House of Sky and Breath characters

Appears from the start

Half human and half Fae, and now publicly known as Starborn after the battle that saved Crescent City. She still works at Griffin Antiquities, still carries the Horn of Luna in the ink down her back, and is living with Hunt Athalar. The title she never wanted has bought her a seat at Fae tables she despises and the steady attention of everyone who would like to know what she can actually do.

Appears from the start

The angel once called the Umbra Mortis, free for the first time in two centuries although the halo tattoo remains on his brow. He flies with the 33rd under Isaiah Tiberian, lives with Bryce, and is credited across Midgard with the deaths of two Archangels, something the Asteri have not forgotten. He wants an ordinary life and does not expect to be allowed one.

Appears from the start

Crown Prince of the Valbaran Fae and Bryce's half-brother, bearer of the Starsword. Since the events of the previous book he has been pulled into the orbit of the human rebellion, taking instructions mind to mind from an anonymous agent who uses the code name Daybright and whose real identity he is forbidden to try to learn.

Appears from the start

A wolf shifter with no pack, living on Bryce and Hunt's couch after being cast out by the wolves. He has lost the place he was raised for and is quietly consumed by the question of what became of his brother Connor's soul after the massacre.

Appears from the start

Captain of Intelligence for the River Queen, whose court lies beneath the Istros. Charming and evasive, he serves a monarch who does not accept refusals, and he is sent to find a missing human boy before anyone else can.

Appears from the start

A young human working for Ophion, the network fighting the Asteri's empire, and a thunderbird: a rare wielder of lightning that the empire hunts on sight. She is taken by imperial forces after infiltrating a labor camp to reach her younger brother.

Also known as the Hind

First appears in chapter 4

Known across Midgard as the Hind, a deer shifter who serves the Asteri as spymaster and chief interrogator. She has broken more rebel cells than anyone alive, travels with the empire's worst soldiers, and her name is a byword for how far the empire's reach extends.

Also known as the Hammer

First appears in chapter 4

An angel of the imperial guard called the Hammer, the most notorious soldier in the Asteri's service. After Sandriel's death he attached himself to the Hind, and he has a long record of atrocities carried out on the empire's behalf.

First appears in chapter 4

The Archangel newly installed as Governor of Valbara in Micah's place. Mild, conciliatory, and apparently uninterested in cruelty, she arrives intending to run the territory differently from her predecessor, and comes with orders from the Asteri concerning her own marriage.

First appears in chapter 8

Prince of Avallen, the mist-shrouded Fae island across the sea, and a warrior whose gift is teleporting. Bryce's father betroths her to him without her consent, an arrangement neither of them wants. Grieving and single-minded, he has his own reasons for coming to Crescent City.

First appears in chapter 8

Sofie's younger brother, a human boy held for years in an imperial labor camp and missing since his sister's capture. Ophion, the empire, and half the powers of Crescent City are all looking for him, each convinced he is worth a great deal.

Also known as the Helhound

First appears in chapter 8

An angel called the Helhound, formerly of Sandriel's guard and now posted to Crescent City's legion. He tracks by scent, keeps his own counsel, and shadows Bryce and Hunt more closely than his duties account for.

First appears in chapter 8

The young Witch-Queen of Valbara, a trained healer who has been quietly working as a medwitch in the city. The Asteri have arranged her marriage to the new Governor, and she accepts it with the composure of someone long accustomed to having her life decided for her.

First appears in chapter 8

A human assassin and one of Bryce's oldest friends, with contacts on both sides of the war and a policy of explaining nothing. She works for clients Bryce has learned not to ask about.

First appears in chapter 20

The Bright Hand of the Asteri, spokesman for the immortal rulers who govern Midgard from the Eternal City. He wears the body of an adolescent boy, speaks with unhurried courtesy, and treats the affairs of an entire world as a long-running arithmetic problem.

First appears in chapter 20

Commander of Ophion's Lightfall squadron, a human rebel officer who regards Vanir of every kind as targets to be eliminated. Her methods unsettle her own side as much as the enemy.

First appears in chapter 24

The ruler of the Meat Market, a shifter who deals in fights, drugs and information and honors a contract precisely as written. Very little moves through the city's underside without her knowledge.

First appears in chapter 24

One of the seven Princes of Hel, master of the Chasm, who has known Bryce since she was a child. He appears when he chooses, answers only the questions that suit him, and clearly wants something from her bloodline.