The Hero's Equinox
(2025)(The third book in the TJ Young & The Orishas series)
A novel by Antoine Bandele
How do you break a god out of a cosmic prison?
You bring a crew and a whole lot of magic.
TJ Young never asked to be a hero. He’d much rather hang out with his friends, go to school, and maybe finally work up the courage to tell his best friend Manny how he feels. But life as a sixteen-year-old diviner doesn’t come with a handbook.After last year’s disaster—tidal waves, fallen skyscrapers, and the scars he’ll carry forever—TJ just wants a break. But the chaos he helped unleash has caught the attention of the Court of All, a council of gods from across the realms. They’ve accused TJ and Shango of causing the death of the Norse god Thor. But there’s no way. Besides the Orishas, TJ’s never met another deity.
Worse, the Court of All wants to deplete the world of Shango’s magical essense, leaving his divine children without a Lord of Lightning.
Now, TJ has no choice but to step up. With a heist to pull off and the fate of the divinerkind’s Ashe on the line, he gathers a crew of new and old allies—including the terrifying new headmistress and a sharp-shooting Orisha. But as TJ navigates the Frost Realm and even the dreams of gods, he realizes that saving Shango—and himself—might come at a price too high to pay.
Can TJ pull off the rescue of a lifetime, or will he and his friends be trapped in a prison where no mortal—or god—has ever escaped?