Available:*
Library | Call Number | Status |
|---|---|---|
Searching... Silver Falls Library | SF CZERNEDA | Searching... Unknown |
Searching... Salem Main Library | FANTASY Czerneda, J. | Searching... Unknown |
Bound With These Titles
On Order
Summary
Summary
Winner of the 2014 Prix Aurora Award For Best English Novel
The village of Marrowdell is an isolated pioneer community, but it is also the place where two worlds overlap, and at the turn of light--sunset--the world of magic known as the Verge can briefly be seen.
Jenn Nalynn belongs to both Verge and Marrowdell, but even she doesn't know how special she is--or that her invisible friend Wisp is actually a dragon sent to guard her... and keep her from leaving the valley. But Jenn longs to see the world, and thinking that a husband will help her reach this goal, she decides to create one using spells. Of course, everything goes awry, and suddenly her "invisible friend" has been transformed into a man. But he is not the only newcomer to Marrowdell, and far from the most dangerous of those who are suddenly finding their way to the valley...
Author Notes
Julie E. Czerneda is a biologist and writer whose science fiction has received international acclaim, awards, and best-selling status. She is the author of the popular "Species Imperative" trilogy, the "Web Shifters" series, the "Trade Pact Universe" trilogy and her new "Stratification" novels. She was a finalist for the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer. Her stand-alone novel, In the Company of Others , won Canada's Prix Aurora Award and was a finalist for the Philip K. Dick Award for Distinguished SF. Julie lives with her husband and two children in the lake country of central Ontario, under skies so clear they could take seeing the Milky Way for granted, but never do. You can find her at www.czerneda.com.
Reviews (3)
Publisher's Weekly Review
A young woman trapped between two worlds must risk everything to save both in Czerneda's charming character-driven fantasy of rich magic, multilayered characters, and dangerous choices. Jenn Nalynn longs to travel far beyond the remote village of Marrowdell to find adventure and true love. Unfortunately Jenn is "turn-born," born in the narrow Verge where the mortal world and a magical realm overlap, and bound to the land by her birth; any attempt to leave Marrowdell will release the Verge's wild magic, bringing chaos and death to both worlds. As Jenn's 19th birthday approaches, along with the eclipse called the Great Turn, Jenn is drawn toward the dangerous Verge and torn between the two men she loves: an exiled prince and a disgraced dragon-turned-human sent by forces across the Verge to guard her. Science fiction author Czerneda (the Stratification series) will charm fantasy readers with multidimensional characters, a vivid setting, and powerful themes of hope and renewal. (Mar.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Booklist Review
Acclaimed sf writer Czerneda turns to fantasy in her latest well-imagined outing. Crafting the mystical world of Marrowdell, she populates the valley with a variety of magical creatures, including house toads, dragons, and a beautiful but restless heroine who holds the key to Marrowdell's security. Although she longs to travel beyond the well-trod byways of her village, Jenn Nalynn, the miller's daughter, is moored to Marrowdell by the curse of her birth. Turn-born, she unwittingly provides the balance between Marrowdell and the darkly feral Verge. Precariously pinned together, these two worlds can only coexist if Jenn, who is defiantly beginning to flex her magical muscles, remains firmly rooted in place. Genre fans will appreciate all the vividly detailed attention to world building embedded in this entertaining fable.--Flanagan, Margaret Copyright 2010 Booklist
Library Journal Review
Jenn Nalynn, the miller's daughter, lives a charmed life in the tiny, secluded village of Marrowdell. She spends her days in the meadow near the forbidden place called Night's Edge, passing her time with her invisible companion, Wisp, her best and truest friend. But as she grows to adulthood, she longs to visit places outside the village, which has grown too small for her ambitious and hungry mind. Only then does she discover that Marrowdell sits on the edge of the Verge, a magical chasm that divides the world of mortals from a dangerous world of dragons and stranger creatures, and that she has the power to create chaos between the two worlds if she sets foot outside the village. The appearance of two strangers, former soldiers, in the village signals the beginning of tumultuous events that bring Jenn's safe world and her dreams of travel crashing down around her. VERDICT Known for her powerful and insightful sf novels (In the Company of Others), Czerneda brings the same exacting sensibility to her brilliant fantasy debut. Her characters are both charming and believable, and Jenn, her friend Wisp, and the soldier Bannan stand out as memorable and utterly real. While this can be read as a stand-alone, there are plenty of possibilities for more stories in the world outside Marrowdell. Fans of L.E. Modesitt Jr. and Charles de Lint will love this fantastic and magical fable. (c) Copyright 2013. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.