandpa for the rest, and when he finally relented, there was something in his stark portrayal of our beginning that shadowed me, even on the brightest day.

The Lifedome was supposed to be a landmark scientific experiment, he told us, a microcosm to investigate how Genetic Modification could serve the technological world. The goal was the Nobel Prize, but global funding meant the Government had to make extravagant promises. Prime Minister Johnstone went one step further, claiming the Lifedome would provide emergency shelter should the tension between the East and West ever erupt into another Great Holy War.

That day arrived sooner than everyone expected, on 3rd November 2025.

They claimed it was a rogue test missile, that it wasn’t intended to reach London, but the dust clouds enveloped most of the country, and their effect was cataclysmic. With cities in ruins and thousands of refugees left with nowhere to shelter, the Government’s Scientific Team had to throw open the Lifedome doors, and provide what shelter they could.

Those who were still able took their families and fled towards the only safe haven in the West, clinging to its costly propaganda that it could withstand every bomb known to mankind. Others accepted a grateful ride from the Sweeper vehicles.

But there were whispers right from the start, whispers that grew with the silence, that things were very different, once you got inside.