For a Muse of Fire

Cover for For a Muse of Fire
Jetta, a young woman with the ability to harness spirits of the dead, goes up against a colonial empire. A powerful portrayal of PTSD and bipolar disorder.

For a Muse of Fire

A young woman with a dangerous power she barely understands. A smuggler with secrets of his own. A country torn between a merciless colonial army, a terrifying tyrant, and a feared rebel leader.

The first book in a new trilogy from the acclaimed Heidi Heilig blends traditional storytelling with ephemera for a lush, page-turning tale of escape and rebellion. For a Muse of Fire will captivate fans of Sabaa Tahir, Leigh Bardugo, and Renée Ahdieh.

Jetta’s family is famed as the most talented troupe of shadow players in the land. With Jetta behind the scrim, their puppets seem to move without string or stick — a trade secret, they say. In truth, Jetta can see the souls of the recently departed and bind them to the puppets with her blood. But the old ways are forbidden ever since the colonial army conquered their country, so Jetta must never show, never tell. Her skill and fame are her family’s way to earn a spot aboard the royal ship to Aquitan, where shadow plays are the latest rage, and where rumor has it the Mad King has a spring that cures his ills. Because seeing spirits is not the only thing that plagues Jetta. But as rebellion seethes and as Jetta meets a young smuggler, she will face truths and decisions that she never imagined — and safety will never seem so far away.

Heidi Heilig creates a vivid, rich world inspired by Asian cultures and French colonialism. Her characters are equally complex and nuanced, including the bipolar heroine. Told from Jetta’s first-person point-of-view, as well as chapters written as play scripts and ephemera such as telegrams and letters, For a Muse of Fire is an engrossing journey that weaves magic, simmering romance, and the deep bonds of family with the high stakes of epic adventure.

    • mental illness (bipolar)
    • blood use in magic
    • gun violence
    • war
    • colonialism
    • racism
    • descriptions of dead bodies
    • mention of reproductive coercion
    • mentions of torture
    • mention of suicide

Practical information

Author: Heidi Heilig
Publisher: HarperCollins (Greenwillow)
Publication year: 2018
ISBN: 9780062380814
Age category: young adult
Disabilities portrayed: bipolar disorder, mental illness
Genre: fantasy

Accessible formats


audiobook available

Author

Heidi Heilig

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 sons. They do not own a cat.

[What I want readers to take away from For a Muse of Fire is] to have a great adventure and powerful emotions and a few deep questions that they can ponder later, but I want that from all my work! So on a more specific level, I want people to understand the varied impacts of colonialism and to sympathize with and root for a character who has bipolar disorder in a high fantasy that is not about mental illness.
(YA Sh3lf, October 2018)