Book 1 of The Ellderet Series, The Deadbringer 
It started slow for me. I thought it was just another sci-fi/fantasy novel geared towards Young Adult. But, as each chapter progress and I got to know Kira better plus all the supporting cast, it became evident that author E.M. Markoff is building a very complex world with a complex magic system!
A magic based on blood and a new take on the walking dead which are not zombies, different races that sometimes coexist peacefully but more often than not are at war with each other. A little bit of mystery which is slowly revealed the way you will peel off an onion! The world of The Deadbringer
I won’t write a synopsis. The Description below already does it beautifully. If I add anything more, it will be a spoiler. Let me just say that Kira Vidal is not your typical 15-year-old boy. And “The Deadbringer
What “The Deadbringer
“The Deadbringer (The Ellderet Series)
In the aftermath of the Purging, the Deadbringers are no more. The Ascendancy has positioned itself as the land’s dominant power by exploiting the people’s fear of the Deadbringers’ innate abilities to summon souls and reanimate the dead. Yet its hold is not complete, for in the North the Bastion stands in the way of the Ascendancy and its iron-willed elite soldiers, the Sanctifiers.
But, somehow, a single Deadbringer has managed to survive. Kira Vidal, a boy of fifteen, has remained hidden, living peacefully with his uncle in the northern city of Opulancae under the Bastion’s protection. But it seems their luck is at an end when rumors begin to spread, and a strange man shows up at their door, seeking the forbidden services of a Deadbringer.
Aware of the dangers should word of his nature reach the Ascendancy, Kira makes a promise to himself to protect his beloved uncle at all costs, even if it means pursuing the limits of his powers … and learning painful truths.
