“Regardless of your background or identity, I hope you can see some part of your own humanity in her journey.”
In 2021, I was drafting an early version of Queen of Faces, and I was typing so much, so intensely, that I was stretching and pinching my nerves from shoulder to fingertip, giving me an injury in my hands called thoracic outlet syndrome. Recovery has taken years, and as of right now, I’m still not back to 100 percent. I may never reach that point.
All this for a book.
But I kept writing, learned to use voice-typing software, cut three hundred thousand words from this manuscript using dictation. I refused to give up on this book, because this story was burning a hole in my skull.
I conceived of this novel in 2017, when transgender rights appeared to be blooming in America and abroad. I envisioned this book as a part of that growth, a story about identity that could resonate in a universal way.
Instead, I am writing these words in 2025, amid a historic backlash to LGBTQ+ rights. Transgender people are losing access to healthcare, and the basic right to decide the fate of our bodies.
“Regardless of your background or identity, I hope you can see some part of your own humanity in her journey.”
The protagonist of this book, Anabelle Gage, finds herself in a similar place. In a world where the rich can swap bodies like clothes, she is trapped in a dying male form, the clock ticking down to her last breath. To earn the cash to escape it, she will fight as a mercenary for her nation’s elite magic school, battling a revolt in her city’s smog-choked underworld. Her survival will depend on powerful magic, a loyal crew of cutthroats, and every scrap of ingenuity she can muster. We begin with mortal desperation. Where we end is up to her.
On one level, Ana transforms her body in this novel. On another, she transforms her mind. She learns how to navigate the brutality and joy of a life beyond what she thought possible. She buries her old heroes and takes charge of her morality in an unraveling world. Metamorphosis, education, self-discovery. Regardless of your background or identity, I hope you can see some part of your own humanity in her journey.
And if you’re trans, and reading this, you’ve already endured more than I, or anyone could ever imagine. You’re a thousand faces in one. You’re a symphony. Don’t let them snuff out that fire in your skull. And never stop writing the next page.
Thank you very much for reading.
— Petra Lord
About the book
29 Jan 2026
An epic and unforgettable fantasy adventure from a phenomenal new voice, QUEEN OF FACES is like nothing you’ve ever read before.
Anabelle is trapped in a boy’s body, and in a year, it will kill her.
In the nation of Caimor, the wealthy buy and trade bodies like clothes. But Ana can only afford a grey, damaged male form, and by her seventeenth birthday, it’s already falling apart. As her extraordinary magical ability grows, but her body continues to fail her, she is left with only one choice: become an assassin for Paragon Academy, Caimor’s prestigious school of magic.
But rebellion brews in Caimor, and at its helm is Khaiovhe, the most infamous dark mage in history. As Ana steals, fights and kills for Paragon, and forms a tentative alliance – and maybe more – with the elusive Wes, she discovers secrets that transform her concept of hero and villain … while striving, above all, to become her truest self. And that might just be the most powerful thing of all.
A page-turning blockbuster, full of heart-pounding action, inventive magic, cinematic plot twists and emotional gut-punches: the perfect must-have new read for fans of SIX OF CROWS, THE ATLAS SIX and BABEL.