Graceling by Kristin Cashore
Excellent book, interesting premise, good characters and well-thought out conflicts. In the world Katsa has grown up in, some people are “Graced.” This means they have a special talent other people do not, and is signaled by the person’s eyes changing to two different colors. So a child cannot hide being Graced, and where she is from, all Graced children are given to the King, who gets to decide whether the child will stay in his service, or be returned to his or her parents. Graces can be anything, useful or mundane. Some are gifted with swimming, sewing, whistling, fishing, or archery – in Katsa’s case, her Grace was identified when she was 8 years old, as a Killing Grace.
The King is her uncle, and she is his responsibility anyway as her parents are deceased, so she becomes his “weapon” and he uses her to intimidate, kill or force others to bend to his will. He uses her reputation, which has grown throughout the seven Kingdoms, as a deterrent. As she matures, she becomes less and less willing to just be a ‘dumb beast” and, unbeknownst to her uncle, starts a Council of justice-minded citizens to fight abuses like his.
The book begins with Katsa and her friends rescuing a prisoner from the dungeon of another kingdom – their rescuee turns out to be an elderly Prince, for whom his grandson, Po, also a Graced fighter, is also searching. Katsa ends up knocking him unconscious before learning who he is.
They end up, through several twists and turns, teaming up, determined to find the truth behind the Prince’s kidnapping, and end up uncovering horrors in a distant kingdom, rescuing Po’s young cousin Princess Bitterblue, and getting involved in tremendous danger, as well as a well-described Quest tale.
A very interesting concept – Graced beings, and their talents being known, feared and often exploited, and how they deal with that. I have known people with two different colored eyes – my first Campfire Girls leader was one – and found it interesting. That in her world it signfies something important seems quite logical.
Well-developed characters, and a well-described lands and people keep it interesting beyond the human factor as well. It is her first novel, and she has developed a world and characters worth revisiting. So I hope there will be more, and I look forward to them!