The EmberEarth Chronicles by Matthew Bunch

William Tate is young and brilliant and desperate to save his dying mother. When the doctors fail in their efforts, Billy begins to study on his own, determined to find what they have missed. His quest leads him to the Rare Manuscripts room at the New York library where he becomes mysteriously drawn to a strange book written in a strange language. Focused to the point of obsession, Billy is determined to crack the secret code, utterly unprepared for success. EmberEarth trembles. A millennium has passed since Wizards and DireMages battled for control of this world, Rending the Fabric and unleashing powerful forces which destroyed almost everything. Billy arrives and immediately seeks to return to his mother, irresistibly drawn into events which threaten to set those mighty forces free again. EmberEarth crawls with monsters and Billy faces constant danger, slowly realizing more lives are at stake than just his mother's. Dragons, long asleep and awaiting the return of magic, awaken to the call of a young girl who will lead them. Bloodletters, dark mages long hidden behind a veil of fear, who fuel their corrupt magic with pain and suffering, now move openly across the world. Even the dead begin to arise, answering the call of their vile Lord reborn. Billy, aided by his new friends, must face them all.