The Fire Sermon

The Fire Sermon
Francesca Haig

BORN AS TWINSRAISED AS ENEMIESBOUND BY DEATHCass is born a few minutes after her brother, Zach. Both infants are perfect, but only one is a blessing; only one is an Alpha.The other child must be cast out. But with no discernible difference, other than their genders, their parents cannot tell which baby is tainted.Perfect twins. So rare, they are almost a myth. But sooner or later the Omega will slip up. It will eventually show its true self. The polluted cannot help themselves.Then its face can be branded. Then it can be sent away.

Copyright (#ulink_7803e6f6-927d-5386-9edf-2678c2325cc0)

HarperVoyager

An imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd

1 London Bridge Street

London SE1 9GF

www.harpervoyagerbooks.co.uk (http://www.harpervoyagerbooks.co.uk)

First published in Great Britain by HarperVoyager 2015

Copyright © De Tores Ltd 2015

Cover layout design © HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd 2015

Cover illustration and title typography created by Alexandra Allden

Other cover images © Shutterstock.com (http://Shutterstock.com) (additional figure and tree features)

Francesca Haig asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.

A catalogue copy of this book is available from the British Library.

This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins.

Source ISBN: 9780007563050

Ebook Edition © February 2015 ISBN: 9780007563074

Version: 2016-03-10

Praise for Francesca Haig (#ulink_1758d154-1ad8-5304-9764-1dd57c739c04)

‘This terrific set-up spools out into a high-tension tale of mistrust and dependency, injustice and optimism, told with poetic intensity’

Daily Mail

‘Haig’s post-apocalyptic world is colourfully fleshed out, and the conclusion asks us to consider who, really, is the Other’

Washington Post

‘It holds a mirror up to our obsession with perfection’

Guardian

‘Words like “masterpiece” and “instant classic” are cliché, but in the case of Francesca Haig’s astounding The Fire Sermon, they’re the only words to use. It’s a breath-taking, passionate, absolutely sensational work of imagination, perfectly structured, beautifully written, populated with fabulous characters and packed with intrigue, violence, compassion and underlined by a very important human message that is always present without ever becoming homily. The Fire Sermon is completely without equal – it leaves Hunger Games, Divergent, Twilight blah blah-yawn twitching in the dust’

Starburst Magazine

‘A hell of a ride. I would recommend it to anyone I can, regardless of age’

JAMES OSWALD

‘This book is a thought-provoking whirlwind of a story, with a fab lead character, grisly politics and brave adventure. I loved it!’

JESSIE BURTON

Dedication (#ulink_ef3b35af-9572-5eab-b4e2-7f277eb9e30c)

This book is dedicated, with love and admiration, to my brother, Peter, and my sister, Clara. Knowing how much they mean to me, it should come as no surprise that my first novel is about siblings.

Contents

Cover (#ufa3f2766-8a37-5fa7-8dea-9dff6598c34a)

Title Page (#u1ae988c2-340b-5df8-81af-d74597cc5b0f)

Copyright (#u34a61941-e9f6-505e-928e-b10f705ae6b3)

Praise (#ud352f81d-7b00-51c4-986a-7481487a9d99)

Dedication (#uc922ecd6-8439-5f8b-adeb-69f0852c4459)

Chapter 1 (#u7472a1d7-6583-5bcf-a5e3-d6d4e9d3aaf7)

Chapter 2 (#u56190231-442e-5921-b479-75ca612cdb33)

Chapter 3 (#uc1a991df-4a75-505a-b1b0-c7adbe05df30)

Chapter 4 (#uf2244046-8f44-5cfd-aabe-978087533640)

Chapter 5 (#u301adb32-47bf-5ec8-b18c-5f88e370c454)

Chapter 6 (#u4bf8ff28-acd1-5f94-bd8e-a1f9e38cba3b)

Chapter 7 (#ua8c7f2f5-6a6c-52fb-aa3a-9f6d63cac298)

Chapter 8 (#ub6b4ac34-b323-50d5-a6ae-67708f34bda9)

Chapter 9 (#litres_trial_promo)