In the second volume of this powerful trilogy, Somiss, exiled and desperate, hoards the magic he is recovering from ancient documents while Sadima and Franklin struggle to contain his egomaniacal ambitions by secretly recording the magic, hoping to share it with humankind. Generations later, Hahp and Gerrard, students at Somiss’s brutal academy, endure the painful ordeals used to “teach” magic. Their tenuous pact, forged to survive, falters as they plot to destry Somiss, the school . . . and set magic free.
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About the Author
Kathleen Duey's works include the middle grade series American Diaries and Survival, and the well-reviewed chapter book series The Unicorn's Secret, with a companion series, The Faeries' Promise, launching in Summer 2010 on the Aladdin list. She lives in Fallbrook, California.
Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
Sadima sat cross-legged on the cold stone, just outside the cage. She was holding her slate so the boys could see the symbol she had drawn. Most of them were trying to copy it. Two stolen lanterns hung from the iron bars above their heads, held in place by some Market Square merchant's missing tarp hooks. The rest of the vast cavern was dark.
Sadima pulled at a loose thread in her ragged skirt, listening for the sound of Franklin's footsteps in the long entrance passage on the far end of the big chamber. Somiss had no coins to spend, and they needed everything, so Franklin had become a thief. He left the cliffs at dark and returned at dawn, carrying sacks of stolen goods, swaying like a farm mule under the weight. He was nearly always exhausted when he got back, ready to collapse on his blankets.
Sadima pushed her hair back over her shoulder, wishing Franklin would come, trying not to imagine him running, king's guards close behind him. Thieves were often hanged. If the guards realized who he was, it would be worse than that. Much worse.
Sadima tucked her skirt between her bare feet and the cold stone. She had shoes, but they were buried in a box in the woods. She had meant to go get them long ago, before winter closed in. But Somiss had forbidden her to leave the dark passages inside the cliffs, and she knew that if she disobeyed him, he wouldn't punish her. He would punish Franklin. Sadima lowered her head to keep the boys from seeing her fear -- and her anger.
Somiss was clever. He was used to servants, silk, delicate pastries, the endless round of entertainments in his father's royal house. So was Franklin, in his own way. Neither one of them had understood what it would mean to live in the caverns and tunnels they had found inside Limòri's cliffs. Neither one had even thought of blankets.
Somiss had been violent at first, raging at Franklin, at the cold, the darkness, his own hunger and thirst. But night by night, Franklin had robbed the rich of their heavy woolen comforters until there were enough for all to sleep upon and under. Then he had brought lanterns, water buckets, food, paper, ink quills -- and everything else.
Sadima looked up. Most of the boys had stopped drawing. "Let me see what you've done," she said quietly. Six of the ten turned their slates toward her. Four had fallen asleep sitting up, chalk wedged between their fingers or dropped on the floor.
Jux's copy was nearly perfect, and when she smiled at him, he sat up straighter. "You're all getting better," she lied, looking one by one into the faces of the boys who had at least tried. Most of them avoided her eyes. The biggest boy, Mabiki, lay down, yawning and dull eyed. His dark, curly hair was filthy and tangled and when he reached to push it off his forehead, his slate skidded sideways. Jux leapt up and grabbed it, then passed it through the bars. Sadima set it aside, glad it hadn't broken. Jux and Mabiki. None of the others would tell her their names. Jux had explained it -- only the king's guards and magistrates had ever wanted to know. It scared them.
Sadima wiped her slate and drew another symbol. She held it up and the boys started over. At first they had jostled and argued; it had been hard to make them sit still for their lessons. Now they barely spoke, barely moved. They had come from hard lives; they were street orphans. It hurt Sadima to imagine that. No warm suppers. No one ever looking out for them. She was sure none of them had ever held so much as a lump of charcoal to draw a game of jump-and-stop on a boardwalk. Still, somehow, Somiss expected them to learn to fair copy.
Jux was looking at his slate, correcting a line. He was the only one who could draw the Gypsy symbols accurately -- and he was by far the fastest at Ferrinides letters. Sadima smiled at him again and he smiled back, lifting his chin. She nodded, then looked at the other boys in the cage to keep from staring at the terrible rose-and-putty-colored scar that crossed Jux's throat and disappeared behind his ear. How old was he? Seven? Eight? Someone had already tried to cut his throat. And now Somiss had put him in a cage.
Sadima thought she heard a sound and turned, hoping to see Franklin's lantern, a tiny amber star shining from across the darkness of the big cavern. But he wasn't back. Not yet. She drew another symbol for the boys to copy. Then another.
It was a long time before Franklin finally returned, his back bent under the weight of the supplies he was carrying. Sadima jumped up and walked toward the light of his lantern, leaving her own behind to have both hands free to help him. He kissed her. She closed her eyes to feel the touch of his lips more clearly. He would sleep all day, then be gone again at dark. Dawn and dusk; these were the only moments they had together now. I miss you. She started to say it, but he spoke first.
"Has Somiss come out of his chamber?"
Sadima took one of the heavy bags from him, hitched it over her shoulder. "No."
Franklin nodded. "Good. He's angry about something."
"At you?"
He shrugged. "I don't know."
But he did know. She could tell.
copyright © 2009 by Kathleen Duey
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More About the Author
I have published over 80 books for children of all ages and YA/Adult readers. Many have won state and national awards and all of them have brought me the kind of fan mail that writers love to get.
Two from today's email (Jan 27 11)
Dear Ms. Duey,
I am 8 years old and I live in Catalonia (Spain). I just finished reading your book "Moonsilver" with my mom, and I really liked it. I want to ask you, what was your dream in 3rd grade? I'm asking you because at the end of the book, it says that the series of the Unicorn's Secret books is based on a dream you had in 3rd grade. I am in third grade right now, so I'm really curious!!!
Please tell me
(writer's name)
Dear Ms. Duey,
I loved your book the Unicorn's Secret. Me and my mom read it together. I like your books because I like unicorns and your story was very exciting. I like to draw unicorns. They are one of my favorite animals. I have two stuffed animal unicorns. One is named Sparkle. I sleep with her every night. Did you always want to be a writer? Have you ever seen a real unicorn? I am in 1st grade. I love to read. When I grow up I want to be a animal trainer and I want to train unicorns if I can find one.
LOVE , (writer's name)
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YA readers are writing a lot, too. Most say something like this one:
I have been waiting for the third book in Skin Hunger trilogy forever. Ok not forever but it feels like it. When is it coming out? How long will you make me wait? I love these books and am really needing to know what happens to Sadima and Hahp!!!!!
I know, me, too. Please read below.
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If it is later than 6:30am PST, I am probably writing, even if I am on an airplane. I might be working on a faerie book or writing about unicorns for grade school kids, or I could be lost in something dark, detailed, and strange for YA/adult readers. The third book in the Resurrection of Magic Trilogy is dragging me through the woods. I am working on it every day, and am Skying instead of traveling to schools and libraries until I get it DONE. It's taking wild amazing turns and I love it.
If I am not working...I might be answering readers who contact me through my website: http://www.kathleenduey.com Thanks to everyone who gets in touch with me on Facebook, my blog, http://kathleenduey.blogspot.com/, Twitter, and all the other ways to reach me. I can't keep up anymore, but I try to answer questions and I send out signed bookplates when I can. It means so much to know that you like my books.
I appear at schools, bookstores, and teach at writers' conferences nationwide and internationally. There is a schedule on my website and I try to keep it current.
And more and more... I Skype. It's a wonderful way to meet readers in classrooms and at libraries, I love to drop in on book clubs and critique groups, then get back to work!
Book news: The Unicorn's Secret books are getting lovely new covers by Sandara Tang, an amazing artist based in Singapore. The fan mail astounds me.
Sandara is the cover artist for the new kid's series The Faerie's Promise, too. Excerpts from all my books are on http://www.kathleenduey.com
YA NOVEL ONLINE/IN PROGRESS: RUSSET fans: http://russet-one-wing.blogspot.com/
I am accumulating entries and will tag you all when there is more to read. Give me your contact info and I will add you to the alert list. kathleenduey at earthlink dot net
The third book of my YA/adult trilogy is in the works now. I don't have a release date yet because I still writing like MAD. But it will be ASAP, I promise. The story is taking amazing turns and dragging me through the woods the way the first two did. Thanks!!!! to the thousands of people asking when it will come out.
You have no idea how happy that makes me.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Woven Story,
By
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This review is from: Sacred Scars (A Resurrection of Magic, Book 2) (Hardcover)
The second book in this trilogy continues the story of wizardry and time warp begun in the first book Skin Hunger (see March 17 review). This is a woven story with the warp being told from the perspective of a girl and the weft being told from the perspective of a boy. In Skin Hunger,their stories are separated by a great span of time, but they both are under the power of the same sadistic, twisted wizard, Soumiss. Soumiss exists in both stories since he has the secret of long life. In Sacred Scars, the time span between the two stories narrows. The book ends with an implicit promise that the two strands will merge in the third book.
Mystery and the constant threat of danger propel this story along at a pleasing pace. In this second volume, the conflict between the abuse of power and the capacity for kindness solidifies. While suffering permeates almost every chapter, it is continually tempered by slivers of tenderness and loyalty. Romance exists but remains primarily on a spiritual plane. Fans of the first book will be pleased with this one. However, being the second in a trilogy, there is a sense of inertia: the first volume developed the characters but resolution can not come to them until the final book. The anticipation set up in Skin Hunger will have to wait one more volume for satisfaction.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
magnificent,
This review is from: Sacred Scars (A Resurrection of Magic, Book 2) (Hardcover)
I so enjoyed the first in this series, Skin Hunger, that I was almost afraid to read this next, because surely it couldn't live up to the first. But it did! And even though of course the plot couldn't resolve--we have to wait for the third book--please write faster Ms. Duey!---I thought it did a masterful job of extending the suspense of the first book plus developing characters and story argument.
I'm a writer and in my reviews I'm looking mainly at writing, how the book worked. Actually this is only my second review. But I plan to do zillions. Anyway, what I'm doing is first gauging my heart response to a book, and then trying to figure out how the author made the magic happen. Reading Like a Writer. Often stories have to do with figuring out who people are. Mysterious characters make for tension. Like Gerrard, Hahp's roomate. Who is this guy? He knows things an ordinary student couldn't know. And he likes to read this mysterious book, which he must hide from the wizards (please forgive--this review isn't going to make much sense unless you've read the book). I love characters with big personal identity secrets. Is Gerrard maybe Sadima's child? By Franklin? Also, looking at the character Thomas Marshman--here Duey has her heroine love and admire a character that the reader--at least this reader--thinks is phoney from the get-go. And then it turns out he is, but with a twist. This is another kind of character-based tension--the reader understanding a character better than the protagonist. How can the reader belive-ably be smarter than Sadima, who is no dummy? I think I distrusted Thomas because he is sooo perfect. People can't be that perfect. There's actually something creepy about how perfect Thomas is. I almost don't buy it that Sadima doesn't pick up on this. But then Sadima, despite being alive for 100? 150 years? possesses a childlike niavete. Also I LOVED the chapter just after Sadima's mind is wiped clean where she builds a whole new life for herself with Charlie and Gurr. I admire the deft way Duey gives a whole new life for Sadima, a whole lifetime with Charlie and Gurr, in quick images that really move my heart and is consistent with Sadima's character. Even without her memories, Sadima is still Sadima. She will make cheese and build a home, paint, and nurture those around her. Also there's the use of objects to carry the emotions of the story forward. For example, the silk pieces Sadima uses to make a bed for herself become part of a bed shared with Charlie. Then she takes some of the silk pieces with her when she leaves Limori. The silk pieces pick up meaning as they move through the story. This novel gains much of its power from the ideas in it. The idea that magic is too powerful, people can't trust themselves to use it, reminds me of the Ring in the Lord of the Rings. Do I buy this idea? Probably, sadly, I do. Does Duey? I'm not sure. I'm thinking probably. Yes, a must read.
4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Going on my year's best list,
This review is from: Sacred Scars (A Resurrection of Magic, Book 2) (Hardcover)
Sacred Scars continues the tactics and story of Skin Hunger pretty much where the first book left off. It's clear that Duey doesn't intend the books of the trilogy to be separate, but rather to be all one long book, written in three spurts. Some of the frustration I hear from the previous reviewers must be coming from that: there's no resolution in the first book, but it's okay because the first book introduces a terrific new premise and world. The second book starts in the middle, backtracks not at all, and ends abruptly as well, so no one is getting the sort of resolved experience they expect from a novel.
The great pleasure here is watching Duey build up a situation -- an argument really -- slowly, and brick by brick. What seems like almost gratuitous sadism and sociopathy in the first book, develops in the second into the natural warping of personalities that occurs in a political system based solely on power. Against this backdrop the author's surprising choice to wipe the heroine's memory and have her start life anew makes a great deal of sense: honest Sadima is in danger of being warped by the power play around her. Returning her to the dregs of society -- where a lot of human decency is to be found -- protects her innocence. And in due course, Sadima stumbles onto the Erideans, a proto-Christianesque-communitarian movement that seems to be the first to challenge the King/Magician power dynamic with ideology. Although I hadn't thought so at the end of Skin Hunger, I'm now realizing that the trilogy is at least partly one of those fictions in which the author argues with herself about politics and power and organizing society through ideas and collectivity rather than through might. Right now Sadima and the Erideans are looking way too innocent and good. But Duey has been busy in this book proving that the simplicities of the previous book are rendered complex. I'm pretty confident that in the third book, things will take another turn, and we'll end on a very rich and satisfying note. A must-read.
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