Foul creatures called gargols lurk behind every cloud, ready to slay anyone unlucky enough to be caught outside in a storm - just as Ellie's family was. This rigid hierarchy means that Ellie is destined to become a farmer.ĭetermined to honor her parents' memories and prove herself worthy of the Goldwings, Ellie sets out on her own for the capital. There's just one problem: Ellie is a Sparrow, and the Goldwings are almost invariably picked from the higher clans like Eagles and Ospreys. It was a Goldwing, after all, who saved her life on that terrible day her parents were killed. In the Clandoms, everyone is born with wings, with tight-knit communities formed around bird types: Jay, Falcon, Crow.Įllie Meadows dreams of growing up to join the Goldwings - the famed knights who defend all the people of the Clandoms. In a world where everyone is born with wings, stone monsters prowl the skies, hunting those who dare to fly too high. This first book in the Skyborn series is well-written, exciting, and magical-a harbinger of more good stories to follow.Jessica Khoury brings her masterful world-building and emotional depth to a brand-new fantasy series. Readers can learn alongside her as she grows to understand what it means to be an independent thinker and actor in the world. Ellie is an engaging protagonist, too stubborn for her own good but still open-minded enough to see the point of view of others. Whether they are friends or enemies, she’s not sure, but they have a lot to teach her about right, wrong, heroism, and worthiness.Īs well as offering a believable and enchanting fictional world, the story mirrors troubling issues like our own, including unearned privilege and class inequality, poverty, child abuse and neglect, and state-sanctioned violence. Determined to join anyway, Ellie runs away from her clan and becomes entangled with a gang of outcast thieves. Unfortunately, there’s a strict hierarchy among the clans, and a lowly Sparrow like her is not considered worthy.
Others lack even that protection as outcasts from clandom and are forced to earn a living through theft and trickery, hunted by gargols and the king’s soldiers.Įllie wants nothing more than to become a Goldwing-one of the elite fighters who fight against the gargols. Some, like Ellie, live in tight-knit clans, bonded together for protection against the sky-dwelling stone gargols who wait in every cloud to rip them to pieces.
In this original and magical fantasy novel, Khoury presents a world in which the magical dream of being able to fly is a reality.Įllie lives in a world where everyone is born with wings, but not everyone can fly free.
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