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BookslgbtqInk Blood Sister Scribe
Cover of Ink Blood Sister Scribe by Emma Törzs

Ink Blood Sister Scribe,

by Emma Törzs

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Rating4.0/ 5
Ratings154
Pages416
Reading Hours9h
Published2023
LanguageEnglish

§Synopsis

01

In this spellbinding debut novel, two estranged half-sisters tasked with guarding their family’s library of magical books must work together to unravel a deadly secret at the heart of their collection—a tale of familial loyalty and betrayal, and the pursuit of magic and power.

For generations, the Kalotay family has guarded a collection of ancient and rare books. Books that let a person walk through walls or manipulate the elements—books of magic that half-sisters Joanna and Esther have been raised to revere and protect.

All magic comes with a price, though, and for years the sisters have been separated. Esther has fled to a remote base in Antarctica to escape the fate that killed her own mother, and Joanna’s isolated herself in their family home in Vermont, devoting her life to the study of these cherished volumes. But after their father dies suddenly while reading a book Joanna has never seen before, the sisters must reunite to preserve their family legacy. In the process, they’ll uncover a world of magic far bigger and more dangerous than they ever imagined, and all the secrets their parents kept hidden; secrets that span centuries, continents, and even other libraries . . .

In the great tradition of Ninth House, The Magicians, and Practical Magic, this is a suspenseful and richly atmospheric novel that draws readers into a vast world filled with mystery and magic, romance, and intrigue—and marks the debut of an extraordinary new voice in speculative fiction.

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§Genres
lgbtq1
§Content Warnings
§Moods
adventurous1challenging1emotional1funny1hopeful1inspiring1mysterious1
§Tags
#confinement1#diverse characters1#grief1#kidnapping1#lgbtq+1#loveable characters1

§About the Author

Emma Törzs

1 books in catalog

Contemporary speculative fiction gained a compelling exploration of blood magic and hidden libraries with the publication of Ink Blood Sister Scribe, a novel following two estranged half-sisters tasked with guarding an inherited collection of spellbooks. Author Emma Törzs made her novelistic debut with this work after years of publishing acclaimed short fiction, delivering a story that combines domestic intrigue with dark fantasy elements.

Career & Background

Born on January 8, 1987, Emma Törzs earned her Master of Fine Arts in Fiction from the University of Montana, where she taught writing and served as an art director for the literary journal CutBank. Her short stories appeared in numerous publications, including Pank, Joyland, Redivider, Fringe Magazine, and the Cincinnati Review. Her short fiction won the O. Henry Prize in 2015 and the World Fantasy Award for Short Fiction in 2019, followed by a National Endowment for the Arts fellowship in prose in 2020.

Törzs connected with her literary agent through a short story published in 2013 and spent five years writing Ink Blood Sister Scribe after previously completing an unpublished literary realism manuscript. Based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, she works as a university professor and translator. Ink Blood Sister Scribe was released in 2023, named a finalist for the Minnesota Book Award in Genre Fiction, and optioned for screen adaptation by Amazon MGM Studios.

Writing Style & Themes

Törzs blends literary characterization with speculative tropes, focusing on complex family dynamics, secrecy, and the physical price of magic. Her narratives emphasize psychological realism alongside supernatural mechanics, grounded by vivid settings and close focus on non-traditional protagonist relationships, such as half-sisters separated by physical distance and unspoken histories.

Major Works

  • Ink Blood Sister Scribe — Published in 2023, this debut fantasy novel centers on two estranged half-sisters guarding a legacy of secret spellbooks bound in blood. The novel was optioned by Amazon MGM Studios and was a Minnesota Book Award finalist in Genre Fiction.

§Editions

Cover of Ink Blood Sister Scribe

Ink Blood Sister Scribe

engHardcover416 pgs
William Morrow20239780063253469
§Genres
lgbtq1
§Content Warnings
§Moods
adventurous1challenging1emotional1funny1hopeful1inspiring1mysterious1
§Tags
#confinement1#diverse characters1#grief1#kidnapping1#lgbtq+1#loveable characters1

Metadata

ISBN-139780063253469
ISBN-100063253461

Editions and availability

Find Ink Blood Sister Scribe Emma Törzs in PDF, EPUB, ebook, audiobook, print, or library editions.

Bookshop.orgGoogle Play BooksBarnes & NobleOpen Library

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