Hey peoples!!
I have just finished reading both 'Graceling' and 'Fire' by Kristin Cashore and I really had to tell you all about them.
Both books i would say are sci-fi/Fantasy with a lil romance thrown in for good measure. they are set in a different world and are set in quite a medieval period, eg, swords, horses, kings, battles, etc. I'm not sure if the books are available online though as i bought them at my bookshop.

The below are the blurbs that the authur has put on her website/blogspot: http://kristincashore.blogspot.com/

"Graceling, my debut novel, is the story of Katsa, who has been able to kill people with her bare hands since she was eight. Katsa lives in the seven kingdoms, where very occasionally, a person is born with an extreme skill called a Grace. Gracelings are feared and exploited in the seven kingdoms, and none moreso than Katsa, who's expected to do the dirty work of torture and punishment for her uncle, King Randa. But then she meets a mysterious stranger named Po, who is also a Graced fighter and the first person ever to challenge her in a fight. The two form a bond, and each discovers truths they never imagined about themselves, each other, and a terrible danger that is spreading slowly through the seven kingdoms."

this book i could not put down, its very down-to-earth with the characters and even though the lead female Katsa has this special ability you can still relate to her in almost every way. The storyline has many paths that twist and turn and keeps you comin back for more. I give it 4 smilies!!

"Fire, Graceling's stand-alone prequel-ish companion book, takes place across the mountains to the east of the seven kingdoms, in a rocky, war-torn land called the Dells.
Beautiful creatures called monsters live in the Dells. Monsters have the shape of normal animals: mountain lions, dragonflies, horses, fish. But the hair or scales or feathers of monsters are gorgeously colored-- fuchsia, turquoise, sparkly bronze, iridescent green-- and their minds have the power to control the minds of humans.
Seventeen-year-old Fire is the last remaining human-shaped monster in the Dells. Gorgeously monstrous in body and mind but with a human appreciation of right and wrong, she is hated and mistrusted by just about everyone, and this book is her story.
Wondering what makes it a companion book/prequel? Fire takes place 30-some years before Graceling and has one cross-over character with Graceling, a small boy with strange two-colored eyes who comes from no-one-knows-where, and who has a peculiar ability that Graceling readers will find familiar and disturbing..."

similar in storyline to graceling but still very different. I would reccomend readers to read graceling first as it will asssit in understanding some concepts in the book. But other than that this story is just as good as 'Graceling', though I must say the ending was a lil bit of a let down, I'll let you decide for yourself but I still thoroughly enjoyed the book and will read it again in the near future. I give this book 3 1/2 smilies!!

This post was last modified: 11-23-2009 07:26 PM by Ilfain.