A Kingdom of Shadows

Emily Bain Murphy

Mar 2026 · Penguin Random House Audio · Narrated by Jon Eric Preston

About this audiobook

A band of misfits seek to fight the darkness that's slowly overcoming their kingdom—the start of a grand adventure series in the tradition of The Chronicles of Narnia and the Wingfeather Saga.

Light in the Kingdom of Wildfel is dying. The shadows have been overtaking the light ever since The Great Betrayal. Now, the sun shines increasingly dimmer, it takes more firewood to brighten a room, and the world is growing more desperate and dangerous by the day.

Twelve-year-old orphan Finn survives in this world by being a thief, along with his best friend Adrion and younger sister Lydia. When the three meet a mysterious stranger who claims to know of a lake of light, they set off on an adventure across the kingdom. They discover that Wildfel is a place of great danger and great beauty, where the mist can steal your most precious memories, starlight gathers in waterfalls, spiders spin shimmering webs of glass as deadly as they are dazzling. If they can find this mythical lake of light, it could change the course of their lives, and the kingdom itself.

There are also secrets hiding in the darkness that could change Finn’s very understanding of everything he knows to be true, even about himself—but only if he's brave enough to step into the light.

About the author

Emily Bain Murphy is the author of two young adult fantasies: The Disappearances, which was a Bank Street Best Children’s Book of the Year, an ALAN Pick, and was shortlisted for the Waterstones’ Children’s Book Prize; and Splinters of Scarlet, which received multiple starred reviews and was nominated for the Mark Twain Readers Award. She is also the author of two historical mysteries for adults, Enchanted Hill and The Ivory City. A Kingdom of Shadows is Emily's middle grade debut.