Two friends. Two opinions. One dilemma.
On fabled Navarys-the Atlantis of the North-lands-Liliyah studies energea as all thirteen-year-olds do, devoting her mornings to mastering the music that controls her magic. Afternoons, she hobnobs with the artisan crafters and shopkeepers who built the island city-state into the trade capital of the world.
Her friend Mago faces struggles unsuspected by carefree Liliyah. His father, a renowned inventor, succumbs to irrational flashes of rage. His mother holds a lethal secret close.
When the king's geomancer announces that a tidal wave threatens Navarys, every citizen on the island springs to action. Amidst the uproar, the aeromancer Palujon steals Mago's father's latest invention: unique lodestones with the potential to revolutionize life as the Navareans know it.
Mago vows to make good his father's loss. But Liliyah questions Palujon's motives. Why would a man of his stature break the law? Is he truly a dastard?
Two friends. Two answers. Life and death hang on their choices.
PRAISE FOR J.M. NEY-GRIMM
"...a coming-of-age story with elements of Steampunk make it a great tale for fantasy enthusiasts of all ages." -D.J. Gelner, Amazon review of Troll-magic
"I loved this story! It is lively, perky and interesting." -W. Walsh, Amazon review of The Troll's Belt
"J.M. Ney-Grimm is a master [of epic fantasy], and I've been a fan of her work since the first paragraph I read..." -James J. Parsons, Speaking to the Eyes review of Sarvet's Wanderyar
"Her work compares favorably with Robin McKinley and Patricia McKillip ...I'm really pleased to have discovered her!" -Mira, Amazon review of Troll-magic
EXCERPT FROM SKIES OF NAVARYS
The tale is usually told with the great Palujon Clisto as rogue and thief, and the legendary Zandro Mytris as hero and savior. But one mother of ancient Navarys knows the truth.
She was there on the fabulous airship Subindo, the only one of the fleet to ride untouched through the storm.
* * *
Liliyah clutched the back of the divan where she knelt, bounced once, and pressed her face to the slanted window pane of the airship. The glass felt cool against her nose tip.
"Look! Look!" she exclaimed. "It's Eirene! Going to the park."
"How can you tell?" Mago's shoulder nudged hers as he peered downward. "We're way too high to tell who's who."
"She always goes now. Besides, I just know. It is her."
Why did Mago have to doubt everything? He'd been nicer when they were younger. Now it was always "are you sure?" and "why do you think that?" and never just taking her say so. Liliyah gritted her teeth.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
J.M. Ney-Grimm lives with her husband and children in Virginia, just east of the Blue Ridge Mountains. She's learning about permaculture gardening and debunking popular myths about food. The rest of the time she reads Robin McKinley, Diana Wynne Jones, and Lois McMaster Bujold, plays boardgames like Settlers of Catan, rears her twins, and writes stories set in her troll-infested North-lands.
