Finnikin of the Rock

Description

Finnikin of the Rock and his guardian, Sir Topher, have not been home to their beloved Lumatere for ten years. Not since the dark days when the royal family was murdered and the kingdom put under a terrible curse. But then Finnikin is summoned to meet Evanjalin, a young woman with an incredible claim: the heir to the throne of Lumatere, Prince Balthazar, is alive. Evanjalin is determined to return home and she is the only one who can lead them to the heir. As they journey together, Finnikin is affected by her arrogance, and her hope. He begins to believe he will see his childhood friend, Prince Balthazar, again. And that their cursed people will be able to enter Lumatere and be reunited with those trapped inside. He even believes he will find his imprisoned father. But Evanjalin is not what she seems. And the truth will test not only Finnikin's faith in her - but in himself.

Melina Marchetta is one of Australia's most successful writers of young-adult fiction and is a best-selling and critically acclaimed author in more than twenty countries and in eighteen languages. In 2009 Marchetta won the prestigious Michael L. Printz Award from the American Library Association for On the Jellicoe Road, and Melina's screenplay for this book is currently set to be made into a major film with an international cast to be directed by Looking for Alibrandi director Kate Woods. Melina has written for ABC-TV's Dance Academy. Finnikin of the Rock, Book One of the Lumatere Chronicles,was first published in Australia in 2008, followed in 2010 by the companion novel to her award-winning book Saving Francesca, The Piper's Son, long-listed for the Miles Franklin Award and short-listed for many other literary awards in Australia and internationally. Melina is also the author of The Gorgon in the Gully, which takes up the story of On the Jellicoe Road's Jonah Griggs's family, and stars his younger brother Danny in this story for younger readers. Book Two in the Lumatere Chronicles, Froi of the Exiles, was published in 2011, and Book Three, Quintana of Charyn, was published in 2012. 2012 also marked the twenty-year anniversary of Melina Marchetta's first novel Looking for Alibrandi, the much-loved Au