Melina Marchetta is Brilliant (Or I Just Read Finnikin of the Rock Twice)

About a year ago, I was introduced to Melina Marchetta by the fabulously talented Kristin Miller who sent me a copy of Jellicoe Road and subsequently changed my life.  After falling in love with her brilliant writing, I immediately set out to read everything else she'd ever written.


Fast forward to last week.  I picked up a copy of her newest release Finnikin of the Rock when I was in Missouri for the Missouri Writers Guild Annual Conference.  I read it.  Loved it.  Read it again.  Loved it even more the second time.

At the age of nine, Finnikin is warned by the gods that he must sacrifice a pound of flesh in order to save the royal house of his homeland, Lumatere.


And so he stands on the rock of three wonders with his childhood friend Prince Balthazar and the prince's cousin, Lucian, and together they mix their blood. And Lumatere is safe.


Until the 'five days of the unspeakable', when the King and Queen and their children are slaughtered in the palace. And an imposter king takes the throne.
And a curse is put on Lumatere, which traps those caught inside and forces thousands of others to roam the land as exiles, dying of fever and persecution in foreign camps.


But ten years later Finnikin is led to another rock to meet the young novice, Evanjalin. A girl plagued by dark dreams, who holds the key to their return to the Land of light...

Instead of risking plot spoilers, I'm not going to do anything but say If you liked Kristin Cashore and Graceling and Fire, you will LOVE Finnikin of the Rock.