Elspeth Cooper – författare

SONGS OF THE EARTH is the most compelling debut fantasy novel since Patrick Rothfuss first hit the shelves four years ago, with the stunning THE NAME OF THE WIND. Combining superb characterisation with an epic story, it is beautifully told and engaging from the very first word.Gair is under a death sentence. He can hear music - music with power - and in the Holy City that means only one thing: he''s a witch, and he''s going to be burnt at the stake. Even if he could escape, the Church Knights and their witchfinder would be hot on his heels while his burgeoning power threatesn to tear him apart from within.There is no hope . . . none, but a secretive order, themselves persecuted almost to destruction. If Gair can escape, if he can master his own growing, dangerous abilities, if he can find the Guardians of the Veil, then maybe he will be safe. Or maybe he''ll discover that his fight has only just begun.

The future holds nothing but blood and death ...... and Teia fears there is nothing she can do about it. Her clan is riding to war, but her secret, untrained gift of foretelling has shown her they are riding to their doom. If she cannot turn them from their course, her only hope of saving them will be to betray them to their sworn enemies.Gair is mourning his past ...... but there is no time to dwell on his grief or hunger for revenge. Pursuing an artefact from the Founding Wars, he travels deep into the hostile southern deserts. As religious tensions erupt into bloody violence around him, he must make an impossible choice: save innocent lives or sacrifice them in the hope that thousands more can be saved later.And all the while, his grip on his powers is failing.