The Harp of Kings
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5,0 • 2 classificações
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- 6,49 €
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- 6,49 €
Descrição da editora
A young woman is both a bard—and a warrior—in this thrilling historical fantasy from the author of the Sevenwaters novels.
Eighteen-year-old Liobhan is a powerful singer and an expert whistle player. Her brother has a voice to melt the hardest heart, and is a rare talent on the harp. But Liobhan's burning ambition is to join the elite warrior band on Swan Island. She and her brother train there to compete for places, and find themselves joining a mission while still candidates. Their unusual blend of skills makes them ideal for this particular job, which requires going undercover as traveling minstrels. For Swan Island trains both warriors and spies.
Their mission: to find and retrieve a precious harp, an ancient symbol of kingship, which has gone missing. If the instrument is not played at the upcoming coronation, the candidate will not be accepted and the kingdom will be thrown into disarray. Faced with plotting courtiers and tight-lipped druids, an insightful storyteller, and a boorish Crown Prince, Liobhan soon realizes an Otherworld power may be meddling in the affairs of the kingdom. When ambition clashes with conscience, Liobhan must make a bold decision—and the consequences may break her heart.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
This breathtaking, often heartbreaking Celtic-flavored fantasy novel from Marillier (the Blackthorn & Grim series) couches a challenging quest in storytelling both earthy and unearthly. Young siblings Liobhan, a singer and whistle player, and Brocc, a singer and harper, both in the final stage of their taxing warrior training, are assigned to find the missing ancient Harp of Kings before Midsummer Day. The harp is needed to confirm the coronation of Breifne's new king. Disguised as itinerant musicians and supported by Dau, a troubled fellow trainee undercover as a mute stable boy, brash Liobhan and sensitive Brocc undertake a spy mission that tests and matures them. Liobhan, the martial artist heroine, discovers her softer nature; Brocc realizes his bardic calling; and proud Dau learns humbly how to love. Fantasy fans will savor Marillier's unerring knack for characterization; even the animals, such as dogs Storm and Bryn and fairy creature Moth-Weed, feel real. Most satisfying is her ability to weave multiple strands of narrative into a brilliant tapestry. This lush fantasy is sure to win Marillier many new fans.
