The Ruby Key (Moon and Sun Series #1)

Mankind is Sunkind
And rules by the light;
Nightlings are Moonkind,
And rule in the night;
Or there will be war.
Human and Nightlings are never to meet, but when Genna and her brother Dan venture into the old forest at night, they encounter a Nightling slave who reveals a terrifying secret: Genna and Dan's village chieftain has made a dangerous deal with Letrin, ruler of the Nightlings, offering the lives of his people in exchange for his own immortality.
To save the villagers and themselves, Genna and Dan strike their own bargain with the Nightling lord, but the stakes are even higher. Now, the siblings must embark upon a journey along the Moonroads, and bring back the key to Letrin's downfall.
Written in haunting, lyrical prose, Holly Lisle transports readers to the twilit realms of the Night Worlds.


Holly Lisle is a native of Salem, Ohio, but she's also lived in Alaska, Costa Rica, and Guatemala. She is the author of many bestselling adult suspense and fantasy novels. She has three children, a handful of cats, and believes writing is the best job a person can have. She currently resides in Georgia, with her family.



Holly Lisle is a native of Salem, Ohio, but she's also lived in Alaska, Costa Rica, and Guatemala. She is the author of many bestselling adult suspense and fantasy novels. She has three children, a handful of cats, and believes writing is the best job a person can have. She currently resides in Georgia with her family.

VOYA

Lisle invents a distinctive world where an uneasy truce exists between humankind, who rule by daylight, and nightlings, who rule by moonlight. One night, fourteen-year-old Genna and her brother, Dan, meet a nightling slave named Yarri. She informs them that their village's ruler has made an evil pact with the Kai-Lord of the Nightlings, Letrin, offering his own village in exchange for immortality. Genna and Dan forge their own pact with the Kai-Lord in order to save their village. With the aid of Yarri and a talking cat, Genna and Dan learn to navigate the moonroads that allow travel between worlds as they seek to satisfy their half of the bargain with Letrin and earn the ruby key. Lisle creates an imaginative story, but the book's biggest defect is the amount of help Genna and Dan are given. Yarri and the cat seem to pull them along and direct them at every turn. Two-thirds of the way through the book, the author arranges for Genna, the protagonist, to be alone. Not so coincidentally, the next chapter is titled "Alone," but even from this point Genna seems to be swept forward mostly by circumstance. The subject matter and cover will tempt teens to snatch this richly detailed fantasy, the first book in the Moon and Sun series, off the shelves, but other titles such as Wooding's Poison (Orchard, 2005/VOYA December 2005) and De Lint's Little (Grrl) Lost (Viking, 2007/VOYA October 2007) are better choices for teens searching for fantasy with strong female heroines. Reviewer: David Goodale