The Wretched Divine was inspired by Attack on Titan and Brandon Sanderson

Brandon Sanderson is taking a long break from his epic fantasy series The Stormlight Archive to work on other projects, but readers can sample a new standalone series by Adalyn Grace. Eight publishers bid on the first book, with Feiwel paying seven figures for what the imprint expects will be a major hit.

Grace, who began her career as an intern on The Legend of Korra and later became a New York Times–bestselling YA author with the Belladonna series and the All the Stars and Teeth duology, makes her adult fantasy debut with The Wretched Divine, the first book in a new trilogy due Sept.

22. Grace said she wanted a wide, detailed setting: "To build this type of story in the way I wanted, the world needed to feel very large, with plenty of cultures, systems of belief, and of course, magic." She drew on sweeping fantasy worlds such as Brandon Sanderson’s The Stormlight Archive and on anime influences.

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