Heir to the Sky - Hardcover

Amanda Sun was born in Deep River, Ontario, and now lives in Toronto. The Paper Gods series, which includes Ink, Rain, and Storm, was inspired by her time living in Osaka and traveling throughout Japan. She is an avid video gamer and cosplayer. Visit her on the web at www.amandasunbooks.com and on twitter @Amanda_Sun.

Gr 7 Up—Sun combines the increasingly popular setting of floating realms with dashes of dystopia and romance and tops it off with some monsters for a wonderful fantasy novel. Kali is the daughter of the Monarch of Ashra, who rules over the lands in the sky of Ashra, Burumu, Nartu, and the Floating Isles. Although Kali does not love him, she is betrothed to Jonash, the son of the Sargon, protector of the realm. She overhears the Elder Aban and an officer of the Elite Guard talking of rebellion in Burumu and knowledge from the ancient annals that has been hidden. She reveals this conversation to her best friend, Elisha, and Jonash as they are strolling at night near the edge of Ashra. Jonash stumbles, and trying to save him, Kali falls. She awakens later, alive but in pain on the earth below, a place that she was always taught was filled with monsters. She is saved from her first monster attack by Griffin, a young man about her age. Kali is surprised to learn that a few humans still live in the land below, and Griffin begins to teach her that many of the other things that she learned in Ashra were false. This brilliant tale should appeal to fans of Lauren DeStefano and Veronica Rossi, as it mixes the sky kingdom world of one with the survival elements of the other. VERDICT A must for all teen fantasy collections.—Eric Norton, McMillan Memorial Library, Wisconsin Rapids, WI