Want to know the difference between an Iskari and Namsara? Author Kristen Ciccarelli has your ultimate cheat sheet to the Iskari Universe!

Iskari

1. the god of blood and moonlight; 2. the title for an anti-hero, or someone who brings destruction and death.

Namsara

1. the god of sky and spirit; 2. the title for a hero who rises up in times of trouble and leads his people out of darkness; 3. a rare desert flower that can heal any ailment

Asha

the king’s Iskari.

As a child, she summoned a dragon who burned her badly and nearly destroyed her city.
Special ability: hunting dragons.

Dax

Asha’s older brother and heir to the throne.

He’s spent a lot of time in the scrublands and is more sympathetic to their cause than he should be. 
Special Ability: keeping secrets.

Safire

cousin to Asha & Dax.

Because of her parentage—her father was royal, her mother was a slave—she’s treated as an outsider.
Special ability: protecting the ones she loves.

Jarek

the boy who saved Asha on the day she was burned by dragon fire.

Now he’s the commandant, is betrothed to Asha, and their wedding is seven days away.
Special ability: being a major jerk.

Torwin

a skral boy in Jarek’s household.

He plays a lute and is exceptionally good with a bow.
Special ability: being a smol cinnamon roll.

Roa

a scrublander girl from the House of Song and a childhood friend of Dax’s.

Special ability: plotting rebellions.

Shadow

a very pesky dragon.

Special ability: making things difficult for Asha.

Kozu

the first and oldest of dragons.

He burned Asha as a child and nearly destroyed Firgaard.
Special ability: telling stories.

Draksor

Asha’s people.

Historically, draksors have always been friends (and riders) of dragons as well as upholders of the old ways—until the dragons turned on them. Now the draksors hunt dragons and shun the old ways.

Skral

a group of invaders from the north who tried (and failed) to conquer the draksors during Asha’s grandmother’s reign.

Fearing they would wreak their havoc elsewhere, the dragon queen enslaved them.

Scrublander

those who left Firgaard (the capital city) centuries ago and settled across the Sand Sea. 

Technically they’re still under the dominion of the dragon king (whose regime they find oppressive). Democratically governed by five Great Houses. 

The Old One

an ancient god, often symbolized by a black dragon with a red heart of flame.
 

Kristen Ciccarelli hails from Ontario's Niagara Peninsula where she grew up on her grandfather's grape farm. She's made her living as a baker, a bookseller, and a potter, but now writes books about bloodthirsty dragons, girls wielding really cool weapons, and the transformative power of stories.

THE LAST NAMSARA IS OUT NOW. BOOK 2, THE CAGED QUEEN, IS OUT LATE 2018.