Summary
#1 New York Times bestselling author of the House of Night series, P.C. Cast, brings us a new epic fantasy set in a world where humans, their animal allies, and the earth itself has been drastically changed. A world filled with beauty and danger and cruelty...
Mari is an Earth Walker, heir to the unique healing powers of her Clan; but she has cast her duties aside, until she is chosen by a special animal ally, altering her destiny forever. When a deadly attack tears her world apart, Mari reveals the strength of her powers and the forbidden secret of her dual nature as she embarks on a mission to save her people. It is not until Nik, the son of the leader from a rival, dominating clan strays across her path, that Mari experiences something she has never felt before...
Now, darkness is coming, and with it, a force, more terrible and destructive than the world has ever seen, leaving Mari to cast the shadows from the earth. By forming a tumultuous alliance with Nik, she must make herself ready. Ready to save her people. Ready to save herself and Nik. Ready to embrace her true destiny...and obliterate the forces that threaten to destroy them all.
Author Notes
P.C. Cast was born in Watseka, Illinois in 1960. After graduating from high school, she joined the U.S. Air Force. After her tour of duty, she taught English in high school for 15 years before becoming a full-time author.
She has written numerous books including the Goddess Summoning series, the Partholon series, and the Divine series. She co-writes the young adult House of Night novels with her daughter Kristin. She has received several awards including the Oklahoma Book Award, Romantic Times Reviewers' Choice Award, the Prism, Holt Medallion, Daphne du Maurier, and the Laurel Wreath.
Moon Chosen, the first title in Cast's new series, Tales of a New World, became a New York Time bestseller in 2016.
(Bowker Author Biography)
School Library Journal Review
Gr 9 Up-Mari, child of a Moon Woman, is also secretly the daughter of a man from the enemy Tree Tribes. If the Clan knew her secret, they would kill her, so Mari's mother keeps her disguised and teaches her how to channel the moon in order to heal. Nik, heir of the Tree Tribes' Sun Priest, is on a desperate quest to find a missing Companion canine when he sees a girl, who appears to be from the Moon Clan, channeling the sun. How can it be? Their paths cross again when, after Nik is injured in a scavenging raid, Mari pulls him from the river and heals him. Nik knows her skills could save the Tribe from the deadly Blight, but will he be able to convince her to help when the Tribe has so many of the Moon Clan enslaved? The two groups will be forced to work together if they are to escape the looming threat posed by the deadly Skin Stealers-but there's no precedent for it and no guarantee Nik and Mari will be able to convince the others before it's too late. While many fantasy series style themselves as epic, this one may actually be worthy of the description. The thoughtful pace, careful world-building, and inference skills it demands of readers render it best for older teens. VERDICT Fantasy lovers who are fans of Cinda Williams Chima's "Seven Realms" novels will fall in love with Mari and Nik.-Elizabeth Friend, Wester Middle School, TX © Copyright 2016. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly Review
In this sprawling epic fantasy, set in a postapocalyptic world where the destruction of civilization led to giant mutated insects and deadly fungal blights, several tribes compete for resources with little understanding of and empathy for their rivals. Mari, the product of a forbidden union between the Earth Walkers and the Companions, inherits the traits of both-the ability to heal through the power of the moon, and the potential to bond with a specially bred dog. Always on the outskirts of the Earth Walker tribe, Mari is reluctant to embrace her destined role as Moon Woman, or healer. When a Companion attack scatters Mari's tribe, she has to accept unlikely allies from both sides of her heritage. Cast (the House of Night series) conjures up an intriguing world full of constant danger, but the rules are ill-defined: for instance, it's never fully explained why Earth Walker women suffer from depression if not healed regularly, while the men devolve into savage rapists. An obligatory romantic subplot and cliffhanger ending may leave readers unfulfilled, despite engaging characters and a fast-paced narrative. Ages 12-up. Agent: Meredith Bernstein, Meredith Bernstein Literary. (Oct.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Horn Book Review
Eighteen-year-old Mari has been raised by her Earth Walker mother, a Moon Woman who can call on the moon to heal. Mari should be the chosen replacement Moon Woman, but she's hiding sun-driven powers inherited from her father. When danger threatens both tribes, Mari and sun-blessed Nik work together. Cast's world-building is complex and often beautiful, but rotating viewpoints create an uneven narrative. (c) Copyright 2017. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
The lives of three disparate young people collide in this post-apocalyptic fantasy.Eighteen-year-old Mari should succeed her mother as the healer of the matriarchal Earth Walkers but for her fathers blood that also courses through her veins, a secret that the blonde, pale-skinned girl and her dark-skinned mother go to great lengths to conceal. Twenty-three-year-old blond, pale-skinned Nik, who hails from a rival people known for enslaving Maris, should become Sun Priest of the Tribe when his father retires, but he has yet to be chosen as a Companion by a canine. Dead Eye, a 21-year-old mutant Skin Stealer, is a rebel, a self-proclaimed God with gruesome vision for the future of his people. In this series kickoff, Cast weaves together the stories of Mari, Nik, and Dead Eye, offering readers a new fantasy world steeped in magic thats grounded by a hodgepodge of tropes ranging from Greek mythology to New Age mysticism. The intersection of Maris and Niks stories dominates the hefty novel. Readers will enjoy watching these two characters, who share a palpable chemistry, come into their own. Dead Eyes story is far more disturbing, portending a darkness that will become more prevalent in future installments. While Cast is a bit heavy-handed spelling it out for readers, at its core this is a story about embracing and finding strength in difference. Though skin is vital to the story, modern racial categories do not seem to exist. Casts fans should find much to be pleased with in this new venture. (Fantasy. 14 up) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
Cast's series starter brings together numerous popular elements: young people learning to control their magical powers, a postapocalyptic United States with dangerously decaying cities, tribes whose perceived differences cause them to fight and enslave one another, and (wait for it) a star-crossed romance. It may be formulaic, but in Cast's hands, it's also addictive. Eighteen-year-old Mari, daughter of Moon Woman Leda, has been hiding her origin all her life. Her father was a Companion, part of the Tribe of the Trees, which enslaves Leda's people, the Earth Walkers. Companions have animal allies, like familiars, that remain with them all their lives. Meanwhile, a third tribe engages in bloody sacrifice and torture, menacing their own people as well as Earth Walkers and Companions. Mari, despite her mixed heritage, is chosen as an ally by a young pup, and must decide which path of her heritage to follow. Magical rituals and plentiful backstories of the tribes set up the series for future titles, with the pace building as stories and characters from the three different tribes intertwine. HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: Best-seller Cast is getting three tribes' worth of promo: a six-figure marketing campaign including a tour and 500,000-copy market distribution.--Carton, Debbie Copyright 2016 Booklist
