The Naming (Pellinor Series #1)

by Alison Croggon

Overview

"Epic fantasy in the Tolkien tradition, with a strong girl hero who is entirely believable in her struggles. . . . I couldn't put it down!" — Tamora Pierce, author of the Protector of the Small and the Circle Opens quartets

Maerad is a slave in a desperate and unforgiving settlement, taken there as a child when her home was destroyed. She doesn’t yet know she is a member of the noble School of Pellinor and has inherited a powerful gift, one that enables her to see the world as few others can. It is only when she is discovered by Cadvan, one of the great Bards of Lirigon, that her true identity and extraordinary destiny unfold.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780763694432
Publisher:	Candlewick Press
Publication date:	06/13/2017
Series:	Pellinor Series , #1
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	512
Sales rank:	199,355
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 7.90(h) x 1.50(d)
Lexile:	870L (what's this?)
Age Range:	12 - 17 Years

About the Author

Alison Croggon is an award-winning Australian poet whose work has been published extensively in anthologies and magazines around the world. Her plays and opera libretti have been produced in Australia, and she is also an editor and critic. She began to write the books of Pellinor when her oldest son, Joshua, was reading fantasy. "I had forgotten how much I loved this stuff when I was a kid, and Josh's reading reminded me," she says. "My first real ambition as a child was to write a fantasy novel. One day I sat down and started writing a story. I had no idea what would happen, but one character appeared, and then another, and before long I had to finish the story to find out what happened." That story was THE NAMING. She says she was surprised by how the book seemed to unfold, already formed, before her. "Perhaps it's been waiting to be written for thirty years." Alison Croggon lives in Melbourne, Australia, with her playwright husband and their three children.

Read an Excerpt

"Maerad," he said at last, "if the Dark knows what Dernhil knew, we are in worse trouble than I thought. By the Light, I wish I knew what happened last night."
(Continues…)

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Excerpted from "The Naming"
by .
Copyright © 2017 Alison Croggon.
Excerpted by permission of Candlewick Press.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

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Table of Contents

Editorial Reviews

Croggon's characters and environmental descriptions glow with a romantic sensibility and resonate beautifully with archetypal connections to Tolkien.
—Kirkus Reviews, starred review

A challenging and fully realized epic adventure.
—School Library Journal, starred review

This Australian import is high fantasy of high caliber.
—Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, The

Many fantasy fans will look forward to following Maerad's adventures in the next volumes of this fantasy quest.
—Booklist

Unbelievably fine, this book represents fantasy storytelling at its best. This exemplary novel is sure to appeal to all fantasy fans.
—Voice of Youth Advocates

From the Publisher

Gr 7 Up-In this first volume in a projected quartet, Croggon has created a world that is both authentic and exotic, welcoming and frightening. When 16-year-old Maerad meets a man named Cadvan, she is catapulted from her life as a slave to an epic destiny. Cadvan is a Bard, one of the magically gifted Starpeople, and he begins to teach her about her own gifts and abilities. He believes her to be the prophesied One who will oppose the Nameless, the dark power working toward the destruction of the Bards and the Balance of the world. As Maerad and Cadvan travel, they join forces with Hem, a mysterious orphan, and learn that the Nameless's influence reaches far into the world of the Bards. Encounters with great mythic figures of their world and threatening evil forces add to the epic flavor of their journey. Maerad's story is presented as a translation of the great epic of a lost civilization, and explanatory appendixes add to this fantasy's realistic feel. Maerad is a strong, bold, and appealing character, and her lack of knowledge about her world provides a framework for Croggan's background explanations. Supporting characters, including the Bards and those who oppose them, are given realistic traits and flaws. While some coincidences in the plot may stretch readers' belief, they are integral to the story. Maerad seems a kindred spirit to Tamora Pierce's Alanna, and her story will find a welcoming audience among readers looking for a challenging and fully realized epic adventure.-Beth L. Meister, Pleasant View Elementary School, Franklin, WI Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

School Library Journal

A lush, vivid epic fantasy about a slave who becomes pivotal to a vast land's survival. Sixteen-year-old Maerad toils with no hope of freedom or human connection until the day a strange man shows up in the cow byre. Though wounded, he arranges her escape. Cadvan's a Bard, one of the special people in this land who use learning and inborn magical power in the service of good. Maerad's one too, though she never knew it and is ignorant of its workings. Old enemies of the Light are reappearing and Cadvan senses that his discovery of Maerad is no fluke. Evil sweeps the land both blatantly and insidiously as Maerad and Cadvan journey through a grand School and across the wilds, seeking help and clarity and battling foes. Croggon's characters and environmental descriptions glow with a romantic sensibility and resonate beautifully with archetypal connections to Tolkien. Maerad's path to her destiny will be awaited eagerly. (pronunciation key, map, appendices, poems) (Fantasy. 12+)

Kirkus Reviews