Books.org participates in affiliate programs including Bookshop.org and the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program. We may earn a commission from qualifying purchases made through links on this page, at no additional cost to you.
Overview
In a land on the brink of peace—watched jealously by a ruthless cult from across the sea and beset by hidden enemies—five extraordinary humans must serve as sword and shield of the Gods.
Auraya is one.
Her heroism saved a village from destruction; now Auraya has been named Priestess of the White. The limits of her unique talents must be tested in order to prove her worthy of the honor and grave responsibility awarded to her. But a perilous road lies ahead, fraught with pitfalls that will challenge the newest servant of the gods. An enduring friendship with a Dreamweaver—a member of an ancient outcast sect of sorcerer-healers—could destroy Auraya's future. And her destiny has set her in conflict with a powerful and mysterious, black-clad sorcerer with but a single purpose: the total annihilation of the White. And he is not alone . . .
Editorials
From Barnes & Noble
The Barnes & Noble ReviewFrom bestselling Australian author Trudi Canavan, author of the Black Magician trilogy (The Magicians' Guild, The Novice, and The High Lord), comes a fantasy saga about a young priestess who is thrown into the middle of a quickly escalating war between conflicting religious factions. Priestess of the White has it all: great characters, complex and compelling story lines, and oh-so-timely themes like tolerance, sacrifice, open-mindedness, and self-empowerment.
Auraya is just a normal teenage girl with a teenager's interests. Among her favorite pastimes is spending time in the forest with Leiard, a local -- and handsome -- Dreamweaver with a seemingly endless knowledge of herb folklore and healing. But when Auraya's successful negotiation during a village crisis bring her to the attention of the White, the godlike heads of the Circlian religion, she is made a priestess and leaves everything associated with her childhood behind. Ten years later, Auraya is one of the White, "the gods' chosen" who are only five in number. As she strives to unite the radically different nations of northern Ithania, she must also deal with not only an impending religious war but also the Circlians' deep-seated hatred for anyone who is not like them -- namely, the pagan Dreamweavers.
A forceful fantasy with powerful elements of romance and religious allegory (similar to A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter M. Miller Jr., Ian Stewart and Jack Cohen's Heaven, et al.), this novel-- the first installment of the Age of the Five series -- will appeal to fans of Canavan's Black Magician trilogy. Paul Goat Allen