Silverborn: The Mystery of Morrigan Crow

Jessia Townsend is an Australian-based writer with experience as a copywriter and editor for a wildlife magazine aimed at children. Her debut novel was the first in her middle-grade fantasy series, titled Nevermoor: The Trials of Morrigan Crow (2017). The book became a New York Times bestseller in the US and was a #1 Kids’ Indie Next pick. Townsend has shared in interviews that the idea for the world came to her when she was a student (Dumpleton, Elise. “Q&A: Jessica Townsend, Author of ‘Silverborn: The Mystery of Morrigan Crow.’” The Nerd Daily, 10 May 2025). The series is a projected nine books, of which Silverborn is the fourth installment.

The series uses a popular fantasy premise for middle grade and young adult readers, that of the magical organization or school that brings together a gifted if oddball assortment of characters and gives them a mission—usually saving their community or the world as they know it. The magical school became a popular premise following the publication of Ursula Le Guin’s The Wizard of Earthsea (1968) and was consolidated by the success of J. K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series, beginning with Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (1997). The Nevermoor books have been compared to The Mysterious Benedict Society (2007), but as an especially gifted young woman from a difficult background, Morrigan Crow also resembles Amari of Amari and the Night Brothers (2021).

The first book of the series introduces Morrigan Crow, who is the daughter of a prominent politician in the party that rules the Wintersea Republic. Morrigan was born on Eventide (the last day of an Age) and is said to be cursed because of this. In addition to being blamed for every ill that befalls her town, Morrigan is also expected to die on her 12th birthday, as this fate seems to befall other cursed children throughout the province. Over the course of the novel, however, Morrigan learns that her birth is distinguished because she has a special aptitude for using Wunder, the magical and invisible energy that powers inventions throughout the Republic.

Events of the first book include Morrigan’s daring escape from the Wintersea Republic with the help of a member of the League of Explorers, Jupiter North. Using an eight-legged vehicle that resembles an arachnid, Jupiter smuggles Morrigan into the Free State, the enemy of the Wintersea Republic. Jupiter gives Morrigan a home at the hotel he owns and operates, the Hotel Deucalion, where Morrigan makes friends with many residents and staff, including Dame Chanda, Frank, and Fenestra the Magnificat (a kind of large, speaking cat).

Morrigan undertakes a series of trials to gain entrance into the prestigious Wundrous Society but is ultimately accepted because Jupiter reveals her status as a Wundersmith—someone who can channel Wunder. Morrigan is approached at the end of the novel by Ezra Squall, a Wundersmith who was exiled from the Free State and its capital of Nevermoor for murdering his fellow Wundersmiths. Squall admits that he murdered the other so-called “cursed” children so that they could not steal Wunder from him. He has been pursuing and trying to kidnap Morrigan with a shadowy league of horses and riders called the Hunt of Smoke and Shadow because he believes Morrigan is different; he wants her to become his apprentice. Morrigan initially refuses, as she doesn’t like what Squall has done.

In the second book in the series, Wundersmith: The Calling of Morrigan Crow (2018), Squall continues to pursue Morrigan and attempts to intimidate her into working with him. Now enrolled in the Wundrous Society, Morrigan wants to be accepted among the eight other members of Unit 919, who all have various talents. Hawthorne Swift, a dragon rider, becomes Morrigan’s best friend, while Cadence Blackburn, a gifted mesmerist, uses her skills to help Morrigan. When Morrigan is blamed for the disappearance of various people, she uses her skill with Wunder to help free her friends. At the end of that novel, she is forced to reveal her identity as a Wundersmith during the Loyalty Test, which bonds the classmates as sisters and brothers, loyal for life.

Though she still refuses to work with Squall, Morrigan learns how to summon Wunder through a small song that she sings. Squall explains Wunder to Morrigan as a powerful energy always surrounding her, waiting for the outlet that Wundersmiths provide. Jupiter, who is a Witness (someone who can see emotional and energetic residues that surround people), sees Morrigan as cloaked in intense white light because of the energy that envelops her. Morrigan learns that Squall has helped her through certain challenges, including helping her destroy a loathsome place called the Ghastly Market. However, she is still convinced that he is a villain and rejects his offer that she become his apprentice.

Squall gets his way in the third book in the series, Hollowpox: The Hunt for Morrigan Crow (2020). Squall creates a devastating plague that affects Wunimals, animals who speak and think like humans and are distinguished from unnimals—regular animals—with the suffix “wun.” Squall has been visiting Morrigan through an energy conduit called the Gossamer Line, which means that he does not have a physical presence inside Nevermoor. However, Morrigan agrees to blend her power with his to create a cure for the Hollowpox, which has affected a friend of hers, the foxwun Sofia.

After she experiences what using Wunder feels like, Morrigan signs an official agreement to become Squall’s apprentice. She vows that she will not become a murderer like he is, but he warns her that using Wunder is an act that can be either creative or destructive and that sometimes the two go hand in hand. This sets up the premise for Silverborn, which sees Morrigan developing her powers further but also grappling with loyalty as she struggles to find the home, and the family, where she feels she truly belongs.