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Overview
Kristin Cashore’s best-selling, award-winning fantasy Graceling tells the story of the vulnerable yet strong Katsa, a smart, beautiful teenager who lives in a world where selected people are given a Grace, a special talent that can be anything from dancing to swimming. Katsa’s is killing. As the king’s niece, she is forced to use her extreme skills as his thug. Along the way, Katsa must learn to decipher the true nature of her Grace . . . and how to put it to good use. A thrilling, action-packed fantasy adventure (and steamy romance!) that will resonate deeply with adolescents trying to find their way in the world. Awards: Winner of the Mythopoeic Fantasy Award for Children's Literature, winner of the SIBA Book Award/YA, Indies Choice Book Award Honor Book, ALA Best Book for Young Adults, 2008 Publishers Weekly Best Book of the Year, 2008 School Library Journal Best Book of the Year, Amazon.com’s Best Books of 2008, 2008 Booklist Editors’ Choice, Booklist’s 2008 Top Ten First Novels for Youth, 2009 Amelia Bloomer List, BCCB 2009 Blue Ribbon List Don’t miss the sequel Fire, also a New York Times bestseller and ALA Best Book for Young Adults, winner of the 2010 Cybil for YA Fantasy/Sci Fi and the Amelia Elizabeth Walden Award.
Synopsis
Romantic medieval fantasy from a debut author
The New York Times - Katie Roiphe
In the course of her dark and eventful tale, Cashore plays with the idea of awkwardness, how at a certain age gifts and talents are burdens, how they make it impossible to feel comfortable in the world. And in this she writes a fairly realistic portrait of teenage life into the baroque courts of her outlandish kingdoms…In many respects Graceling is a study of mysterious angers: it offers a perfect parable of adolescence, as its characters struggle with turbulent emotions they must learn to control. The consequences are more tangible than they usually are in more mundane settings—if Katsa loses control, she breaks someone's jaw by accident—but the principle is the same. The teenage characters in this novel, like some we may know in life, grow into their graces. They realize that their monstrous individuality is not so monstrous after all.
Editorials
Katie Roiphe
In the course of her dark and eventful tale, Cashore plays with the idea of awkwardness, how at a certain age gifts and talents are burdens, how they make it impossible to feel comfortable in the world. And in this she writes a fairly realistic portrait of teenage life into the baroque courts of her outlandish kingdoms…In many respects Graceling is a study of mysterious angers: it offers a perfect parable of adolescence, as its characters struggle with turbulent emotions they must learn to control. The consequences are more tangible than they usually are in more mundane settings—if Katsa loses control, she breaks someone's jaw by accident—but the principle is the same. The teenage characters in this novel, like some we may know in life, grow into their graces. They realize that their monstrous individuality is not so monstrous after all.—The New York Times
Publishers Weekly
In a land of seven kingdoms, people with special talents, called Gracelings, are identified by their eyes-Katsa's are green and blue, one of each-although she's eight before her specific Grace is identified as a talent for killing. (While in the court of her uncle, King Randa, she swiped at a man attempting to grope her and struck him dead.) By 18 she's King Randa's henchwoman, dispatched to knock heads and lop off appendages when subjects disobey, but she hates the job. As an antidote, she leads a secret council whose members work against corrupt power, and in this role, while rescuing a kidnapped royal, she meets the silver-and-gold-eyed Po, the Graced seventh son of the Lienid king. That these two are destined to be lovers is obvious, though beautiful, defiant Katsa convincingly claims no man will control her. Their exquisitely drawn romance (the sex is offstage) will slake the thirst of Twilight fans, but one measure of this novel's achievements lies in its broad appeal. Tamora Pierce fans will embrace the take-charge heroine; there's also enough political intrigue to recommend it to readers of Megan Whalen Turner's Attolia trilogy. And while adult readers, too, will enjoy the author's originality, the writing is perfectly pitched at teens struggling to put their own talents to good use. With this riveting debut, Cashore has set the bar exceedingly high. Ages 14-up. (Oct.)
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Lady Katsa of Middluns and Prince Po of Lienid are both Gracelings, born with a special gift. Since age eight, Katsa has unwillingly served her uncle, King Randa, as his enforcer, because of her terrible ability to maim or kill barehanded. Accidentally meeting when Katsa undertakes a mission for the secret Council, Po and Katsa realize that there is something desperately wrong in the Seven Kingdoms, an evil somehow centered in the universally admired King Leck of Monsea. When Leck turns his attentions to his own daughter, Bitterblue, Katsa and Po recognize the truth: Leck too is Graced, with the ability to deceive, and his benevolence masks a horror that threatens not only the child but also the Kingdoms. Po and Katsa are complex, appealing characters. Growing into her gift, Katsa realizes her true Grace is not killing but survival. Po's intense awareness of those around him threatens Katsa's fierce need for independence, especially as they become lovers. When Katsa must leave a gravely injured Po behind to spirit Bitterblue to safety, she finds that to save them will require both independence and commitment. Cashore juggles her complicated plot with dexterity rivaling Katsa's. There are some undeveloped spots: The Council, an underground resistance group, never assumes its implied importance, and the ending is prolonged. But Cashore writes with an assurance that captures the reader. Female readers will appreciate Po's willingness to take Katsa on her own terms. Intrigue, death, love, a little sex, and pitched battles create a sure winner for mature fantasy fans. Reviewer: Kathleen BeckKLIATT
This stunning debut novel introduces a world in which certain individuals are born with supernatural abilities, or Graces. Some are benign, but Katsa's is for killing, making her feared by the populace while the king uses her to enforce his will. She revolts by organizing a secret society whose members right wrongs throughout the seven Kingdoms. When Katsa rescues an elderly prince from an inexplicable kidnapping, she and her Council, along with a brave little princess and a handsome prince with the Grace of mind-reading, will take on a seemingly kind and charming king—one with the most dangerous Grace of all. Readers will cheer for this plucky heroine and her loyal friends. For all collections. Reviewer: Deirdre RootChildren's Literature
Katsa is a killer. The eighteen-year-old heroine of Kristin Cashore's Seven Kingdoms fights better than Bruce Lee on speed and always gets her man. That is the problem. Kat is weary of doing the dirty work of her uncle, King Randas. She is beginning to question her special grace, specifically the heightened power of fighting that came with her separate-colored eyes. Meeting Prince Po, a near-equal in the lethal arts, creates other questions for the young lady. As she and Po set off on a quest to discover why Po's kindly grandfather was kidnapped, the plot thickens into romance. Cashore's first novel contains all the requirements of fantasy: a world stuck in the medieval mode of swords and long-suffering peasants, a touch of magic, and non-stop action. But once she's gotten her moral priorities sorted out, Katsas real problem is not surviving impossible odds. For her, that's a bagatelle. Much harder is admitting her femininity and recognizing that love can have a place in her life. Still, it is fun watching Cashore's wonder woman single-handedly slay mountain lions and conquer impassable winter mountain passes in the course of rescuing the young queen of a rogue kingdom. It's fun watching her get her man, too. Reviewer: Kathleen KarrSchool Library Journal
Gr 9 Up—Certain people in Katsa's world are born with a particular Grace—a superhuman skill—and are identified by having two different colored eyes in Kristin Cashore's debut novel (Harcourt, 2008). Katsa has a Grace for killing. She has been used by her uncle, King Randa, as an enforcer to punish his enemies, and she finally rebels against his wishes. She escapes with Prince Po, a Graceling from an adjoining kingdom, and they use their talents to protect the princess of another realm from her father—a Graceling with the most dangerous power they have ever encountered. This excellently performed full-cast production features Chelsea Mixon as Lady Katsa, who starts out with little emotion, but becomes more animated as Katsa breaks away from her uncle's control and becomes her own person. Others in the cast, especially Zachary Exton as Prince Po and Tim Green as King Leck, are wonderful at bringing the characters to life. This fantasy/romance is a first purchase for libraries with YA audiobook collections.—Suanne Roush, Osceola High School, Seminole, FLKirkus Reviews
An assured fantasy debut grapples with questions of identity, authenticity and autonomy. Lady Katsa is a Graceling, with an inborn magical gift marking her as both feared outcast and exploitable resource. While her peculiar Grace-the unsurpassed ability to kill-has been honed over the years by her uncle the king to bully and punish, Katsa has also secretly used it to bring a measure of justice to the Seven Kingdoms. When she encounters a strange prince whose mysterious Grace may just be a match for her own, she learns the corrosive seduction of power corrupted, but also the courage to trust others-and herself. Katsa is an ideal adolescent heroine, simultaneously confident of her strengths yet unsure of her place in the world. Every character is crafted with the same meticulous devotion to human comprehensibility, making the villain all the more appalling in his understated, twisted madness. In a tale filled with graphic violence and subtle heartbreak, gentle passion and savage kindness, matter-of-fact heroics and bleak beauty, no defeat is ever total and no triumph comes without cost. Grace-full, in every sense. (Fantasy. YA)First printing of 75,000Booklist
“An impressive first novel, this well crafted and rewarding fantasy will leave readers hoping for more.” BooklistThe Horn Book Magazine
"With a butt-kicking but emotionally vulnerable heroine, [Graceling] should appeal to fans of recent girl-power urban fantasies. . . ."BookPage
"Cashore strikes a strong balance between adventure, drama and romance—bloody battles and sexual tension co-exist in equal measure—and Katsa's combination of pride in her unique talents and vulnerability in her self-doubts make her a strongly sympathetic character. Readers will identify closely with this young woman, whose coming of age also involves coming to terms with a talent that is both a blessing and a curse."—BookPage, November 2008Catherine Gilbert Murdock
“A brilliant, unforgettable story. I consumed Graceling in one sitting, awed by its originality, breadth, and humanity. For a first novel - for any novel - this book is extraordinary.”
—Catherine Gilbert Murdock, author of Dairy Queen
Susan Hirschman
“I can’t remember when I last was this impressed by a new fantasy. Kristin Cashore’s voice is fresh and fluent. The characters are memorable, the plot filled with surprises—all of which are entirely plausible—and the end result is a story that you tear through so that you can immediately start again at the beginning and read it with the care it deserves. A truly spectacular novel.”
—Susan Hirschman, Founder of Greenwillow Books