Character Profile

Summary

​A slave boy with the telepathic ability reserved for those in the line of the king. A girl of nobility who disguises herself as an orphan to avoid unwanted romantic advances. Together they seek to reunite a world literally divided in half by darkness and light.

Stats

Genre: Teen (13-16 years) high fantasy with threads of political intrigue and romance.

Series length: Three books, plus prequel trilogy (The Kinsman Chronicles)

Violence: Moderate fantasy violence

Magic/Supernatural: Light to moderate supernatural

Romance: Minimal until the end of book 2; moderate after that. 

Christian/spiritual element: Overt allegorical elements

Recommendation: Excellent for boys or girls who enjoy medieval fantasy and high adventure

You might like this book if you liked... 
The Lord of the Rings, Eragon, or books by Chuck Black.

To Purchase

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Opening Lines: 

"You could always make it look as though you had wings," said Jenny, her voice echoing off the granite walls of the treasure cavern. "A little glamour, just for tonight--"

Ivy let the delicate wing-chain slide through her fingers, spilling it back into the chest. "I'm not that good with illusions. Cicely can cast better glamours than me, and she's five." She shut the lid with a snap. "Anyway, why bother? I'm not going to fool anyone."

Swift  (The Flight and Flame Trilogy, Book 1)
by R. J. Anderson

To save her people, a wingless girl must learn to fly.
 
As a piskey girl born without wings and raised underground, Ivy yearns for flight almost as much as she misses her long-lost mother. But the world outside the Delve is full of danger, and her dreams seem hopeless until she meets a mysterious faery who makes her an enticing offer: If Ivy helps him escape the Delve's dungeon, he'll teach her how to fly.
 
Freeing Richard could cost Ivy her reputation, perhaps even her life. But when her fellow piskeys start to disappear and her beloved little sister goes missing, Ivy has no choice but to take the risk.
 
Deadly threats and shocking revelations await Ivy as she ventures into a strange new world, uncovers long-buried secrets about her family's past, and finds that no one—not even herself—is entirely what they seem.

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Opening Lines: 

"Knockers! The knockers are coming!"

The shout rang through the fogou, echoing off the rocky walls of the tunnel and into the chambers beyond. The boy had been drowsing curled on the earthen floor beside his clan-brothers; now he was shocked awake as his father seized his elbow and wrenched him to his feet. 

"Take this and hide it," he commanded, and the boy staggered beneath the unexpected burden of a sack almost as heavy as he was. As he floundered for a better grip, a coin tumbled out of the bag's mouth and rolled across the floor. Instinctively the boy stooped to retrieve it. 

"Leave it, " his father snapped, spinning him around and giving him a shove. "Get out of here! Quick!"

Nomad  (The Flight and Flame Trilogy, Book 2)
by R. J. Anderson

Cast into exile, she must return to free her people.

Banished from her underground home by Betony, the queen of the Cornish piskeys, young Ivy sets out to forge a new life for herself in the world above. But a deadly threat lingers in the mine, and Ivy cannot bear to see her people suffer while Betony refuses to believe. Somehow she must convince the queen to let them go.

Her mission only becomes more complicated when Ivy starts to dream of the ancient battles between her ancestors and the spriggan folk. Who is the strange boy in her visions? Could her glimpses of his past help Ivy find a new home for her fellow piskeys?

To find the answers, Ivy must outfly vicious predators, outwit cunning enemies, and overcome her own greatest fears. And when evil threatens the people Ivy loves best, it will take all her courage, faith, and determination to save them.

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Opening Lines: 

Coming soon!

Torch  (The Flight and Flame Trilogy, Book 3)
by R. J. Anderson

How do you fight fire without fire?
 
When a freak storm uncovers the entrance to a mysterious underground chamber, Ivy and Martin expect to find treasure. But what they discover is even more valuable: a barrow full of sleeping spriggans, magically preserved for centuries. With the vengeful piskey queen Betony determined to capture Ivy and her followers, the secret hideaway could be key to both their peoples’ survival.
 
But the piskeys and spriggans are ancient enemies, and when Ivy tries to make peace her own followers threaten to turn against her. Plagued by treachery, betrayal and desertion on every side, Ivy must find a way to unite the magical folk of Cornwall—or doom herself, Martin and everyone she loves to death at Betony's hand.
 
Yet without the legendary fire-wielding power that marks a true piskey queen, can Ivy convince her people to believe?