Lightsey’s debut fantasy novel follows a teenager, seemingly lost in time, who may be destined to bring peace to hostile nations.

In the modern era, Helena, a 19-year-old witch and the Russian president’s daughter, is held captive by a Georgian army deserter on a boat at sea. She manages to escape her abductor’s clutches, only to wind up overboard and unconscious. When she comes to, she’s safely inside Sarkel Fortress in the year 1361, which is assuredly not the year Helena is from… though her memories are oddly jumbled. The people she encounters there believe that Helena is the new Essenoi, the only one who can defeat Icelos—a nightmare god whose destructive path threatens to incite war between Russia and Georgia. This god’s lair lies within a “phantom” fortress that only appears at a certain time and place. Helena has a shot at finding it with the help of eccentric pickpockets Dogett and Catiana, who have allegedly been there. Surely, she can conjure up a way to destroy the god of nightmares, especially with her book smarts and the new knowledge she unexpectedly picks up in the mid-14th century. Lightsey’s novel overflows with references to classic literature and religious texts, from Shakespeare’s works to the ancient I Ching. The determinedly convoluted plot repeatedly jolts Helena, who’s surprised when discovering she can, for example, read myriad languages. The narrative includes such reliably entertaining genre trademarks as a well-defined quest and fantastical creatures like hobgoblins and pixies. Helena is an appealing, intuitive hero, while her comrades, Dogett and Catiana, deliver abundant humor courtesy of their perpetual bickering and unforgettable insults (“Caluminous, full-gorged measle!”). The sublime ending, though open to interpretation, provides readers with welcome illumination.

A sensational cast fuels this exuberant tale that baffles as often as it charms.