Isle of Dragons: The Hidden Library by L.A. Thompson is a breathtaking race to seize the reins of destiny and find a magical library that was once the subject of stories and lore. Jade and Kaylen, once friends, oppose each other in search of this hidden library and its world-changing secrets.
Demoted and dejected, Kaylen reels from her valiant but failed attempt to bring back the final item that King Jarrod needs to fulfill a prophecy. The iconic stone remains out of reach. Kaylen is summoned for an audience with the king. A glimmer of hope for the future flickers, but the king demands an even more ambitious mission of her. He will restore her rank and honors if she finds for him the mysterious hidden library that can open a gateway between worlds. It’s a deadly challenge that will once again pit her against an old friend.
Jade summons all her strength and courage with others who stand against the king who has made her family suffer. When she and Kaylen clash, sparks will ignite as hot as a dragon’s roar.
The king’s final, harrowing order troubles Kaylen as she embarks on her quest. She is to kill her shapeshifter friend Drey after he’s helped her find the hidden library. Is Kaylen willing to sacrifice so much for her king? Can she even find what she seeks for her people and for herself, or will Jade find a key to winning the war against King Jarrod?
The spirit library of The Isle of Dragons was once in water dragon territory, but the guardian spirit has now moved to a secret location on the isle. Jade and her small band search for this new location. They might have to sacrifice the magical stone they use as a tool in taming dragons, but it will be worth the brilliant goal they seek, a better world.
Kaylen hopes to release new magic from the library to birth an era that she believes will be free forever of famine or plague. From two different directions, Kaylen and Jade pursue the vision of a beacon of hope, but at cross purposes how can this quest end?
Author L. A. Thompson tells a soaring adventure on the backs of towering dragons full of personality. This fast-paced story proves a dramatic sequel in the Isle of Dragon series.
Determined, inspiring characters battle on despite their sorrows, setbacks, and weaknesses. They accept terrifying challenges for the good of their people. The Isle and its people are imaginative and fleshed out, bringing the world to life. The characters’ kindness in moments of desperation, and their bravery in facing the unknown will stir empathy and concern in readers. Can these intrepid heroes stay resolute, and unite to see a brighter future?
Runebinder is a dark post-apocalyptic young adult thriller that follows eighteen-year-old water and earth user Tenn, as he is torn between two opposition sides of a deadly fight for survival.
The discovery of magic caused the old world to disappear forever, leaving a reality where to live is a daily struggle of simply surviving another day. Monsters named Howls roam the world searching for survivors to feast on, but they are nothing compared to the powerful Kin that are waging a violent war against what remains of humanity.
During a food scouting mission, Tenn and his companions become surrounded by Howls. Under orders to not use magic to keep the location of their army secret from the approaching army of necromancers, Tenn’s Water sphere unexpectedly unleashes an unprecedented amount of power, destroying every Howl in the surrounded area instantly. Tenn is confused by how his magic could act on his own, and Tenn is soon sought by the opposing sides in the endless war for survival who both believe Tenn is the key to their success.
The opening installment to The Runebinder Chronicles, Runebinder is a fast-paced action-packed novel that will keep readers wanting to know what happens next.
The world-building descriptions are reminiscent of the quick and drastically changed world of a zombie apocalypse. It has only been a few years since magic reached the point of no return after the creation of the Howls. The decay seems too advanced for the few short years since everything changed, but is believable when considering the power magic has.
Runebinder makes use of the “Chosen One” literary trope, which is arguably an overused plot structure, especially in young adult literature. Perhaps, as the series progresses, Kahler will create a unique take on the “Chosen One” storyline, but in Runebinder alone, it is not. The characters are developed well and quite complex once far enough into the story. The style and tone flow easily, which makes for a quick page-turning experience.
It’s hard not to view Runebinder, which was first published in 2018, differently after living through a global pandemic, but reading it now makes it more accessible and engrossing.
Tenn’s world changed forever in an instant. Magic emerged and grew slowly, but the world Tenn knew died suddenly once it reached a critical point. There’s a theme in Runebinder of the feeling of never feeling safe after losing normalcy. How does one keep going when everything seems hopeless and there is nothing left to fight for? Yet, Tenn keeps fighting to survive and life another day in the smallest hope that a better world will one day be possible.
Runebinder by Alex R. Kahler is a post-apocalyptic young adult story about the power of hope in a world where no hope should exist, yet does despite all odds.
Writing to Dorothy: the importance of Fantasy and the Ozma Awards
As anyone who follows Chanticleer knows, the Ozma Awards for Fantasy Fiction are named after Princess Ozma of Oz, one of Dorothy Gale’s companions in Frank Baum’s Wizard of Oz series.
L. Frank Baum, Author of The Wizard of Oz series
What you may not know is the dedication at the front of that book that reads:
To all the boys and girls who read my stories – and especially to the Dorothys – this book is lovingly dedicated.
As Chanticleer looks for the best Fantasy Fiction featuring magic, the supernatural, imaginary worlds, fantastical creatures, legendary beasts, mythical beings, or inventions of fancy, there’s something beautiful hidden in that dedication. When authors write fantasy, they’re diving into a world beyond science, beyond the realm of understanding.
These are the best parts of escapism in literature. While the worlds may be similar and the struggles and allegories run parallel to our world, the separation of a whole new world of fantastic magic takes us from the mundane into a realm beyond our own.
As always, Masterclass.com has an excellent definition at the ready for us:
Fantasy is a genre of literature that features magical and supernatural elements that do not exist in the real world. Although some writers juxtapose a real-world setting with fantastical elements, many create entirely imaginary universes with their own physical laws and logic and populations of imaginary races and creatures. Speculative in nature, fantasy is not tied to reality or scientific fact.
With all that in mind, think back to the dedication in Ozma of Oz. Who is the Dorothy you write for? That reader who needs to escape from the dreary grays of their world into a reflection of reality that shines beyond all belief. When we bring the reader into this world, we create something truly special and unique, and sharing that brings the magic to life.
To put all this into perspective, L. Frank Baum published the first OZ work in 1900.
Note from Kiffer: If you are writing fantasy, it will be well worth reading Baum’s first three books—if you haven’t already. Learn from the best!
Baum’s OZ series helped to pave the way for fantasy epics such as:
The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobeby C. S. Lewis published 1950.
Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien was published July 29, 1954. His The Hobbitwas published in 1937.
The Witcher novel series by Andrzej Sapkowski. Published 1986
The Golden Compassby Philip Pullman. Published 9 July 1995
Harry Potter series by J. K. Rowling. First book published June 26, 1997
Twilight Saga by Stephanie Meyer. First book published 2005.
Ozma of Oz: A Record of Her Adventures with Dorothy Gale of Kansas, Billina the Yellow Hen, the Scarecrow, the Tin Woodman, the Cowardly Lion and the Hungry Tiger; Besides Other Good People Too Numerous to Mention Faithfully Recorded Herein,published on July 30, 1907, was the official third book of L. Frank Baum’s Oz series. It was the first in which Baum was clearly intending a series of Oz books. [Peter Glassman, “Afterword,” p 271 L. Frank Baum, Ozma of Oz, ISBN 0-688-06632-1]
Princess Ozma and her Royal Court of Oz are the rulers of the Land of Oz. She does not appear in the first book in the Oz series, but makes a grand entrance in the second of the series, The Marvelous Land of Oz. She is kind, wise, and brave. She was a long lost princess who was hidden away for her own safety when the Wizard of Oz took the throne (the man behind the curtain).
Also, notice that Dorothy is holding Billena, the speaking hen, on the cover. Billena plays an instrumental role in Dorothy’s Hero’s Journey in OZMA of OZ.
Did you know that L. Frank Baum wrote and published 40 Oz books in the series?
If you have a Fantasy book that you know deserves the recognition of a prestigious Chanticleer Int’l Book Award, submit it here by the end of October to be entered into the 2021 CIBAs.
You can see the 2020 Ozma CIBA winners here, and you better believe we have some extra Fantasy reviews to Recommend to you!
Before we dive in, if you haven’t checked out our Ten Question Interview with Elana A. Mugdan, now’s the time to fix that! She’s a marvelous fantasy author and dragon expert.
Elana A. Mugdan cosplaying as one of her characters
Without further ado, let’s see some fantasy books, starting with Mugdan!
Dragon Speaker (Book 1 in the Shadow War Saga) By Elana A. Mugdan Ozma Grand Prize Winner
A young girl is charged with rescuing a dragon and, ultimately, saves her world in this wide-reaching fantasy conception of love, war, danger, and magic. Massive amounts of magic!
Keriya is a simple girl of no great pedigree who lives in Aeria where everyone except her wields some form of magic. At age 14, she knows she will not be selected to prove herself worthy of a greater destiny in the annual Ceremony of Choice. But she has to try. Even though the consequences of failure will be a life of slavery, she yearns for the opportunity. She approaches the selection committee and begs – no, demands – a chance.
The Sightless City
By Noah Lemelson
Ozma First Place Winner
The city of Huile burns with trouble in Noah Lemelson’s dieselpunk novel The Sightless City.
Four years ago, the United Confederacy of the Citizens Resurgence defeated the Principate in a devastating war. Marcel Talwar lost his leg to that conflict but became a national hero for saving Huile. Now he’s settled down to work as a private detective. However, the schematics to a strange device throw his temporary calm into disarray.
Jade of House Sol has the chance to save her father from the Isle of Dragons, but land, sea, and the guards of her homeland stand between them. Will, her new friends, prove loyal and capable enough to see her journey through, and what will they find on the elusive island?
Carison Sol, betrayed by his fellow nobles, disappears across the sea in the dark of night. Meanwhile, Jade flees the guards chasing her, the leader whom is Kaylen, a former friend. Just as her pursuers close in, a young witch named Miria saves her and offers shelter, but Jade can’t stay still long. Though she doesn’t know much about the Isle of Dragons, Miria and her brother Dan must find their parents, and they offer to join Jade in her quest. Together, the three of them find a dragon who can take them to the magical island. Their journey is full of friends and enemies – and situations that test their mettle and their connection to one another.
Cecelia (Book 1) By Sandra L. Rostirolla Dante Rossetti First Place Winner
Content and happy in a village nestled deep within the forest, eighteen-year-old Cecilia never realized a bigger world existed in Cecilia (The Cecilia Series Book 1) by Sandra L. Rostirolla.
After the Great War, Cecilia’s great ancestor led a small group of followers far away from the destruction left behind. For many years, they lived underground away from the poisonous air until it was safe to begin life above ground again. Now, generations later, Cecilia lives an idyllic life with her mother and two older brothers. One day, a group of dark riders decimates her village, killing every female and old person and taking prisoner all of the males old enough to join their ranks or serve as slaves for Vitus, a city Cecilia never knew existed.
Soul Sacrifice (Book 3 in the Spirit Shield Saga) By Susan Faw Dante Rossetti First Place Winner
Evil has taken hold of Cathair and the surrounding lands, and only the Spirit Shields can save both the living and the dead. Cayden and Avery, human twins housing the spirits of the godling children of Morpheus, have been tasked with stopping their sister Helga. She is hellbent on wiping out humanity and controlling the spirits of both man and beast.
Separated by missions unique to their abilities, Avery and Cayden are frantically searching for a way to defeat Helga. Cayden, the keeper of the Well of Souls, is connected to all spirit life. He can feel the life literally draining from the land but is nearly powerless to stop it because he is Soul Fetched, his mind imprisoned by Helga. He knows he must fight her insidious commands but is weakening mentally and physically. Avery must find a way to commune with their father and beg his help in defeating Helga since only a god’s power can destroy her minion army of Charun, souls of former warriors returned to ethereal bodies. She is also fighting against the Daimon, creatures born of hatred and fire who consume the souls of men before they can return to the river of souls awaiting reincarnation.
And just HOW DOES SHIRLEY TEMPLE fit into all this?
She had a show titled Shirley Temple’s Storybook series made for TV. She hosted and narrated the series that featured adaptations of classic fantasy fiction, fairy tales, and family fiction for children. [1958 – 1961] The Marvelous Land of Oz episode debut was on September 18, 1960.
When you’re ready,did you know that Chanticleer offers editorial services?We do and have been doing so since 2011.
Our professional editors are top-notch and are experts in the Chicago Manual of Style. They have and are working for the top publishing houses (TOR, McMillian, Thomas Mercer, Penguin Random House, Simon Schuster, etc.).
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A great way to get started is with our manuscript evaluation service, with more information availablehere.
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If you’re confident in your book, consider submitting it for a Editorial Book Reviewhereor to one of our Chanticleer International Awardshere.
Also remember! Our 10th Anniversary Chanticleer Authors Conference (CAC22) will be April 7-10, 2022, where our 2021 CIBA winners will be announced. Space is limited and seats are already filling up, so sign up today! CAC22 and the CIBA Ceremonies will be hosted at the Hotel Bellwether in Beautiful Bellingham, Wash. Sign up and see the latest updates here!
More than anything, Liara just wants to belong. As an orphan “fey” child in the seventeenth century, Liara has been a ward of the Church for ten of her sixteen years. Grateful to be taken in and cared for by Father Phenlick, she knows most of the villagers want her gone.
The product of a rape by a magical creature, Liara is imbued with magic and in many ways is magic itself. The powerful wizard who created the creatures responsible for the attack during the attack on the valley, knows nothing of her existence. Father Phenlick enlisted the help of Nagareth, the wizard of the woods, to shield Liara and the village from further assaults all while outlawing the very power he is secretly trusting.
At St. Sophia, Liara is safe until she steals from the village busybody. When Liara’s extensive hidden stash is discovered in a “magicked” hollow tree, the Venetian soldiers who protect the valley force Father Phenlick to ostracize Liara. Abandoned by even her friends, Liara is taken in by Nagareth, who promises Phenlick that he will not teacher Liara his craft. Liara begs Nagareth for magical instruction, but he only allows her to care for his extensive magical library. Gradually, Nagareth sees great potential in his new ward, but when everyone in Dvigard is killed by a mysterious plague, he begins to fear that he can’t protect her from her powerful creator who will want her powers for his own if she is discovered.
Liara cannot see the danger around her, and as her own magical knowledge grows through her maintenance of Nagareth’s books, her only goal is to exact revenge against her father. As her abilities grow so does her anger and confusion at the only person standing between her and her destruction.
Liara is a complex, dynamic character. Her history gives her more than normal teenage problems. Liara’s mother was driven crazy by the rape and was never able to truly care for or love Liara, leaving Liara to the cruelty of the villagers. Without Father Phenlick, Liara would never have survived, and though he tries to give her a home, he isn’t able to fill the emptiness deep within her. Liara desperately needs something and somewhere of her own, which is why she steals–to fill her life with things that are her own. In creating her hollow-tree hiding place, she creates that place where she isn’t afraid to be herself. Though she is unaware of her own magic, it is as much a part of her as her history.
In the beginning, all Liara wants is to grow that power. She desires the very thing others accuse her of having to give her what she has never had, but it’s a double-edged sword. She is hated for her supposed abilities even before she shows evidence of magic, but when she finds the magic she wants so badly, it will define her. She wants others to see she has feelings and dreams, but in the very thing she wants most, this undeniable power, people will see only that. She limits herself to this magical creature, and that drive quickly becomes an obsession. Only too late does she see Nagarath’s minimal use of magic isn’t a waste. She almost allows her prejudiced idea that magic should be grandiose to cloud the important lesson she learns about living simply, living for love and not power. As she grows through her relationship with Nagareth, she learns what magic should truly be.
The evolving bond between Liara and Nagareth is a beautiful story. Only nine years Liara’s senior, Nagareth sees Liara as a child in the beginning, but over the novel’s development, he begins to see Liara as a true companion. The joy she brings to his life, the peace she makes him feel, even though she annoyingly begs him to teach her magic, becomes invaluable to the lonely wizard.
He wants to make sure she has a life of stability, not fear. As he opens himself up more and more, he becomes her friend. He realizes she has given him more than he has returned and relents in his promise not to teach her. Nagareth grows as much as his precious ward.
The Bookminder won 1st Place in the CIBA 2017 OZMA Awards for Fantasy Fiction.
A talented and creative author, Diane Moat, presents a magical world hidden within a New England town where Witches, Warlocks, and Gnomes live together peacefully. That is until one day, something strange happens to the Familiars in the neighborhood. Someone or something had taken the magic from Frank the parrot a month previously, and now the same thing has happened to the tortoise King Arthur.
This is where Pepper Neely, pet sitter of the supernatural, comes in. Gnomes are magical people who can connect with supernatural creatures. Pepper has a unique aptness with her connection to animals, and she quickly became the neighborhood pet-sitter. With the help of her best friend and witch-in-training Luna, the two go against the well-meaning wishes of their parents to get to the bottom of what is happening to the Familiars. As usual, that is easier said than done when the Witches and Gnomes start to clash over the danger at hand. Pepper also discovers an ability that will change the meaning of what it is to be a Gnome.
Moat’s The Magic Thief is the first book in her The Supernatural Pet Sitter series. The story begins in the middle of things as Pepper is trying out a storm after checking on the ferret Familiar named Cranky. It doesn’t take long for it to discover that the story is very character-driven with a strong family dynamic at its heart.
Pepper Neely is a lovable character, and her pre-teen voice is decently portrayed in the novel. The way the story effortlessly welcomes readers into the Neely gnome family and their secret world of magic is captivating and delightful. Diane Moat leaves enough questions unanswered, setting up the next installment, and leaves enough loose ends open for the story to develop throughout the rest of the series.
Diane Moat’s The Supernatural Pet Sitter: The Magic Thief is a middle-grade novel perfect for the curious reader interested in the hidden magic that could be lurking in their own backyard.
The Supernatural Pet Sitter: The Magic Thief won 1st Place in the CIBA 2017 Gertrude Warner Awards for Middle-Grade Readers.
When 17-year-old high school student, Stevie Wales, suddenly blossoms, she and her best friend, the ever-popular Winter, have some adjusting to do. Sometimes, however, adjusting to new information between friends isn’t possible.
In their case, Stevie winds up alienated from Winter and the group in her Puget Sound Island community. She decides to become what she believes they all see – the weird girl. As her oddity status rises, so does her anger. When she takes a job at an equine therapy ranch, tending the horses used in the program, she discovers her unusual ability to take away pain in both animals and humans.
As she begins to feel needed, she lets go of some of that anger, but then, an accident with one of the horses leaves Stevie seriously injured. Her life becomes a twisted version of an already blurry existence as she struggles to find “normal” again.
Stevie embarks on a journey to find her father, a man the world believes dead. She convinces her mother and therapist that she needs to go to Australia, the place where the wreckage of her father’s boat washed ashore. Her search takes her to a strange continent, and though this exploration becomes much, much more, she may find a truth she isn’t ready to accept.
Despite being set in a not-so-distant future, Stevie’s teenage world isn’t so different from now. Mean girls are still mean girls, and the smart, shy students often feel like they don’t belong. So many teenagers, both male and female, may find Stevie’s (partially self-imposed) alienation relatable. Her artistic talents and her empathy for others are endearing traits that help bring Stevie to a culminating awareness. Both of these carry Stevie full-circle to find her version of normal, her definition – not the world’s. Seeing Stevie evolve into a confident young woman through her efforts is nothing short of inspirational.
While Stevie can take away the pain of others, she struggles to keep her gift and the consequences of using it a secret. However, it is only when she stops trying to keep it under wraps, is she able to heal herself as well as those around her.
One of the most engaging parts of the novel is Stevie’s time in Australia. This exotic, culturally diverse continent becomes a character unto itself, drawing Stevie into the adventure of a lifetime while giving her the closure she desperately needs. Pulled into the mysterious murder of a boy she meets, Stevie encounters others who inspire and help her find her father. She learns true contentment by assisting the family of the dead boy all while searching for her own history. Ironically, amid death, she finds life as she navigates a land as wild as her emotions.
Christopher Mannino’s young adult fantasy novel, School of Deaths, opens with a portrayal of adolescent angst that goes waaaaay beyond “I have nothing to wear!” or “Oh, no! I have a zit!”
Readers will immediately sympathize with the main character, Suzie Sarnio, who’s having the worst first day of eighth grade ever. For starters, she looks like death. Seriously. For mysterious reasons, she’s lost so much weight over the last three months that her bones are about to burst through her skin. Her black hair is stringy, and she peers out at the world through lifeless, gray eyes. There’s no chance of her blending into the crowd.
Everyone wants to talk about her appearance. Her parents, her brother, her friends, her teachers, everyone comments on how terrible she looks. Just what every girl wants to hear, right? As if being thirteen wasn’t hard enough! No matter how much Suzie eats, she can’t gain weight. Of course, everyone assumes she’s anorexic.
To top it off, she’s having nightmares in which a grim-reaper-like dude tells her, “I’ve come to take you back. You are a Death.” And then it really happens. The doorbell rings and there he is, the Grim Reaper in all his glory, and he does indeed take Suzie away. Take a deep breath and join Suzie as she travels – not over the rainbow – but to The World of Deaths.
Once over her bafflement of how she got there, Suzie learns about her locale at the School of Deaths. It’s a bit like Hogwarts, but she’s not learning to be a wizard. No, she’s in training to be a “Death,” one of those who reaps and transports souls that have died from the World of the Living to the World of the Dead. She doesn’t study the use of a wand but instead takes classes on how to use the iconic scythe pictured with grim reapers. It’s very difficult but Suzie is determined to wield it like a pro, to reap and transport with the best of them.
If at the end of one year she passes the test given to all first-year Deaths, she can return home to her family, her memory of time spent in this ghostly school erased. The odds are heavily against her; most Deaths fail the test and must remain forever. To make matters super worse, Suzie is the only female in the school! The last one, Lovethar, attended more than a million years ago and the school hasn’t fully recovered from her scandalous dealings with dangerous dragons. So, Suzie has her work cut out for her.
Students and even some faculty are cruel and go out of their way to throw shade her way. She’s no cream puff, however, and refuses to be intimidated, at least in public. Hermione Granger herself would be impressed. After all, she had female classmates and professors while poor Suzie manages all girl-stuff entirely on her own. Fortunately, there are a few kind students who dare to befriend her and stick up for her when she’s bullied by the nastiest of the boys. Billy, Jason, and Frank help Suzie stand her ground in and out of the classroom. She and her squad become thick as thieves and join forces to discover what really happened to Lovethar.
Their investigation will also lead them to unlock the mysteries of the school’s servants, the “Elementals,” usually referred to with the slur, ‘Mentals. The author does a bang-up job describing these fascinating beings that come in various sizes and colors, with multiple attributes of plants and animals. Suzie and the boys are awed by a plant-like woman and winged boys, a seer with black eye sockets and a man whose skin has blue stripes.
They’re even more intrigued by the rivalrous history between the Deaths and the Elementals. It’s not surprising the Elementals revolt on the school’s campus, but it makes the foursome’s contact with them incredibly dangerous. Suzie feels tremendous compassion for them, but she can’t lose sight of her goal to get through the year, pass the test, and finally get home. That’s the plan, right? Hmmm, but if she succeeds, she’ll have to leave her friends and, well, one of them may be more than a friend. Yes, there’s a bit of romance tucked into all the suspense, and it adds a yummy complication.
From start to finish, this book rocks! It’s a story of female empowerment, the gifts of friendship, the curse of slavery, and the mystical mysteries of great beyond. It also makes the grade nailing the ubiquitous sexism and bullying students deal with as teenagers.
The YA audience will devour School of Deaths, as well as adults who love the genre. The prose and the plot sizzle with smarts and confidence. One finishes the book wanting more and thank goodness there is more. School of Deaths is the first volume in a series, The Scythe Wielder’s Secret. You’ll want to travel on with Suzie to volume 2, The Sword of Deaths, and to volume 3, Daughter of Deaths.
Christopher Mannino won 1st Place in the 2016 Chanticleer Int’l Writing Competition, in the Dante Rossetti Awards, for YA Fiction.
Fantasy takes you to worlds that never were or never could be. Good fantasy lets you live in that alternate reality while linking you seamlessly to the realities, the frailties of the human condition.
Air of Vengeance is the first of a series of novels for middle-graders and young adults and succeeds on both levels.
In a faraway land called Windhollows, two races live side by side, symbiotically producing different gasses, or Essences necessary for sustaining their lives together. The ability to produce Essence also determines everyone’s place in society. As the book begins, with no ability to produce Essence, nine infants become pariahs or Bare Pants literally from the moment of their birth.
Their inability to produce Essence is no accident. Rip Stinker, a brilliant but twisted scientist, invents a weapon that destroys the babies’ ability to produce Essence as revenge against the father of one of them for acts he felt destroyed his life.
What is fantasy soon becomes tragedy. Billy, one of the children, grows up in a household where his mother all but despises him for being who he is. She divorces his father, who loves his child despite his issues and sustains him through his miserable childhood.
The other eight are all abandoned by their parents at birth and shuffled off to an orphanage. The fateful eight band together at the orphanage and form a friendship that protects them from the worst societal prejudice yet still suffer the effects of their parents’ abandonment because they were different. They call themselves The Spent.
When Billy finally meets The Spent, he discovers the love and friendship circumstances denied him, even as they are jealous of him because he actually had parents. What they cannot foresee is the reappearance of Rip Stinker into their lives, whose plan is to take control of these emotionally and physically fragile young beings and turn them into monsters who will wreak havoc on society at large while staying under his control. Billy, who is initially overjoyed to join with them, sees Stinker as a Pied Piper and refuses to go along with Stinker’s nefarious plans.
Following the geography and the terminology of The Land of Windhollows is made easier by a map of the land, which resembles a bear claw, and a full glossary explaining the customs and languages of the various peoples who live there.
Bane treats his readers to various monsters, sci-fi weaponry, and a unique story that delivers an impact as its characters find themselves, variously, as outcast, then friends, and finally, divided by their version of what constitutes a better life: a path of goodness or a descent into darkness.
The novel ends on a cliff-hanger, with everyone’s destiny hanging in the balance.
Runebinder is a dark post-apocalyptic young adult thriller that follows eighteen-year-old water and earth user Tenn, as he is torn between two opposition sides of a deadly fight for survival.
