Beyond

by Jason Chabot

The fate of a kingdom lies with two people fighting against tyranny—and for each other—in this YA fantasy adventure series. 

Elia has uncovered many truths about the lands of Above and Below, having walked both worlds. In Above, she labored for the monarchy like the rest of her family until agents against the crown thrust her into a conspiracy that sent her tumbling off her floating island home. In Below—a land she believed was populated by monsters—Elia befriended Hokk, who gave her a tour of the desolate landscape and ruined cities where people struggled to survive. 

Carrying documents that threaten the Twin Emperors regime, Elia has been pursued across both realms by Imperial Guards and conspirators desperate to retrieve them. She has learned they contain a secret her own family has been hiding—a secret that changes everything she ever believed. Now, Elia doesn't know who she can trust, putting all of her faith in Hokk as they're caught between militant soldiers and revolutionary zealots fighting for the future of a kingdom.

399 pages, Kindle Edition

Expected publication February 17, 2026

About the author

I live in Vancouver, British Columbia, but grew up in the rural outskirts of a city called Chilliwack – a Stó:lō First Nations word meaning “quieter water up the river” – where our home was built beside a gurgling creek and surrounded by forests. With no neighbors in sight and only one channel on TV, I had plenty of time to invest in my imagination.

Looking back, the seed for The Broken Sky Chronicles was first planted as a teenager when I worked at a tree nursery that supplied saplings to reforestation programs. I didn’t think a summer job could get any worse – the burning sunshine, the dirt, my aching back, the relentless little flies, always biting. I used to gaze up to the mountain peaks poking above a halo of clouds and wish I could somehow, miraculously, be transported to their alpine meadows, to relax for hours while watching everyone else slave away, far below, in the afternoon heat. “Above” always seemed like the ideal place to be, although I now suspect the bugs would have been larger and definitely more ravenous.

Many other elements of The Broken Sky Chronicles were inspired by places and moments in my life. Growing up on the West Coast, I have always been captivated by nature, whether by our storms, our oceans, or our sunsets. In Vancouver, we are always warned that the Juan de Fuca fault line is long overdue for a horrendous earthquake – so be prepared! And during an amazing trip to Egypt, I was surprised many times to see plastic trash everywhere, half-buried in the sand dunes or floating high in the air, caught in the currents where clouds should be drifting instead.

I chose to write a fantasy adventure novel for young adults because I was intrigued by all these natural elements and how they might affect the lives of two teenagers when their physical worlds collide. While Elia has been enslaved by class and drudgery, Hokk lives in almost complete isolation, and I have enjoyed exploring how each character discovers unexpected strength to survive epic challenges, yet at the same time questioning their perception of reality.

But of course, I suppose Hokk and Elia could have had it worse. They could have worked in a tree nursery!