The Last Namsara Lib/E (Iskari)

Product description Kristen Ciccarelli’s debut fantasy explores an intricately woven world of deception, inner darkness, and dragons that fantasy fans won’t be able to resist. In the beginning, there was the Namsara: the child of sky and spirit, who carried love and laughter wherever he went. But where there is light, there must be darkness—and so there was also the Iskari. The child of blood and moonlight. The destroyer. The death-bringer. These are the legends that Asha, daughter of the king of Firgaard, has grown up learning in hushed whispers, drawn to the forbidden figures of the past. But it isn’t until she becomes the fiercest, most feared dragon slayer in the land that she takes on the role of the next Iskari—a lonely destiny that leaves her feeling more like a weapon than a girl. Asha conquers each dragon and brings its head to the king, but no kill can free her from the shackles that await at home: her betrothal to the cruel commandant, a man who holds the truth about her nature in his palm. When she’s offered the chance to gain her freedom in exchange for the life of the most powerful dragon in Firgaard, she finds that there may be more truth to the ancient stories than she ever could have expected. With the help of a secret friend—a slave boy from her betrothed’s household—Asha must shed the layers of her Iskari bondage and open her heart to love, light, and a truth that has been kept from her. Review Narrator Pearl Mackie's soft, cultured voice is the perfect vehicle for the complicated story of Asha...Mackie infuses the characters with emotions appropriate to their stations and to their relationships with each other. Asha progresses from scared and haughty to determined and loving-and ready to face the next part of her journey.– "AudioFile" An above-average romantic adventure that pulls readers in with careful pacing...Villains are sometimes but not always easy to recognize, and Asha wrestles with her own prejudice (class rather than race) as she sorts the good from the bad.– "Booklist" Ciccarelli has clearly poured care into both the creation of her world...and her complex but well-managed plotting.– "Kirkus Reviews" About the Author Kristen Ciccarelli hails from Ontario's Niagara Peninsula, where she grew up on her grandfather's grape farm. Raised by her very large Slovenian family, Kristen spent her childhood running wild with her cousins, adventuring in the woods, building forts in the barn, and obsessing over books, dragons, and girls wielding really cool weapons. These days Kristen resides in Kitchener, Ontario, with her blacksmith and her dog named Yonder. She wrote The Last Namsara for the girl she used to be (and sometimes still is). Visit her online at www.KristenCiccarelli.com.