Nahoko Uehashi – författare

Elin's family have an important responsibility: caring for the fearsome water serpents that form the core of their kingdom's army. So when some of the beasts mysteriously die, Elin's mother is sentenced to death as punishment. With her last breath she manages to send her daughter to safety. Alone, far from home, Elin soon discovers that she can talk to both the terrifying water serpents and the majestic flying beasts that guard her queen. This skill gives her great powers, but it also involves her in deadly plots that could cost her life. Can she save herself and prevent her beloved beasts from being used as tools of war? Or must she face the terrible battles to come?

Ten years have passed since the events of The Beast Player. Elin and Ialu are married, with a young son, living a quiet, peaceful life when one day Elin is called upon to investigate a matter of great urgency: the fearsome Toda are dying and nobody knows why. As Elin investigates, she uncovers a deadly plot and a brewing invasion. Can she protect her homeland without allowing her beloved beasts to be used as weapons of war, or will she have to compromise her principles to save her family?

The first volume of a sweeping fantasy by one of Japan’s most beloved storytellers, and the bestselling author of the Moribito series.The vast Umal Empire has flourished for centuries thanks to the miraculous ohaleh rice, a sacred grain brought from a distant land by the first empress Kokun. Resistant to all parasites, the rice has sustained the empire, ensuring peace and prosperity for centuries—until now. When a mysterious infestation strikes, famine spreads and the empire begins to crumble.Fifteen-year-old Aisha, granddaughter of the deposed lord of West Kantal, flees to the imperial capital with her younger brother after a violent coup. There she meets the reigning Kokun, Olie—an enigmatic girl worshipped for her supposed gift of scent, yet secretly powerless. As Aisha uncovers her own latent ability to perceive the natural world through smell, she and Olie form an unlikely alliance.Together, Aisha and Olie must uncover a hidden history and the truth behind the ohaleh rice, all the while battling forces that threaten not just the empire’s survival, but the very balance of nature.