The Gilded Crown
A Raven's Trade Novel
-
-
4.5 • 8 Ratings
-
-
- $12.99
Publisher Description
The Witch’s Heart meets The Foxglove King in this spellbinding dark fantasy debut about a young woman with the extraordinary power of necromancy, and the ill-fated princess whose life she is determined to save, no matter the cost.
The first time Hellevir visited Death, she was ten years old…
Since she was a little girl, Hellevir has been able to raise the dead. Every creature can be saved for a price, a price demanded by the shrouded figure who rules the afterlife, who takes a little more from Hellevir with each soul she resurrects.
Such a gift can rarely remain a secret. When Princess Sullivain, sole heir to the kingdom’s throne, is assassinated, the Queen summons Hellevir to demand she bring her granddaughter back to life. But once is not enough; the killers might strike again. The Princess’s death would cause a civil war, so the Queen commands that Hellevir remain by her side.
But Sullivain is no easy woman to be bound to, even as Hellevir begins to fall in love with her. With the threat of war looming, Hellevir must trade more and more of herself to keep the Princess alive.
But Death will always take what he is owed.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Gordon debuts with a slow building but fascinating dark fantasy set in the vaguely Nordic fictional country of Chron, where a girl discovers the power to bring back the dead. Hellevir is born and raised in a cottage in the snowy woods and spends her childhood among trees and animals, using her gift to bring first a fox and then her own mother back from the land of death. Her life changes, however, when she's summoned to the capital to resurrect the late Princess Sullivain, who, once alive again, appoints Hellevir as her personal reviver from death in case of future assassination attempts. The city is controlled by the Onaistian faith, which preaches kindness and hope, but persecutes "heathens" like Hellevir, opening up a thematic exploration of religious hypocrisy. The tale is also a study of kindness and humanity, as Hellevir is molded and perhaps corrupted by the ways of the city, while conversely, Sullivain is persuaded to act against her tyrannical grandmother, the Queen, by Hellevir's influence. Though it takes a while for things to get moving, once the plot picks up, readers will find plenty to hold their attention. This series is off to a promising start.
