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WORK TITLE: Cincinnati Lee, Curse Breaker
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CITY: Brooklyn
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LAST VOLUME: SATA 343
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PERSONAL
Born in HI; married; children: has sons.
EDUCATION:New York University, M.F.A. (musical theater writing).
ADDRESS
CAREER
Writer, musical theater writer.
AVOCATIONS:Traveling, hiking.
AWARDS:Best Fiction for Young Adults designation, American Library Association, 2017, for The Girl from Everywhere.
WRITINGS
Author of books and lyrics for musicals, including The Time Travelers Convention, Under Construction, and The Hole. Contributor to Unbroken: 13 Stories Starring Disabled Teens, edited by Marieke Nijkamp, Farrar, Straus and Giroux (New York, NY), 2018; Don’t Call Me Crazy: 33 Voices Start the Conversation About Mental Health, edited by Kelly Jensen, Algonquin Young Readers (Chapel Hill, NC), 2018; and Unbroken, edited by Marieke Nijkamp.
SIDELIGHTS
A native of Hawaii, Heidi Heilig is the author of the award-winning novel The Girl from Everywhere and its sequel The Ship beyond Time, as well as For a Muse of Fire, the debut title in a fantasy trilogy aimed at young-adult audiences. A graduate of New York University with a degree in musical theater writing, Heilig has also penned books and lyrics for a number of musicals, including Under Construction and The Hole.
Described as “a bewilderingly good book” by Christian Science Monitor critic Katie Ward Beim-Esche, The Girl from Everywhere introduces Nix Song, a sixteen-year-old who has spent her entire life aboard the Temptation, her father’s time-traveling schooner. As long as he has an accurate map, Nix’s father, Slate, can transport his ship to any destination—real or imaginary—at any point in its history. Haunted by the loss of his wife, who died in Honolulu in 1868 while giving birth to Nix, the opium-addicted Slate becomes obsessed with returning there, even though saving Lin may erase Nix’s very existence. When the Temptation accidentally journeys to Hawaii in 1884, a group of corrupt businessmen offer to provide Slate a valid map if he helps them overthrow Hawaii’s king.
Heilig recalled that the inspiration for her debut novel came from an old newspaper article that described how a band of pirates sailed into Honolulu in 1884, stole three million dollars’ worth of gold and silver, then vanished without a trace. “Having grown up in Hawaii, I was surprised I’d never heard anything about it,” she told School Library Journal interviewer Shelley Diaz. “Where had these pirates come from? Where did they disappear to? History had no answers for me, so I decided to make them up for myself. Together with my love of myth and legend and the soft spot I have in my heart for time travel, The Girl from Everywhere started to take form.”
According to Beim-Esche, The Girl from Everywhere contains “one of the more labyrinthine plots I’ve met. But Heilig has a steady hand at the time-traveling tiller. Her use of adjective and metaphor is positively succulent.” In the words of a Kirkus Reviews writer, the novel offers “a skillful mashup of science fiction and eclectic mythology.” Voice of Youth Advocates contributor Katherine Noone observed that audiences “may ultimately be surprised at how smoothly the fantastical elements here mesh with the real.”
Heilig concludes Nix’s story in The Ship beyond Time. Having assumed the captaincy of the Temptation, Nix learns that her true love, the roguish crewmate Kashmir, is destined to perish at sea. To save his life, Nix orders the crew to a mythological kingdom where a mysterious navigator claims he can teach her to manipulate time and alter the course of history. A Kirkus Reviews critic declared that Heilig’s “ingeniously plotted time twister deepens the narrative, sharpens characterization, and raises the stakes.” “Above all,” Kerry Sutherland remarked in School Library Journal, “this time-travel quest emphasizes the importance of living and loving in the moment as the path to true happiness.”
Heilig opens the “Shadow Players” fantasy trilogy with For a Muse of Fire. In the book, Jetta Chantray and her parents form the Ros Nai, a troupe of shadow players who have achieved fame in their native land of Chakrana, now under the control of the conquering Aquitans. A gifted performer in her own right, Jetta owes her success to a secret power: she can bind the souls of the dead to her puppets with blood magic. The teen’s extraordinary abilities are necessary for her family to earn an invitation to Aquitan, where Jetta believes a healing spring could cure her mental illness, but she must tread lightly as the old ways have been outlawed by the subjugators. A Kirkus Reviews contributor believed that the novel’s “theatrical elements, rich world building, and loose ties to the French colonization of Southeast Asia add fascinating depth.”
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In an interview with Sara Grochowski at Publishers Weekly, Heilig explained that she was inspired to write the trilogy because she wanted to create a character with bipolar disorder, and she had a friend who was obsessed with a book on shadow puppetry. She said: “It reminded me of when I was a kid growing up in Hawaii, where we had a lot of access to Pan-Asian art forms.” With her experience in theater, she named the books’ titles from the opening speech of Shakespeare’s Henry V where the narrator invokes the muse of the audience’s imagination. She said: “That speech always reminded me of what it’s like to read; books are just pieces of paper, but readers have the muse in their heads that allows them to bring the words on the page to life. Shadow puppetry is like that, too; you have to imagine the shadows are real.”
Heilig continued the series with the second book, A Kingdom for a Stage, which picks up immediately from the end of book one. Jetta is wanted by both sides of a war. She is wanted for treason against the colonizers, the Aquitans, who also want to force her to use her powers to animate their flying war machines in their battle against the indigenous Chakrana. The Chakrana rebels want Jetta to use her powers to reclaim their country and repel the colonizers. She must also come to terms with tyrannical necromancer Le Trépas, who is her biological father, and with Leo, a former sympathizer who now rejects her.
Online at NPR, Caitlyn Paxson commented that Kingdom for a Stage is a true sequel that rolls directly into the story begun in For a Muse of Fire: “We leave Jetta and her cause in a more uncertain state than ever, providing the perfect set-up for an intense and rousing conclusion to a series with a stunning premise and really subtle handling of difficult topics. I eagerly anticipate the final installment.”
The final book in Heilig’s acclaimed “Shadow Players” trilogy, On This Unworthy Scaffold, takes readers to new continents, introduces new gods, and shows palace riots and political intrigue. Jetta has been without the elixir that treats her malheur (bipolar disorder) for weeks, which is affecting her, and causing her to make rash decisions. She joins with Theodora to search for the lytheum she needs to make more elixir. Meanwhile necromancer Le Trépas has used his blood magic to reanimated the bodies of Raik, the Boy King, and General Xavier Legard, to evict the colonizing Aquitans from Chakrana and take control of the country. Cam Akra, Leo, and Tia team up to take down Le Trépas.
A reviewer at Once Upon a Bookcase noted that despite an epic climax that didn’t materialize, “Some major discoveries are made in this book that were amazing. Twists I wasn’t expecting, paths the story took that I was really intrigued by. As I was reading, my excitement just built and built as the tension grew, and the various characters found themselves in more difficult circumstances.” In an interview with Elise Dumpleton at Nerd Daily, Heilig commented on writing the end of the trilogy: “The book is written in first person chapters interspersed with playscripts, letters, and sheet music, and near the end, there is a wonderful love song from our charming violinist, Leo. …I also really enjoyed giving page time to some of the characters mentioned but never met in previous books, like Le Roi Fou, or Madame Audrinne.”
Heilig introduces an intrepid young archeologist in Cincinnati Lee, Curse Breaker, dubbed a middle-school Da Vinci Code. Twelve-year-old Chinese-American Cincinnati Lee learns about her famous, but cursed, great-great-great-grandfather when she finds his diary. As an archeologist, he collected relics from all over the world, including a clay idol from Peru that has cursed the family, and the powerful Spear of Destiny. To undo the curse and right his wrongs, Cin joins with her mother who works at the Cosmopolitan Museum of New York, amateur forger Felix, and accomplice Paisley to recover the idol, but soon find themselves involved in a smuggling ring to acquire the Spear of Destiny. “The settings and characters are well developed, and laugh-out-loud dialogue accompanies the bold, fast-paced narrative,” according to a Kirkus Reviews critic. Writing in School Library Journal, Clare A. Dombrowski declared: “With a mix of reality, the supernatural, and unbelievable situations, this story makes an entertaining read. The first-person narration highlights Cin as an erudite tween.”
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BIOCRIT
PERIODICALS
Booklist, January 1, 2016, Debbie Carton, review of The Girl from Everywhere, p. 74; January 1, 2017, Debbie Carton, review of The Ship beyond Time, p. 85; August 1, 2018, Maggie Reagan, review of For a Muse of Fire, p. 82.
Christian Science Monitor, April 11, 2016, Karen Ward Beim-Esche, review of The Girl from Everywhere.
Kirkus Reviews, December 1, 2015, review of The Girl from Everywhere; December 1, 2016, review of The Ship beyond Time; June 15, 2018, review of For a Muse of Fire; February 1, 2025, review of Cincinnati Lee, Curse Breaker.
School Library Journal, December, 2015, Kerry Sutherland, review of The Girl from Everywhere, p. 121; January, 2017, Kerry Sutherland, review of The Ship beyond Time, p. 101.
Voice of Youth Advocates, February, 2016. Katherine Noone, review of The Girl from Everywhere, p. 71.
ONLINE
Disability in Kidlit blog, http://disabilityinkidlit.com/ (March 19, 2016), S. Jae-Jones, author interview.
Fantasy-Faction, http://fantasy-faction.com/ (January 2, 2017), Leo Elijah Cristea, interview with Heilig.
Happy Ever After, https://happyeverafter.usatoday.com/ (September 26, 2018), Jessie Potts, author interview.
Heidi Heilig website, http://www.heidiheilig.com (February 1, 2019).
Nerd Daily, https://thenerddaily.com/ (April 26, 2021), Elise Dumpleton, “Q&A: Heidi Heilig, Author of ‘On This Unworthy Scaffold.’”
NPR, https://www.npr.org/ (October 12, 2019), Caitlyn Paxson, “A Puppeteer Gets Swept Up in Political Theater in ‘Kingdom For A Stage.’”
Once Upon a Bookcase, https://www.onceuponabookcase.co.uk/ (April 27, 2021), review of On This Unworthy Scaffold.
Publishers Weekly, https://www.publishersweekly.com/ (May 20, 2021), Sara Grochowski, “Noteworthy YA Series Come to an End This Season.”
School Library Journal, https://www.slj.com/ (February 3, 2016), Shelley Diaz, “Sailing Through Time: Heidi Heilig on Her YA Debut, The Girl from Everywhere”; (March 2025), Clare A. Dombrowski, review of Cincinnati Lee, Curse Breaker.
Swanky Seventeens, https://swankyseventeens.wordpress.com/ (February 24, 2016), Rosalyn Eves, author interview.
Heidi Heilig
USA flag
Heidi grew up in Hawaii where she rode horses and raised peacocks, and then she moved to New York City and grew up even more, as one tends to do. Her favorite thing, outside of writing, is travel, and she has haggled for rugs in Morocco, hiked the trails of the Ko'olau Valley, and huddled in a tent in Africa while lions roared in the dark.She holds an MFA from New York University in Musical Theatre Writing, of all things, and she's written books and lyrics for shows including The Time Travelers Convention, Under Construction, and The Hole. She lives in Brooklyn with her husband and their pet snake, whose wings will likely grow in any day now.
Genres: Young Adult Fantasy
New and upcoming books
March 2025
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Cincinnati Lee, Curse Breaker
Series
Girl from Everywhere
1. The Girl from Everywhere (2016)
2. The Ship Beyond Time (2017)
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Shadow Players
1. For a Muse of Fire (2018)
2. A Kingdom for a Stage (2019)
On This Unworthy Scaffold (2021)
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Novels
Cincinnati Lee, Curse Breaker (2025)
Heidi Hellig
Represented by Molly Ker Hawn
Heidi grew up in Hawaii where she rode horses and raised peacocks, and then she moved to New York City and grew up even more, as one tends to do. Her favorite thing, outside of writing, is travel, and she has haggled for rugs in Morocco, hiked the trails of the Ko’olau Valley, and huddled in a tent in Africa while lions roared in the dark.
She holds an MFA from New York University in Musical Theatre Writing, of all things, and she’s written books and lyrics for shows including The Time Travelers Convention, Under Construction, and The Hole. She lives in Brooklyn with her husband and their pet snake, whose wings will likely grow in any day now.
Heidi’s debut, the sweeping YA fantasy THE GIRL FROM EVERYWHERE, was published in 2016 by Greenwillow Books/HarperCollins in the US and Hot Key Books in the UK. It was named one of the best books of 2016 by NPR, and its sequel, THE SHIP BEYOND TIME, was published in 2017. Her new trilogy began with FOR A MUSE OF FIRE (2018), followed by A KINGDOM FOR A STAGE (2019) and ON THIS UNWORTHY SCAFFOLD (2021).
Q&A: Heidi Heilig, Author of ‘On This Unworthy Scaffold’
Elise Dumpleton·Writers Corner·April 26, 2021·4 min read
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On This Unworthy Scaffold is the sweeping conclusion to Heidi Heilig’s ambitious trilogy, which takes us to new continents, introduces us to new gods, flings us into the middle of palace riots and political intrigue, and asks searching questions about power and corruption. As in the first two books, the story is partly told in ephemera, including original songs, myths, play scripts, and various forms of communication.
We chat with author Heidi Heilig about On This Unworthy Scaffold, writing, book recommendations, and more!
Hi, Heidi! Can you tell our readers a bit about yourself?
Hey Nerds! I’m a YA author now, but I used to be a musical theatre writer. I have two YA series, one about a band of time travelling pirates that uses old maps to go to places out of myth and legend, and the other about a bipolar shadow puppeteer who has the hidden power to bind the souls of the dead to her puppets. So my interests are a little eclectic, but what they have in common is an interest in anti-colonialism and finding your place in the world.
How is your 2021 going in comparison to that other year?
If there was ever a time for a lolsob reaction this is it. 2021 is better than the year which shall remain nameless–but it would almost have to be. There’s a lot of slow recovery happening, both for myself and obviously for the world. But I’m still alive, so I feel like a winner in the world’s worst lottery. I’m also writing again–that’s a real prize.
Quick lightning round! Tell us the first book you ever remember reading, the one that made you want to become an author, and one that you can’t stop thinking about!
Most of my earliest book memories are of my dad reading to me, and he picked some doozies. Cask of Amontillado comes to mind immediately (“FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, MONTRESSOR!”) The book that made me want to be an author was The Monstrumologist by Rick Yancy. And Bleeding Violet by Dia Reeves is often on my mind.
When did you first discover your love for writing?
I adored books and myths as a kid, but for a long time, I actually wanted to be a stage actor! Then I realized it was the storytelling aspect that I loved (and I definitely did NOT love the auditions.) I moved on to playwriting for some time, but while the collaboration between writer/actor/audience is so rewarding, it is also ephemeral. So one day I thought I might try to write a novel. So stories and storytelling are the throughline, but my love of writing was more of a rediscovery.
On This Unworthy Scaffold is the third and final installment in your Shadow Players series and it’s out April 27th 2021! If you could only describe it in five words, what would they be?
“Life and death imitate art”
For those who haven’t read the series yet, what can they expect?
Blood magic, madness, gods, monsters, and of course, theatrics. Jetta is a bipolar shadow player who also has the power to bind the souls of the dead to her puppets. This magic has been forbidden for years by the colonial occupiers, but with the rebellion gaining strength, Jetta must find her footing on the political stage, all while dealing with her malheur–her madness. Thankfully, she has help from her family and friends, including a mixed-race violinist and the dancers who worked at his club.
And for those that have, what awaits readers in this final installment?
With the colonial army in retreat, the evil necromancer Le Trepas has seized control of the throne. Together with her friends, Jetta must draw on her skills to end the civil war and to seek treatment for her malheur in a land across the sea.
Can you tell us about any challenges you faced while writing the final book and how you were able to overcome them?
Oh dear lord. EVERYTHING about this book was a challenge. From finishing a trilogy (I have a huge fear of commitment so I have no idea what I was thinking when I proposed the idea) to diving deep into my own experiences as a crazy person, to writing while deep inside one of the worst and longest lasting depressions I’ve ever experienced, it felt like swimming across a wild sea, and then realizing I’d have to swim all the way back to get home. I was lucky to have an accommodating editor, and supportive friends, but to be honest, a lot of it just took extra time to overcome. And a lot of doughnuts, because in a pinch sugar serves for serotonin.
If it’s not too spoilery, were there any favourite moments or characters you really enjoyed writing or exploring in this last book?
The book is written in first person chapters interspersed with playscripts, letters, and sheet music, and near the end, there is a wonderful love song from our charming violinist, Leo. I had a great time writing the lyrics, and my collaborator Mike Pettry set them beautifully. I also really enjoyed giving page time to some of the characters mentioned but never met in previous books, like Le Roi Fou, or Madame Audrinne.
What’s the best and the worst writing advice you have received?
Best: Learn how you like to be critiqued and ask for critique to follow that formula. Critique is vitally important but so often it is served in a way that is unpalatable (and it really depends on your palate.) Do you need a compliment sandwich? Do you want only questions? Do you hate suggestions? Do you need to brainstorm? Figure this out and ask for it up front to make sure you are on the same page with your critique partner. Phrasing and style can make the difference between critique helping or hurting.
See also
Q&A: Jillian Meadows, Author of ‘Give Me Butterflies’
Worst: Write every day. Like, how? Just no.
What’s next for you?
After 7 years, I am finally without a deadline and the world is mine! I’m working on a middle grade adventure and a YA historical/fantastical that I don’t owe ANYONE and it feels very freeing not to worry about letting anyone down.
Lastly, do you have any book recommendations for our readers?
If you like war and the undead, read DREAD NATION by Justina Ireland. If you like Shakespeare (from whom I took my titles for this series) check out THAT WAY MADNESS LIES, an anthology with 15 retellings edited by Dahlia Adler. And if you like necromancy, read THE BONE WITCH by Rin Chupeco.
Heidi Heilig
On This Unworthy Scaffold (Greenwillow, Apr.) is the finale to the Shadow Players trilogy, in which a shadow puppeteer who can see the souls of the recently departed finds herself at the center of a civil war.
What was your original inspiration for the series?
The original inspiration, aside from wanting to write a character with bipolar disorder, was a friend who was obsessed with a book on shadow puppetry. It reminded me of when I was a kid growing up in Hawaii, where we had a lot of access to Pan-Asian art forms, which people on the mainland don’t often have. The process of shadow puppetry moving from China to Southeast Asia then on to Paris, becoming part of the language of animation and early film, was fascinating.
How and when did the title for each book in the series develop?
The titles are taken from the opening speech of [Shakespeare’s] Henry V where the narrator invokes the muse of the audience’s imagination. That speech always reminded me of what it’s like to read; books are just pieces of paper, but readers have the muse in their heads that allows them to bring the words on the page to life. Shadow puppetry is like that, too; you have to imagine the shadows are real. I also felt the speech connects to mental illness and how your mind can make so much of how you feel.
Did the reader response to the first book impact your writing or perspective as you went on to write subsequent books?
I’m sure it must have, but I was more concerned with what was happening in the world. The writing of these books matched up with the most stressful political period of my lifetime, which definitely influenced me. But it’s professional reviews that I find helpful! Over at Tor, a reviewer named Alex really shaped my understanding of the book itself. Perhaps because of my theater background, it’s hard for me to understand my work until an audience responds to it. You think you know the laugh line and, if the audience laughs, you’re good. But, if you’re wrong, you’ve written a pause, and nothing happens. So professional reviews help me to know if I’ve gotten it right or need to change course.
Are you a plotter or a pantser?
I’m a plotser! I had an outline, which I had pitched the series on. I turned in the first book, which was fully written to spec, and then the election happened, and it didn’t make sense anymore. I had big ideas I still wanted to touch on, but it otherwise went off-script.
Was it difficult to move from writing a duology to a trilogy?
In a way, yes, but I think it was also a learning curve because The Girl from Everywhere was the first book I ever wrote. I had a general plan for it as a trilogy; when we decided to do a duology, it made more sense to mirror the books. But with a trilogy, there is a three-act structure and rising and falling action through the whole series with a reversal in the middle. Since the first book in this series was only my third novel, I think some of the difficulty was from learning how to write a book.
Worst moment?
I don’t know of any other fantasy books that feature a bipolar main character in quite this way, so I felt like I had to do it all. It was hard to balance being responsible, while not causing readers, particularly those who are bipolar, to be overwhelmed, but I also didn’t want to be unrealistic or portray the experience as easy. As I was closing out the series, I realized that there were so many parts of my own experience that I hadn’t or couldn’t include, since it just didn’t make sense for the story, but I just had to let it go. I had to accept that I can’t write or be everything for all people; you have to leave space for others to fill.
Best moment?
The best moments are when a reader reaches out and shares that they saw themselves in my characters and felt validated. Those are pure moments.
What is your hope as this final book reaches readers?
I hope it finds the people for whom it means something, those people who are always a little too much. Those are my people for this book.
What’s next?
I’m used to having to work on whatever is scheduled to be published next, but I’m going back to what I did five books ago and writing a book I don’t owe anyone. I didn’t sell on proposal this time because I wanted all the time in the world to make it into what I want it to be.
Heilig, Heidi CINCINNATI LEE, CURSE BREAKER Greenwillow Books (Children's None) $18.99 3, 25 ISBN: 9780063348363
A spirited 12-year-old embarks on an action-packed globe-trekking adventure to collect and repatriate stolen artifacts.
After Cincinnati Lee, an American girl who has some Chinese heritage, snags her ailing 135-year-old archaeologist great-great-great-grandfather's diary, she learns about a clay idol from Peru that he looted (and which has cursed the family) and the legendary Spear of Destiny (a relic rumored to grant immense power, but at great peril). Determined to right past wrongs, Cincinnati works to recover the idol. In doing so she unravels an international web of secrets involving corporate art smugglers, curse-bearing relics, and her own family history. Along the way, Cincinnati is supported by friends: Parsley, a Black classmate at her posh private school and the daughter of a celebrity musician, and Felix, who presents Latine and is an amateur forger whose father works with Cin's mom at the Cosmopolitan Museum of New York. The settings and characters are well developed, and laugh-out-loud dialogue accompanies the bold, fast-paced narrative. References to other adventure stories, real places, and true-to-life political controversies (such as the Hobby Lobby smuggling scandal) abound, adding depth and inviting readers to reflect on questions of cultural heritage and museum ethics. As Heilig writes in her author's note, "When the treasure we put on display is evidence of a crime, what will future generations believe about our values?" This story is hilarious, smart, and respectfully rendered, and the writing is accessible while still feeling literary.
A thrilling, thoughtful, and layered adventure story with fantastical elements.(Adventure. 8-12)
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2025 Kirkus Media LLC
http://www.kirkusreviews.com/
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"Heilig, Heidi: CINCINNATI LEE, CURSE BREAKER." Kirkus Reviews, 1 Feb. 2025. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A825128298/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=cc54fd96. Accessed 23 June 2025.
Cincinnati Lee, Curse Breakerby Heidi HeiligHarperCollins/Greenwillow. Mar. 2025. 304p. Tr $18.99. ISBN 9780063348363.COPY ISBNGr 4-6–Twelve-year-old Cincinnati Lee is a thief, but for a good reason. Her great-great-great grandfather, a famous archeologist, put a curse on the family through his looted goods and now, following his diary, Cincinnati must break it. Cin’s mom, who is Chinese and white, is a fundraiser for the Cosmopolitan Museum of New York, where Cincinnati spends much of her time with brilliant forger (and best friend) Felix. She discovers an evil villain is conspiring with a well-known collector to find the Spear of Destiny, an artifact with ultimate power to reverse her curse—or destroy the world! Cin’s new friend Parsley, a fashion-forward Black girl, becomes her willing (and sometimes unwilling) accomplice as she sneaks into art auctions, scales rooftops to warehouses, and finds her way to a houseboat in Paris to recover the spear and perhaps change her destiny. With a mix of reality, the supernatural, and unbelievable situations, this story makes an entertaining read. The first-person narration highlights Cin as an erudite tween trying to save her family and figure out friendships. Some references might go over the heads of the intended readership with their focus on the illegal artifact trade, referencing real museums and cases, such the Hobby Lobby scandal and the legendary Indiana Jones. These are explained in the author’s note, so unfamiliar topics could spark conversations.VERDICT An adventure heist that tries to emulate the excitement of Indiana Jones, while adroitly opening their eyes to the problematic issues of smuggling and looting ancient artifacts for tweens who like a rollicking story.Reviewed by Clare A. Dombrowski , Feb 28, 2025
A Puppeteer Gets Swept Up In Political Theater In 'Kingdom For A Stage'
October 12, 201910:00 AM ET
By
Caitlyn Paxson
A Kingdom for a Stage
A Kingdom for a Stage
By Heidi Heilig
Heidi Heilig is the kind of author who comes up with the kind of clever premises that make other writers wring their hands in envy. In her first book, The Girl from Everywhere, she asked: What if there was a boat that could sail through time? In her new series, which began last year with For a Muse of Fire, she turns from time travel to necromancy. Jetta is a shadow puppeteer who animates her puppets with the souls of dead animals. In the course of trying to protect her family and secure a treatment for her malheur (the term she uses for her bipolar disorder), she falls in with rebels set on overthrowing their country's colonizers, and finds herself in constant peril.
In A Kingdom for a Stage, we return to colonized Chakrana and pick up right where things left off: Jetta has traded her shadow puppet stage for a leading role in her country's troubled political theater. The ruling Acquitans are searching for her — they want her alive, so that they can use her powers to animate their flying war machines and stamp out the Chakran resistance once and for all.
All of that is bad enough, but Jetta has even more to worry about. Her father suffered devastating injuries from his time in the hands of Acquitan torturers, her brother is tormented by the acts he committed while serving in the Acquitan army (not to mention being resurrected from death by his necromancer sister), and Leo, the one person she's come to trust, has abandoned her because of who she is. As she struggles to make good choices for herself, her family, and her country, she keeps edging ever closer to the bad kind of necromancy — and power so great that it will inevitably be abused.
'A Kingdom for a Stage' is a true sequel, in that it rolls directly back into the story begun in 'For a Muse of Fire' without feeling much need to catch the reader up. It's a power move, and I am here for it.
A Kingdom for a Stage is a true sequel, in that it rolls directly back into the story begun in For a Muse of Fire without feeling much need to catch the reader up. It's a power move, and I am here for it. There's little worse than diving from one book in a series to the next and having to wade through three chapters of, "Well you see, person I shouldn't have to explain this to, when we last met our hero, he was being a great big hero in these four ways." That said, since it had been a year since I read For a Muse of Fire, there were a few moments where I had to stop and mull over my memories of it and try to piece together the exact implications of what was happening. This is a book that would most definitely benefit from a direct re-read of its predecessor before diving in.
Heilig tackles difficult issues very deftly in this series, including the horrors of colonialism and the struggles faced by someone with bipolar disorder. The depiction of Jetta's malheur feels deeply visceral and compassionate. Her relief at finding a treatment for her condition turns to anxiety as she wrestles with its side-effects, she fears that her illness is driving her loved ones away, and at times she almost embraces the malheur and the free-fall of emotions that it creates inside her. Heilig has spoken often about her own mental health journey, and I think that only someone with personal experience could have captured Jetta's challenges with such deep understanding.
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'Ship Beyond Time' Sails Through The Centuries
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Sequels are notoriously hard, and I have to admit that if asked to choose a favourite of the two books, I would have to give it to For a Muse of Fire. There was something so intimate about Jetta's gentle necromancy, her artistry, and her search for a better life for herself and her family. A Kingdom for a Stage is a different kind of book by necessity. Necromancy has lost its innocence, puppetry is used only for violence and subterfuge, and magic cures come at a terrible price. All of the horrors that Jetta faces are happening on a bigger, grander scale, and now it feels like the fate of an entire nation hinges on her choices.
As with all middle books, A Kingdom for a Stage exists in a state of liminality. It's no longer the eager beginning, full of new ideas and promise, nor are there any satisfying wrap-ups to be had at its conclusion. We leave Jetta and her cause in a more uncertain state than ever, providing the perfect set-up for an intense and rousing conclusion to a series with a stunning premise and really subtle handling of difficult topics. I eagerly anticipate the final installment.
Caitlyn Paxson is a writer and performer. She is a regular reviewer for NPR Books and Quill & Quire.
On This Unworthy Scaffold by Heidi Heilig
Published: 27th April 2021 | Publisher: Greenwillow Books | Source: Publisher
Heidi Heilig's Website
Jetta's home is spiraling into civil war. Le Trépas--the deadly necromancer--has used his blood magic to wrest control of the country, and Jetta has been without treatment for her malheur for weeks. Meanwhile, Jetta's love interest, brother, and friend are intent on infiltrating the palace to stop the Boy King and find Le Trépas to put an end to the unleashed chaos.
The sweeping conclusion to Heidi Heilig's ambitious trilogy takes us to new continents, introduces us to new gods, flings us into the middle of palace riots and political intrigue, and asks searching questions about power and corruption.
Acclaimed author Heidi Heilig creates a rich world inspired by Southeast Asian cultures and French colonialism. Told from Jetta's first-person point-of-view, as well as with chapters written as play scripts and ephemera such as songs, myths, and various forms of communication, On This Unworthy Scaffold is a satisfying finale to the epic fantasy trilogy. It will thrill readers who love Claire Legrand's Furyborn, Laini Taylor's Strange the Dreamer, and N. K. Jemisin's The Fifth Season. The StoryGraph
My other reviews of the Shadow Players Trilogy:
For a Muse of Fire (#Ad) | A Kingdom for a Stage
WARNING! I cannot review this book without spoiling the others in the series. Read no further if you're planning on reading this series and don't want it spoilt for you.
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Having loved the first two books in the Shadow Players Trilogy, I was really excited to read the final book, On This Unworthy Scaffold. Given the cliffhanger A Kingdom for a Stage ended on, I was expecting a hugely epic finalé, but sadly the the last book left a lot to be desired.
Jetta has been without the elixir that treats her malheur for quite a while, and it's effecting her. She's making rash decisions, taking risks, and putting herself in danger. It becomes clear quite quickly that Jetta's malheur needs to be treated, but the Tiger and the rebels are unable to wait. Action needs to be taken against Le Trépas, who has reanimated the bodies of Raik, the Boy King, and General Xavier Legard, using them as puppets to evict the Aquitans from Chakrana, and take control. It's decided that they will split up; Jetta will travel with Theodora to the lytheum mime to make the elixir she needs, while Cam, Akra, Leo Cheeky and Tia return to Nokor Khat to deal with Le Trépas.
I loved how the main force was divided in On This Unholy Scaffold. I was really intrigued by the different avenues the story took, and the creeping apprehension that something bad will happen while they were apart. In previous books, the scripted aspects of the ephemera usually gave us a glimpse into what the enemy was doing, a little foreshadowing of what was to come. But in On This Unworthy Scaffold, the scripted parts of the story were used to show us what was going on with Cam and Leo and the others, while Jetta and Theodora were searching for lytheum. Some major discoveries are made in this book that were amazing. Twists I wasn't expecting, paths the story took that I was really intrigued by. As I was reading, my excitement just built and built as the tension grew, and the various characters found themselves in more difficult circumstances. I loved the new characters we met, the new aspect of magic, the knowledge gained, the danger found in places not quite expected. I was so eager for the epic cliamx I knew was coming.
But it never did. And I absolutely hate to say it, because I'm such a huge fan of Heilig and her work, but I can't deny how stunned I was with how things turned out. In a number of different situations, full of danger that had me sitting on the edge of my seat, each time, the situation was resolved far too easily. It didn't take much for the tide to turn. The stakes were so high, but danger would be overcome quite quickly and simply. I can't explain further without spoiling the story, but it just felt too easy. And it's just so strange, because Heilig's The Girl From Everywhere duology ended so brilliantly. It's just such a shame. I was expecting something more, something bigger, something more climactic, but it just wasn't there.
Saying that, On This Unworthy Scaffold is a very emotional story. There was a certain moment that hit me quite hard and brought tears to my eyes. It was a twist I didn't see coming, and knocked me for six. I have loved the ephemera scattered throughout this series, it adds so much to the story. But it's really something in On This Unworthy Scaffold, and blew my mind. It was really, really beautiful.
But it sadly doesn't make up for how disappointed I was. But do read other reviews before deciding whether or not you'll read On This Unworthy Scaffold.
Thank you to Greenwillow Books via SparkPoint Studio for the eProof.