The Oracle, by Catherine Fisher
 The Oracle is set in a fictional world, in the middle of a terrible drought. The Archon, the god-on-earth, has been called by the god to die, in order to bring rain to the land. Mirany is the bearer-of-the-god, one of the Nine priestesses who attend the god and his various incarnations. Her duty as Bearer is to hold the god in scorpion form in a bronze bowl. The god is fickle, and occasionally claims the Bearer's life. This terrifies Mirany. As the procession taking the Archon to his death reaches the final destination, the top of a Ziggurat in the City of the Dead, the Archon slips Mirany a note, telling her that the Oracle of the god is being betrayed, and the Speaker is corrupt. The Speaker is the most senior member of the Nine, and relays messages from the god, which he delivers via the Oracle. The Archon is killed by the scorpion the god inhabits, carried by Mirany. Secretly, Mirany does not believe in the god. She sees him as a lie, used by the Nine to gain favor. However, this changes when he begins to speak directly into her mind. Mirany discovers a plot by Hermia, the Speaker, and the General Argelin, to control the land, and that the Archon's death was arranged by the two so that they could choose the new Archon, a young boy, and use him as a puppet. Mirany, with the help of the previous Archon's musician Oblek, and Seth, an ambitious scribe, must find the new Archon, and instate him before Hermia and Argelin can.