The thrilling prequel to the bestselling ASH.
Nature is out of balance in the human world. The sun hasn't shone in years, and crops are failing. Worse yet, strange and hostile creatures have begun to appear. The people's survival hangs in the balance.
To solve the crisis, the oracle stones are cast, and Kaede and Taisin are picked to go on a dangerous and unheard-of journey to Tanlili, the city of the Fairy Queen. Taisin is a sage, thrumming with magic, and Kaede is of the earth, without a speck of the otherworldly. And yet their two destinies are drawn together during the mission. As members of their party succumb to unearthly attacks and fairy tricks, the two come to rely on each other and even begin to fall in love. But the Kingdom needs only one huntress to save it, and what it takes could tear Kaede and Taisin apart forever. . .
Malinda Lo was born in China and moved to the United States as a child. She was the managing editor of AfterEllen.com, with over half a million readers each month. In 2006, she was awarded the Sarah Pettit Memorial Award for Excellence in LGBT Media by the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association for her writing about gender, race and sexuality. She lives in Northern California with her partner and their dog.