A Chalice of Wind (Balefire, No. 1) [Mass Market Paperback]

Cate Tiernan (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 18, 2005

After seventeen-year-old Thais Allard loses her widowed father in a tragic car accident, she is forced to leave the only home she’s ever known to live with a total stranger in New Orleans. New Orleans greets Thais with many secrets and mysteries, but none as unbelievable as the moment she comes face to face with the impossible— an identical twin, Clio.Thais soon learns that she and the twin she never knew come from a family of witches, that she possesses astonishing powers, and that she, along with Clio, has a key role in Balefire, the coven she was born into. Fiery Clio is less than thrilled to have to share the spotlight, but the twins must learn to combine their powers in order to complete a rite that will transform their lives and the coven forever.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 9 Up–Separated at birth, Thais and Clio are identical twins who've never met. Clio lives with her grandmother in New Orleans, where they practice Bonne Magie, a branch of witchcraft similar to Wicca but much older. Thais has lived with her father in Connecticut, and when he dies in a freak accident, she is moved to New Orleans by her new guardian, Axelle Gauvin, also a practicing witch. Thais meets Clio on the first day of their senior year at her new school, and both are freaked. Why were they separated? And what happens now that they are reunited? The girls tell their stories in alternating narratives. They are the most fully developed characters, but even secondary characters are given some depth. Though the plot starts off rather slowly in Connecticut, it picks up speed when Thais arrives in New Orleans and other secrets are discovered. Each chapter holds a sense of mystery and uneasiness. The ending is wide open, leaving so many questions unanswered and raising so many new ones that the next installment is a necessity. Containing fantasy, mystery, romance, and the bar scene of New Orleans, the book will find a wide audience.–Heather E. Miller, Homewood Public Library, AL
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Gr. 8-11. Seventeen-year-olds Thais and Clio exist in two very different worlds: Thais comes from a straight-laced Connecticut community; Clio lives with her Wiccan grandmother in New Orleans. Worlds collide when Thais' father suddenly dies and Thais is brought to New Orleans. The girls, who meet at school, discover they are connected by both magic and blood: they are twins, a rarity in the family, and they suddenly find themselves the object of intense interest by other members of their clan. Told in chapters narrated alternately by Clio and Thais, the suspenseful story moves quickly along, and a love triangle between the twins and a mysterious young man adds some depth. The action builds toward a tantalizing twist that will leave readers eager for future books in the Balefire series. This won't sit on the shelf long. Cindy Welch
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 12 and up
  
• Mass Market Paperback: 250 pages
• Publisher: Razorbill (August 18, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 159514045X
• ISBN-13: 978-1595140456
• Product Dimensions: 7 x 4.2 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #623,103 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Cate Tiernan lives in Durham, North Carolina.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Parent Trap Reversed, June 12, 2006

By 

Joshua Koppel (Chicago, IL United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: A Chalice of Wind (Balefire, No. 1) (Mass Market Paperback)

Thais (pronounced Tie-ees) has had her world turned upside down. Her father has died in an accident. But as the will is settled, she does not get to go with the woman she thought would be her guardian. Instead she is given to the care of a strange woman from New Orleans. She has no choice, at least until she turns eighteen in four months. Her new guardian is strange and seems unconcerned with things like Thais going to school. Thais has to enroll herself for senior year.

But once at school things get even stranger. For also attending school is the identical twin she never knew she had. Then Thais learns her sister (Clio), family, and guardian are all witches and that magic is real. But things just don't settle down. Near-death and romance come into her life as well as the knowledge of her family history and what parts she and her twin may play in it.

The book oscillates between Thais's and Clio's viewpoints with a few others sprinkled in to add necessary information. The flow is good and the revelations just keep coming. I am glad there are only four books in this series because at this pace anything more would be trivialized. Thais and Clio are typical twins having almost opposite personalities. Clio is a firebrand and party animal while Thais is more straight laced and responsible. A large cast of unusual characters make up the rest of the cast. And make sure you have the next book handy because when you read this one you will want to know what happens next.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very Good!, August 27, 2005

By 

Readaholic "lerner93" (Palmyra, VA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Chalice of Wind (Balefire, No. 1) (Mass Market Paperback)

Any one who has read Cate Tiernan's Sweep series knows how great a writer she is. But if you have read them you cant go into this book expecting another Sweep, because its not. She has created a whole new set of characters and world of witches
In this first book Thais and Clio, identical twins meet for the first time. Clio find out that's she's not as unique as she thought she was, and Thais finds that she has a family. At first I didn't really like some of the characters but once I got to know them better I came to like them. The world of magic that Tierana creates is unique and beautiful and you can see some similarities from her other books.
All in all it was a good book with plot twists, hidden betrays and mystery. It leaves you wanting more. Highly recommended.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Fun Read, September 2, 2005

By 

HybridRainStorm "HybridRainStorm" (Miami, Fl USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Chalice of Wind (Balefire, No. 1) (Mass Market Paperback)

The Sweep series was unique, distinguishable by the feeling you got from reading it, the indentification with the protagonist reader's undoubtably related to, the action, mystery, and suspense, and the crisp storyline that made it intensely enjoyable.

Though one can't expect every storyline following suit to be as much of a 5-star winner as Sweep was, Tiernan's style and talents continue to permeate in her newest creation, "Balefire". It's an enjoyable read, each page more enticing than the last, and with each chapter, I'm growing fonder of the books, my eyes glued to their text and my shelf of "favorite" books running out of space as I add Tiernan's latest editions to my collection.

I didn't classify it as receiving a full 5 star rank, as I did Sweep, because in comparison to Sweep, many things pale against it. I also found the deviations from the main characters (every couple chapters) a little distracting sometimes. Nevertheless, I anxiously await the next books, and continue to remain a Tiernan fan (her writing is just of a higher caliber than most books, and I greatly enjoy the witchy stories she tells, and the way she tells them).