New2theScene

Akshaya Raman

Akshaya Raman

Akshaya Raman fell in love with writing when she wrote her first story at the age of ten. Though she graduated from UC Davis with a degree in biology, she gave up pursuing a career in science to write books. She is a co-founder and contributor to Writer’s Block Party, a group blog about writing and publishing, and has served on the planning teams of several book festivals. She lives in the Bay Area with an actual scaredy cat, and in her free time, she enjoys baking, traveling, and watching too much reality TV. You can find her on Instagram and Twitter.

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Books by

Akshaya

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The Crimson Fortress

The hotly anticipated sequel to the gripping Indian-inspired YA fantasy THE IVORY KEY.

Four siblings. Two enemy territories. One long buried secret.

Without magic to protect Ashoka's borders, time is running out. The whole country is at risk from enemy territory Lyria, suspected to be experimenting with dangerous magic. And nobody feels the threat more so than Maharani Vira, who is desperate to prove herself a worthy leader. But finding the Ivory Key, her one hope of discovering a new source of magic, has only led to more mysteries to unravel.

So when her own Council turns on her, Vira once again needs her siblings' help. If together they found the key, maybe together they can restore Ashoka to its former glory.

As Vira and Riya head into the forest on the trail of magic, their brothers Kaleb and Ronak infiltrate the Lyrian court. Under the guise of negotiating peace, they hope to discover what their enemy has in store for Ashoka. But in their search for answers, the siblings will uncover much more than an evil emperor's schemes and long buried magic...

The siblings' quest concludes in the epic finale of THE IVORY KEY duology. There's only one way they'll succeed: together.

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The Ivory Key

Four siblings. A country in ruin. One quest to save them all.

Vira is desperate to get out of her mother's shadow and establish her legacy as a revered queen of Ashoka. But with the country's only quarry running out of magic - a precious resource that has kept Ashoka safe from conflict - she can barely protect her citizens from the looming threat of war. And if her enemies discover this, they'll stop at nothing to seize the last of the magic.Vira's only hope is to find a mysterious object of legend: the Ivory Key, rumoured to unlock a new source of magic. But in order to infiltrate enemy territory and retrieve it, she must reunite with her siblings, torn apart by broken relationships and the different paths their lives have taken.

Each of them has something to gain from finding the Ivory Key - and even more to lose if they fail. Ronak plans to sell it to the highest bidder in exchange for escape from his impending political and unwanted marriage. Kaleb, falsely accused of assassinating the former maharani, needs it to clear his name. And Riya, the runaway sibling who cut all family ties, wants the Key to prove her loyalty to the rebels who took her in. They must work together to survive the treacherous journey. But with each sibling harbouring secrets and their own conflicting agendas, the very thing that brought them together could tear apart their family - and their world - for good.

First in a duology from an incredible new talent, this Indian-inspired fantasy debut is epic, fierce and magnetically addictive, taking you on a thrilling journey where magic, a prized resource, is the only thing between peace and war.

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