| | | |
After being banished from The Guild for revealing the truth in the stones, or the lies in history, she goes on a quest to determine the truth and complete the mission the stones have given her. It is easy to disappear into the world Machado has created-- fantastical and yet familiar.
As a young woman and a recently freed slave, Sariah is a reluctant heroine. She carries the emotional and physical scars from the abuse of her masters, suffers the rejection of her fellow wisers (others who can read the stones), and questions her faith and her purpose not only as a servant to the stones, but as a woman, a lover, and a future mother. Her past is far from perfect and her future is uncertain. With a price on her head, she is attacked by eels, hunted by The Shield, imprisoned by The Guild, and persecuted by her own people. Due to her undying hunger for the truth, Sariah is a perpetual outsider. One cannot help but root for Sariah, identify with her, and fall in love with her unfailing determination. She is an unlikely heroine, the due north in a land with no moral compass.
Forsaken by her own, Sariah overcomes obstacles to overlook prejudices, forge surprising friendships, and endure both personal and physical hardship. Her journey takes her to the far corners of civilization, to places once forgotten and misunderstood for centuries. Internally, she makes the transition from headstrong maiden to wise mother, from youth to maturity. She is the spark for a revolutionary change. While confronting the evil around her, Sariah epitomizes the pursuit of good, the embodiment of truth, and the symbol of hope for a world that lies in shambles, not so different from our own.
| |
|
