Kara Dalkey – författare

Here is the eagerly anticipated follow-up to the award-winning anthology Firebirds! Firebirds Rising takes readers from deep space to Faerie to just around the corner. It is full of magic, humor, adventure, and?best of all?the unexpected. The one thing readers can count on is marvelous writing. Firebirds Rising proves once again that Firebird is a gathering place for writers and readers of speculative fiction from teenage to adult, from the United States to Europe, Asia, and beyond.

“Dalkey’s intriguing marine world brims with descriptions of Atlantis and mermyd life”—first in a captivating young adult series of ritual and romance (Publishers Weekly).     Sixteen-year-old mermyd Nia has one wish: to gain glory for the noble Bluefin Clan by becoming an Avatar, one who rules Atlantis through a telepathic connection with an ancient alien race. But first she must be chosen as a candidate by her clan, and then pass the Trials. Nia is sure she can outswim and outwit anyone else in her family, which is why she is shocked when her bumbling cousin is chosen instead.   At least her crush Cephan is competing in the Trials. Of the lowly Stingray clan, he toils in the Lower Depths of Atlantis and gives Nia a glimpse of her undersea city that changes everything she thought she knew. Secrets and lies are submerged in the heart of Atlantis, and the upcoming Trials will put Nia’s loyalty to her clan to the test, and bring her world crashing down around her . . .  “An exotic undersea world is given vivid life . . . A detailed and refreshingly original submerged society, continually revealing deeper layers and hidden crannies that hint at a rich and complex history . . . The exhilarating twists and turns carry readers gasping into a stunning cliffhanger that will leave them clamoring for the next installment.” —Kirkus Reviews

In the second novel of “adventure, magic, and mystery” in the Water trilogy, only land-dwellers can save the undersea world, from the author of Ascension (VOYA).   Sixteen-year-old Corwin has found himself a wanted man in fifth-century Wales, thanks to his former mentor, a trickster and thief. Reduced to searching for seashells to peddle, he finds an especially shiny one in the tentacles of a beached sea creature, a shell that will leave a mark on his palm, and in his mind.   Plagued by visions all his life, Corwin now sees things with new eyes and senses, including the mysterious girl who comes to his rescue when he is captured by royal guards. Her name is Nia, and she, too, has the mark, and a strange story about an undersea world, an evil mermyd, and a lost prince. They have seven days to find the prince before his poison, now inside them both—destroys them all—and their one chance to save the lost city of Atlantis . . .  Praise for Ascension   “Dalkey’s intriguing marine world brims with descriptions of Atlantis and mermyd life.” —Publishers Weekly   “An exotic undersea world is given vivid life . . . A detailed and refreshingly original submerged society, continually revealing deeper layers and hidden crannies that hint at a rich and complex history . . . The exhilarating twists and turns carry readers gasping into a stunning cliffhanger that will leave them clamoring for the next installment.” —Kirkus Reviews

The trilogy finale “that combines elements of Atlantis, alien-earth population theory, and King Arthur legends . . . Engrossing, suspenseful, and fun” (Booklist).   Sixteen-year-old Corwin has been telepathically linked to mermyd Nia ever since she arrived on the shores of Wales. Their bond is also shared by Gobaith, the young Farworlder creature. Now, the time has come for Corwin to embrace his half-mermyd ancestry and follow his friends to a place beyond his imagination: Atlantis. The undersea city has been taken over by an evil mermyd king who has killed the reigning Farworlders and implanted the source of their alien powers into his own body. The wicked king’s ambition has grown beyond the confines of the sea, and dry-lander kingdoms are his next conquest.   Only Nia, Corwin, and Gobaith can stop him. Their only hope to save Atlantis—and the world—rests in finding a magical sword. But to find this weapon of peace, they’ll have to wage war . . .  Praise for the Water trilogy   “Dalkey’s intriguing marine world brims with descriptions of Atlantis and mermyd life.” —Publishers Weekly on Ascension   “An exotic undersea world is given vivid life . . . The exhilarating twists and turns carry readers gasping into a stunning cliffhanger that will leave them clamoring for the next installment.” —Kirkus Reviews on Ascension   “Enjoyable. Buy it to hook readers into Arthurian fantasy.” —School Library Journal on Transformation