Three years after the curse on Lumatere was lifted, Froi has found his home … or so he believes. …Blood sings to blood….those born last will make the first and Charyn will be barren no more A girl plagued by dark dreams, who holds the key to their return to the Land of light. And a curse is put on Lumatere, which traps those caught inside and forces thousands of others to roam the land as exiles, dying of fever and persecution in foreign camps.īut ten years later Finnikin is led to another rock to meet the young novice, Evanjalin. Until the ‘five days of the unspeakable’, when the King and Queen and their children are slaughtered in the palace. And so he stands on the rock of three wonders with his childhood friend Prince Balthazar and the prince’s cousin, Lucian, and together they mix their blood. And when you finish the last satisfying sentence, you'll want to go right back to Finnikin of the Rock and start the breathtaking journey to Lumatere once again, because it's a place of heartbreak and joy, like Middle-earth and Narnia and the wizarding world.“Be prepared for the worst, my love, for it lives next door to the best.”Īt the age of nine, Finnikin is warned by the gods that he must sacrifice a pound of flesh in order to save the royal house of his homeland, Lumatere. You'll laugh as Finnikin and Froi fight, debate, and love each other like brothers. You'll cry as a mother weeps at the loss of her baby, only to nurse another baby she feels compelled to protect. It's these three relationships, along with their too-large-to-name families, that make this such a beautifully crafted tale.

In addition to the central quartet of the Lumaterans Finnikin and Isaboe and the Charynites Froi and Quintana, the most heartbreaking love story belongs to Lucian and Phaedra, a Lumateran and a Charynite who love each other desperately even as they're both pulled in by duties to their own kingdoms.

Their unborn sons - one doomed and one blessed - even share a connection in the womb. All of these characters can be infuriating and selfish and stubborn, but somehow you root for the half-mad Quintana and the passionate Isaboe to stop hating each other enough to see that they're so ridiculously alike they could be sisters - each with their matching ideal mates in Finnikin and Froi.

But it's the beloved core we first met in Finnikin and Froi that shines in this final installment. It deftly manages a cast of hundreds, each member with his or her own allegiances and dilemmas. There's no room for mediocrity when it comes to epic fantasies, and Marchetta has outdone herself with this intricately woven tale.

Quintana of Charyn by Melina Marchetta