In the land of Chaimara, all females are born with the right to be shamans, Keepers of their world. But the power of the Keepers remains dormant a long time, until it finds itself again in a young girl named Mari in the village of Chadrons. It is then a Storyteller emerges like a wraith out of the desert and gives her a gift, a fragment of the ancient Ilmat-Mor that burns in her hands.
That same night, Mari's guardian tells her she must leave everything she has ever known, for her life is in danger. Armies of the Joraghi begin to hunt her at the bidding of Yarok-Mas, who stole the other half of the stone from his prisoner, Mari's mother, Isira. He is fanatically driven to possess the whole of the Ilmat-Mor and wield the ancient and absolute power it holds.
Against her will, Mari journeys into the world of a Chaimara she has never known. Time and place shift without warning. People cross her path, some intense and frightening, some comic, others strange, all of them with a hidden purpose and message for her. There are those she encounters, like the Shapeshifters, who live in darkness, ready to betray her, knowing the Joraghi will pay a good price for their knowledge.
Alone, Mari journeys through the desert of the Kalahi until she bands at last with a small group of rebels who live in the mountains of Dromgorden. They are led by her brother Liam, till then thought lost, and with him, Starfayl, a poet and warrior. As they enter the battle that must be waged to retrieve Isira, Mari discovers the truth of the Storytellers' gift, and of the destiny that is now her own to wield.
The high fantasy novel MARI has been a finalist in the ListenUp Audiobook contest.
