LIONESS

Like many girls her age, Leona Lennox wants to be a superhero. Sadly, as far as career prospects go, becoming a costumed adventurer was unlikely to say the least. In a world where alien invasions, theatrical plots by super-villains, and mind control reality shows are a simple fact of everyday life, she has resigned herself to the worthy (yet hardly exciting) calling of joining a superheroes support staff. All that changes when after a traumatic encounter she discovers that she has gifts of her own. As she learns to control her newfound powers she is pulled into a strange, wonderful, terrifying new world involving hidden Elven cities, a decades-long quest for vengeance, and a 9ft tall Glaswegian with the head of an African elephant. As she learns more about the world and herself in the process, Leona comes to realise that sometimes the things that we wish for most of all are not even slightly what they appear to be. While initially ecstatic at her new gifts, she soon discovers a darker side to them, and herself. A far cry from the black and white view she always had of costumed heroism. Lioness is a book that blends the YA and Superhero genre’s to create something fresh and exciting yet warmly familiar. Playing with traditional comic book tropes and clichés with a subversive, darkly comedic spirit, wrapped up in a gripping, character-driven mystery plot in the unique setting of London’s historic East End.