Accident of Stars

Meadows’s gloriously dramatic and intricately detailed first novel for adults features a trio of young women in a fascinating fantasy setting. A strange Englishwoman named Gwen Vere defends Australian teen Saffron Coulter from a bully and then steps through a portal between Sydney and the magical realm of Kena. Saffron follows but becomes separated from Gwen upon entering the city of Karavos where Saffron’s light skin marks her as a foreigner. Saffron is seized by the city’s senior female ruler Vex’Mara Kadeja and then rescued by Zechalia a girl even younger than she. Shortly thereafter the junior female ruler Cuivexa Iviyat escapes the palace of Kadeja and senior male ruler Vex Leoden. Exiles from another land Leoden’s supposedly murdered rival and mysterious holy storytellers all have roles to play in the gradually unfolding story but Saffron Zechalia and Iviyat—three brave uncertain determined girls—are the ones who will ultimately determine the fate of the realm. Meadows (Solace and Grief) imagines several rich and unusual cultures for her characters to move within and leaves the door open for sequels. Fantasy readers who appreciate strong characters and excellent worldbuilding will immerse themselves in this tale. Agent: Jennie Goloboy Red Sofa Literary. (Aug.)" Publishers Weekly Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved."

Book I of the Manifold Worlds from Hugo-nominated author Foz Meadows.
When Saffron Coulter stumbles through a hole in reality, she finds herself trapped in Kena, a magical realm on the brink of civil war.
There, her fate becomes intertwined with that of three very different women: Zech, the fast-thinking acolyte of a cunning, powerful exile; Viya, the spoiled, runaway consort of the empire-building ruler, Vex Leoden; and Gwen, an Earth-born worldwalker whose greatest regret is putting Leoden on the throne. But Leoden has allies, too, chief among them the Vex'Mara Kadeja, a dangerous ex-priestess who shares his dreams of conquest.
Pursued by Leoden and aided by the Shavaktiin, a secretive order of storytellers and mystics, the rebels flee to Veksh, a neighboring matriarchy ruled by the fearsome Council of Queens. Saffron is out of her world and out of her depth, but the further she travels, the more she finds herself bound to her friends with ties of blood and magic.
Can one girl - an accidental worldwalker - really be the key to saving Kena? Or will she just die trying?
File Under Fantasy A Rough Start - Trial of Queens - First Kill - Infinite Worlds]