Update: Click here for my review of Finnikin of the Rock and some general observations on fantasy writing.
I've been a huge fan of Melina Marchetta's work since Looking for Alibrandi - which continues to be very popular with students. Saving Francesca is probably my favourite, while On the Jellicoe Road didn't quite draw me in so much.
She has a new book out in October, Finnikin of the Rock, and you can read the first chapter in .pdf form here. Check this page for the link to another chapter to read online.
From this page of her website, a description of the novel's story:
At the age of nine, Finnikin is warned by the gods that he must sacrifice a pound of flesh in order to save the royal house of his homeland, Lumatere.
And so he stands on the rock of three wonders with his childhood friend Prince Balthazar and the prince's cousin, Lucian, and together they mix their blood. And Lumatere is safe.
Until the 'five days of the unspeakable', when the King and Queen and their children are slaughtered in the palace. And an imposter king takes the throne.
And a curse is put on Lumatere, which traps those caught inside and forces thousands of others to roam the land as exiles, dying of fever and persecution in foreign camps.
But ten years later Finnikin is led to another rock to meet the young novice, Evanjalin. A girl plagued by dark dreams, who holds the key to their return to the Land of light...
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