Daughter of Smoke and Bone
| Company type | Novel |
|---|---|
| Industry | Fantasy literature |
| Founded | September 2011 |
| Founder | Laini Taylor |
| Products | Fantasy novel |
| Parent | Hachette Book Group / Little, Brown and Company |
Daughter of Smoke and Bone is a fantasy novel authored by Laini Taylor and published in September 2011 through Hachette Book Group, a division of Little, Brown and Company. The narrative follows Karou, a seventeen-year-old art student residing in Prague, who was brought up by chimaera—beings that possess both human and animal characteristics. These chimaera trade teeth for wishes and send Karou on errands to gather them, though she initially lacks full understanding of their significance or the strict regulations governing these tasks. On one such journey, Karou meets Akiva, a seraph who senses a connection with her. The book garnered significant praise from critics, including The New York Times, and the film rights were secured by Universal Pictures.
This novel is the opening volume in a trilogy. Its sequel, Days of Blood and Starlight, debuted on 6 November 2012, followed by the final installment, Dreams of Gods and Monsters, published on 8 April 2014.
Plot summary
Karou is a seventeen-year-old art student living in Prague, juggling her education and social interactions while deliberately avoiding her former boyfriend Kazimir. She was raised by four chimaera who reside in a workshop located on a trans-dimensional plane bridging the human realm and Eretz, their homeland. This workshop is managed by Brimstone, who acts as her guardian.
Brimstone assigns Karou the task of collecting human and animal teeth from the mortal world, which he utilizes for undisclosed objectives, compensating her with magical trinkets that grant wishes. Although wary of this perilous work involving illicit traders and grave robbers, Karou complies with reluctance. She travels back through portal doors connecting various global locations and notices one door marked with a black handprint scorch.
These mysterious marks appear worldwide and are left by Akiva, an angelic seraph, along with his siblings Liraz and Hazael, who are engaged in a conflict against the chimaera in Eretz. Upon returning for another assignment, Karou senses that the chimaera fear she may abandon them. Unwilling to leave her surrogate family, she journeys to Morocco to procure teeth from Izil, an elderly graverobber cursed by an angel named Razgut. Izil discloses that Brimstone once sought baby teeth specifically.
Razgut contacts Akiva, who has been monitoring Karou closely and attacks her. She narrowly escapes through a portal back to the workshop. Driven by curiosity about her origins, Karou ventures into Eretz but is captured by Brimstone and brought back to Prague; subsequently, the portal entrance is sealed. Meanwhile, seraph black handprints destroy all other portals leading to the workshop.
Determined to reunite with her family, Karou forcibly takes trinkets from dealers and uses one wish to gain the ability to fly. In Marrakech, she strikes a deal with Razgut for passage into Eretz. After briefly returning to Prague for Zuzana's puppet performance, she is pursued again by Akiva. Following an aerial battle in which she defeats him, Karou questions Akiva about Eretz and the ongoing war between their peoples, leading to a fragile alliance. Akiva recognizes the wishbone necklace Karou wears—the final connection to her chimaera family—and reveals that he knows her true identity.
Despite opposition from his siblings who desire Karou's death, Akiva openly challenges them by exposing angels to humans and ensures Karou’s safety by sending her away. Flashbacks disclose that Brimstone’s enterprise involved using collected teeth to fabricate new bodies that allowed fallen chimaera soldiers to be resurrected indefinitely. "Karou" is actually the human incarnation of Madrigal Kirin, a chimaera who once saved Akiva during battle; they fell in love but she was executed for their forbidden relationship. To restore Karou’s memories, Akiva breaks her necklace but must also inform her that his attempts to end the conflict destroyed Brimstone’s operation and resulted in the death of her chimaera family.
Critical reception
The New York Times characterized Daughter of Smoke and Bone as an "emotionally gripping romantic fantasy" featuring prose that "halts your breath before reigniting it." While the reviewer expressed some frustration that the book serves as the opening installment in a series, she commended the novel itself and showed enthusiasm for subsequent volumes.
Similarly, Kirkus Reviews offered a favorable critique, acknowledging that although the story "relies on significant plot devices," its elevated diction and clever dialogue contribute to a "delightful" beginning for the series.
The book was shortlisted for the 2011 Andre Norton Award.
Film adaptation
Film rights to Daughter of Smoke and Bone were secured by Universal Pictures. In December 2012, producer Joe Roth was confirmed to be involved, with Stuart Beattie assigned as the screenwriter and Michael Gracey named as director in later announcements. Despite these developments, no film has been released as of 2024.