Awards
2007 National Book Award finalist
Synopses & Reviews
Sadima lives in a world where magic has been banned, leaving poor villagers prey to fakes and charlatans. A "magician" stole her family's few valuables and left Sadima's mother to die on the day Sadima was born. But vestiges of magic are hidden in old rhymes and hearth tales and in people like Sadima, who conceals her silent communication with animals for fear of rejection and ridicule. When rumors of her gift reach Somiss, a young nobleman obsessed with restoring magic, he sends Franklin, his lifelong servant, to find her. Sadima's joy at sharing her secret becomes love for the man she shares it with. But Franklin's irrevocable bond to the brilliant and dangerous Somiss traps her, too, and she faces a heartbreaking decision.
Centuries later magic has been restored, but it is available only to the wealthy and is strictly controlled by wizards within a sequestered academy of magic. Hahp, the expendable second son of a rich merchant, is forced into the academy and finds himself paired with Gerrard, a peasant boy inexplicably admitted with nine sons of privilege and wealth. Only one of the ten students will graduate and the first academic requirement is survival.
Sadima's and Hahp's worlds are separated by generations, but their lives are connected in surprising and powerful ways in this brilliant first book of Kathleen Duey's dark, complex, and completely compelling trilogy.
Review
"[A] darkly atmospheric fantasy....The pacing in this page-turner accelerates as the stories progress and links between them emerge, moving toward a cliffhanger ending that will leave readers anxious for future installments." Booklist
Review
"This double-narrative fantasy begins slowly but deepens into a potent and affecting story of struggle....Darkly resonant." Kirkus Reviews
Review
"[A] compelling new fantasy....Duey sweeps readers up in the page-turning excitement, making this one of the more promising fantasy series beginnings of recent memory." The Horn Book
Review
"Both [Sadima and Hahp's] tales are compelling enough to have been novels in their own right, and Duey's magical combination will appeal to nearly any semi-advanced audience." KLIATT
About the Author
Kathleen Duey has written numerous books for younger readers, including the chapter book series the Unicorn's Secret and the Hoofbeats series. She lives in Fallbrook, California.