In the land of Morenia people are born into one of four castes. Rani was born into the merchant caste, but she is so skilled with artwork, her family pays a huge sum of money to buy her an apprenticeship into the glasswrights guild. Her guild has been working on a stained glass window for presentation day, where the beloved Prince Tuvashanoran will be anointed Defender of the Faith. Rani has been sent to deliver lunch to the master working on the finishing touches on the window. When she has almost reaches the top of the scaffold the master viciously berates her and tells her to leave. Furious Rani decides to sneak into the cathedral and watch the presentation day ceremonies. In the midst of the ceremony she is proudly looking at the stained glass window and realizes that their is an archer behind the glass. She cries out a warning and the Prince stands up and the arrow catches him in the eye. Terrified Rani flees back to the guild hall, where she overhears the guild mistress coldly planning to hand her over to the guards. The guards storm into the hall and arrest every single glasswright and apprentice. By order of the King the guards make them tear down the guild hall, and then they announce that the King has outlawed the glasswrights craft. Anyone caught practicing it will be made caste-less. Rani barely manages to escape by hiding in one of the kilns. When she flees back to her home, she finds that her family has been arrested and her home has burned down. But Rani refuses to stay branded a traitor. She knows that if she can find the traitoress instructor who let the archer on the scaffold, she can clear her name. Her mission will take her through the slums of the city and the halls of the palace, where she will discover treachery lurks everywhere. | ||
Plot & Themes Tone of book - suspenseful (sophisticated fear) FANTASY or SCIENCE FICTION? - fantasy world/fantasy past Spying & Investigations Yes What is main char. doing? - unraveling a conspiracy Is this an adult or child's book? - Adult or Young Adult Book Descript. of chases or violence - 30 % planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives - 40 % Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 10 % Descript. of society, phenomena (tech), places - 20 % If enemy is a group... - political faction Main Character Identity: - Female Age: - a teen Main Adversary Identity: - an organization How much of work is main antagonist actually present in: - an average amount Setting A substantial portion of this book takes place on a non-Earth planetary body: - humans in a primitive/fantasy society Planet outside solar system? Yes Writing Style Accounts of torture and death? - moderately detailed references to deaths How much dialogue? - roughly even amounts of descript and dialog |