Sadima lives in a world where magic has been banned, leaving poor villagers prey to fakes and charlatans. A "magician" stole her family's few valuables and left Sadima's mother to die on the day Sadima was born. But vestiges of magic are hidden in old rhymes and hearth tales and in people like Sadima, who conceals her silent communication with animals for fear of rejection and ridicule. When rumours of her gift reach Somiss, a young nobleman obsessed with restoring magic, he sends Franklin, his lifelong servant, to find her. Sadima's joy at sharing her secret becomes love for the man she shares it with. But Franklin's irrevocable bond to the brilliant and dangerous Somiss traps her, too, and she faces a heartbreaking decision. Centuries later, magic has been restored, but it is available only to the wealthy and is strictly controlled by wizards within a sequestered academy of magic. Hahp, the expendable second son of a rich merchant, is forced into the academy and finds himself paired with Gerrard, a peasant boy inexplicably admitted with nine sons of privilege and wealth. Only one of the ten students will graduate -- and the first academic requirement is survival.
Sadima's and Hahp's worlds are separated by generations, but their lives are connected in surprising and powerful ways in this brilliant first book of Kathleen Duey's dark, complex, and completely compelling trilogy.
Written in alternative chapters this story of a girl who lives in a world where magic is frowned on, ridiculed and punished and a boy where magic is rampant but to become a magician you have to survive the school. A place where you starve until you work out how to create your own food, a place where your other classmates disappear and where you're told only one of you will go on to become a magician.
Hahp is one of these students, a disappointment to his parents this is his last recourse. He learns but can he learn quickly enough.
Sadima is from the earlier time, her mother died giving birth to her and only for her dedicated brother she wouldn't have survived much longer. She can hear animals speak to her. When opportunity brings her to the big city she finds herself with Franklin and Somiss and their obsession to discover the truth about magic. The cost may be too high.
The story ends on a cliffhanger and I really do want to know what happens next.
Reading updates
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Started reading
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3 September, 2009:
Finished reading
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3 September, 2009:
Reviewed