The Boy Who Sets the Earth on Fire (The Order of Guardian Angels)

What if guardian angels were real and lived among us?

Not winged saints in white robes, but ordinary people with extraordinary powers. Born to protect humanity from its own worst inventions.

Fifteen-year-old Zach Reed has never felt extraordinary. Autistic, anxious, and constantly overwhelmed by the noise of the world, he’s just trying to survive high school in Sydney — dodging bullies, navigating sensory overload, and wondering why he never quite fits anywhere.

Then he learns the truth.

Zach isn’t broken. He’s chosen.

As a guardian angel-in-training, Zach is sent to Seminary — a secret compound where young “Gangels” learn to wield elemental powers known as Favours. There, he’s assigned to a four-person team called a Tetrad. His teammates couldn’t be more different: fierce and impulsive Mellody Becker, relentlessly optimistic Osher Toth, and the quietly brilliant Audrey Clancy.

Together, they form a Diadic Tetrad — a configuration so powerful it appears only a handful of times in history. Legend says these teams rise to unimaginable greatness… or fall into catastrophic ruin.

If surviving each other wasn’t hard enough, every Gangel is paired with a talking dog for guidance. Zach’s companion, Ben, is loyal — but he’s also rule-breaking, and about as angelic as a pub brawler. The rest of the dogs aren’t much better. Between elemental trials, team implosions, and a pack of foul-mouthed canine “mentors,” Zach begins to wonder if destiny made a mistake.

Until the nightmares start.

A man with sparkling eyes. A monstrous dog. A future of blind obedience.

Liam Kovacs was once a guardian angel too — part of a Diadic Tetrad decades earlier. Now he’s the billionaire mastermind behind Simulcron, the most powerful social media empire on Earth. Beneath its addictive content lies something far darker: a behavioural-control algorithm designed to hijack free will itself.

Kovacs doesn’t want followers. He wants world domination.

As Zach and his Tetrad uncover secret human trials and a looming coup of the government, they realise they are the only ones who can stop him. But the deeper Zach digs, the clearer the truth becomes: Kovacs’ past is intertwined with their own in much more personal and terrifying ways than they imagined.

With the help of a rogue A.I., some rebel guardian angels, autistic activists, and other dissidents, Zach must find the courage to lead — not by masking who he is, but by embracing it. The final confrontation will erupt at Taronga Zoo, where Kovacs’ algorithm has turned ordinary citizens into a zombie-like army wreaking destruction over Sydney.

To win, Zach must face a corrupted guardian angel who mirrors his own potential for darkness — and decide what kind of power he will choose.

Because true strength isn’t found in elemental power. It’s forged in difference. In loyalty. In love.

The Boy Who Sets the Earth on Fire is a high-stakes young adult fantasy blending supernatural adventure with timely social commentary. Perfect for readers who love stories when friends become family, neurodiverse heroes, secret academies, and epic battles against impossible odds.

In a world ruled by algorithms, one autistic teen may be humanity’s last defence.

And this is only the beginning.