The Sorceress of Sky Serpents

a literary fantasy by Eden Robinson

A BOLD FANTASY INSPIRED BY THE INDIGENOUS CULTURE OF THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST, SET ON A DANGEROUS PLANET WHERE MONSTERS HAUNT THE SURVIVORS OF AN APOCALYPTIC SORCERERS’ WAR

As the daughter of the Guardian of the Eagle Clan and the granddaughter of its shaman, Yuala longs to become a warrior or a healer or, if all else fails, to make a strategic marriage to cement an alliance that will help protect her village of Winter Haven. But in a world where her mother can rain down fire on their enemies and other fighters can move objects with their minds, Yuala’s only gift is her ability to connect with creatures regarded as monsters: warlike Forest People, giant, flesh-eating octopuses, dog-sized cave worms and other abominations let in after warring sorcerers broke open the world.

Misfit Yuala's one recognized talent is for getting into trouble. But just as she is giving up on her dreams, her powerful grandfather decides that her strangeness means she is destined to become the next Clan shaman. With fear and hope in her heart, Yuala plunges into a grueling supernatural apprenticeship, thrilled to be on a useful path at last.

Meanwhile far to the south, a new chief of a rival nation has seized power and is on the hunt for the Sorceress of Sky Serpents, whose coming seers have foretold. As a battle brews on the shores of Winter Haven, something fiery builds in Yuala, too—but will she come into her power and save her clan before it’s too late?

PRAISE FOR SON OF A TRICKSTER

“A charmingly chaotic tale.”— THE TORONTO STAR

“Robinson has a gift for making disparate elements come together into a convincing narrative, breathing myth, lore and magic into otherwise harsh realities. The novel clips along with short, pointed sentences and lively scenes of Jared’s conundrum, building in raunchy crescendo as teen anger and spirit worlds collide.”— MACLEAN'S MAGAZINE

“This is an engaging novel whose characters come fully to life.”— THE VANCOUVER SUN

“Son of a Trickster is her best work. It’s heartbreaking, it’s hilarious, it’s subversive, it’s harsh, it’s brutal, and so deeply tender.” —MIRIAM TOEWS

“Eden Robinson is a masterful storyteller. Shimmering with deft prose, unforgettable characters, and haunting truths, Son of a Trickster reminds us that sometimes the surest way to solid ground is through believing in magic.”— AMI MCKAY, author of The Birth House, The Virgin Cure and The Witches of New York

“Son of a Trickster is filled with darkness and squalor and obscenity. And yet, startlingly, it brings the reader to a place of wonder and mystery and magic. It is a story of a boy born into a violent history. It is a story of a boy born into a magnificent culture. Robinson bravely reconciles these oppositions in a story that is equal parts irreverent humour and astute wisdom.”— Heather O’Neill, author of Lullabies for Little Criminals, The Girl Who Was Saturday Night, and Daydreams of Angels

“Eden Robinson is a writer with a magical touch. Crisp prose, taut dialogue, and a cast of maniacal characters you sure as hell don't want living next door.”— THOMAS KING, author of The Back of the Turtle

“Eden Robinson is more than funny, more than intelligent, more than a novelist—she’s an enchanter. Son of a Trickster creates a terrifically believable teenage character who lives both on the rez and in a witchy soup of blood, sex and magic. Harry Potter goes to reform school. Full of sparks, full of pain, full of joy.”— Alix Hawley, author of All True Not a Lie in It

“If Raven and Trickster got a show on Netflix, no one could write it but Eden Robinson. Talking ravens, party drugs, deadbeat dads, murderous otters, Doctor Who—nobody brings together pop culture, indigenous culture and myth with more ferocity and humour. Son of a Trickster is my favourite book this year.”
— Annabel Lyon, author of The Sweet Girl and The Golden Mean

“Son of a Trickster is a unique, genuinely surprising novel from one of Canada’s finest writers, a blend of hardscrabble coming-of-age story with mythic fiction at its most powerfully subversive. It’s exactly as slippery as a trickster tale should be, changing direction and shape even as you convince yourself you know what’s going on, and what will likely happen next.… This is Robinson at her best.”
—  THE NATIONAL POST

Read an excerpt
See all author's titles
The Career of Eden Robinson

85,000 words
Manuscript now available

RIGHTS SOLD
Canada: Random House (October 2026)

ABOUT EDEN ROBINSON

Eden Robinson is the author of the bestselling Trickster trilogy, starting with Son of a Trickster (2017), a finalist for the Scotiabank Giller Prize and a CBC Canada Reads contender. The sequel Trickster Drift (2018) won the Ethel Wilson BC Book Prize for Fiction. The third volume, Return of the Trickster, was called “a gift” by the Vancouver Sun and “funny, tender, and emotionally true” by the Toronto Star. But it is her first novel, Monkey Beach (2000), winner of the Ethel Wilson BC Book Prize and a finalist for the Giller Prize and the Governor General’s Award, that is a perennial bestseller and is required reading in schools and universities; 100,000 copies are in print in Canada. Recently Book Riot listed Monkey Beach as one of 22 must-read books by indigenous authors.

In 2017 Eden won the $50,000 Writers Trust of Canada Fellowship. She received an honorary doctorate from the University of British Columbia in 2018. She served on the five-member Scotiabank Giller Prize jury in 2020. In 2022 she was awarded the Blue Metropolis First Peoples’ Literary Prize in Montreal. Currently she is serving on the jury for the Carol Shields Literary Prize for Fiction. A member of the Haisla and Heiltsuk First Nations, she lives in Kitimat, in northern British Columbia near Alaska.

Eden Robinson receiving the 2024 Indspire award for Indigenous Excellence in the Arts