Yesterday, I reviewed Mary Weber’s Storm Siren, the first in a new trilogy about Nym, an Elemental who’s conscripted into using her powers to fight for her home country of Faelen, regardless of the fact that she’s really not much of a fan of the place, nor the people that live in it.
Here’s the official word:
In a world at war, a slave girl’s lethal curse could become one kingdom’s weapon of salvation. If the curse—and the girl—can be controlled.
As a slave in the war-weary kingdom of Faelen, seventeen-year-old Nym isn’t merely devoid of rights, her Elemental kind are only born male and always killed at birth — meaning, she shouldn’t even exist.
Standing on the auction block beneath smoke-drenched mountains, Nym faces her fifteenth sell. But when her hood is removed and her storm-summoning killing curse revealed, Nym is snatched up by a court advisor and given a choice: be trained as the weapon Faelen needs to win the war, or be killed.
Choosing the former, Nym is unleashed into a world of politics, bizarre parties, and rumors of an evil more sinister than she’s being prepared to fight ... not to mention the handsome trainer whose dark secrets lie behind a mysterious ability to calm every lightning strike she summons.
But what if she doesn’t want to be the weapon they’ve all been waiting for?
Motivated by her work with teen girls, author Mary Weber wanted to write a suspenseful YA fantasy novel that would inspire teens but could also help them make sense of a world where they often receive mixed cultural and media messages about what strength and beauty are.
Says Mary of the main message she hopes readers take away from Storm Siren: “We are powerful, passionate beings, each existing for a unique purpose. No matter how broken we’ve been, or what failures we’ve seen, or even how much hurt we’ve caused others, there is beauty in us.”
To play off the idea of unique beauty, and to celebrate the book’s release, Mary’s daughter has created a set of limited edition necklaces inspired by Nym’s story. And we’re giving one away!
Want a chance to win? Leave a comment below telling us whether you’d consider having the ability to effect the weather a gift or a curse, and why. U.S. readers only, please.
Check out an excerpt of the book:
My hair slips down my back and shoulders and around my face like fresh snow falling on the forest floor. Pure white. I raise my chin as the onlookers stare. Yes. Look.
You don’t want me.
Because, eventually, accidentally, I will destroy you.
It’s what I do.
A child’s gasp breaks the silence, and out of the corner of my eye I see the little redheaded girl at the outer edge of the crowd. The reins of her collar are in her master’s hand. He’s stalled in horror like the rest of them. But the little girl’s features – they’re painted in awe. Which, of course, makes a lump climb up my throat. The childlike mercy her innocence brings touches something within me. She’s too young to recognize the perverse significance of my snowy-white hair and sea-blue eyes. Apparently no one’s told her about Elementals, or how they are not allowed to exist. No one’s told her that a female version is not even possible. That I shouldn’t be.
About Mary:
Photo credit: Sarah Kathleen Photography
Mary Weber is a ridiculously uncoordinated girl plotting to take over make-believe worlds through books, handstands and imaginary throwing knives. In her spare time, she feeds unicorns, sings 80’s hairband songs to her three muggle children and ogles her husband who looks strikingly like Wolverine. They live in California, which is perfect for stalking L.A. bands, Joss Whedon and the ocean. You can connect with Mary via Twitter, on Facebook or at her website.
Storm Siren will be available Aug. 19.