A Wilderness of Stars
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
In this magical romance from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Long Live the Pumpkin Queen, an illness cursing the land forces a teen girl astronomer to venture across the wilderness in search of the stars’ message that will, hopefully, save them all.
When all is lost, look to the stars.
Vega has lived in the valley her whole life—forbidden by her mother to leave the safety of its borders because of the unknown threats waiting for her in the wilds beyond. But when Vega sees an omen in the sky—one she cannot ignore—she is forced to leave the protective boundaries of the valley. Yet the outside world is much more terrifying than Vega could have ever imagined. People are gravely sick—they lose their eyesight and their hearing, just before they lose their lives.
But Vega has a secret: she is the Last Astronomer—a title carried from generation to generation—and she is the only one who understands the knowledge of the stars. Knowledge that could hold the key to a cure. So when locals spot the tattoo on Vega’s neck in the shape of a constellation—the mark of an astronomer—chaos erupts. Fearing for her life, Vega is rescued by a girl named Cricket who leads her to Noah, a boy marked by his own mysterious tattoos.
On the run from the men hunting her, Vega sets out across the plains with Cricket and Noah, in search of a fabled cure kept secret by the astronomers. But as the line between friends and protectors begins to blur, Vega must decide whether to safeguard the sacred knowledge of the astronomers…or if she will risk everything to try to save them all.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Seventeen-year-old Vega, the Astronomer, must partner with the fabled Architect to save a world ravaged by a fictional plague in this slow-burning, atmospheric romance by Ernshaw (Winterwood). Vega's mother is the Astronomer, a custodian of celestial knowledge whose powers are passed matrilineally through the generations. Vega, who has never left their isolated rural valley, knows she will one day inherit the mantle, but it occurs sooner than expected when, after a sign in the stars foretells an omen, Vega's mother dies, leaving her alone to venture beyond the valley. Vega seeks the Architect, a man tasked with leading her on a destined quest to save humankind from the consumption, a lethal illness. While she was expecting the Architect to be a learned philosopher, she instead finds charming teenage Noah. Together the duo must contend with supply scarcity, extreme and dangerous weather, and violent fanatics who are hunting for the Astronomer. Mystery and romance unfurl at an unhurried clip, and Vega's absorbing first-person narration lends immediacy to this existential tale, which evokes an old western feel and hints at a larger potential world. Vega is described as having copper-colored skin. Ages 14–up.