Alphabet of Thorn
Alphabet of Thorn
Author: Patricia A. McKillip
Desc: Deep inside a palace on the edge of the world the orphan Nepenthe pores over books in the royal library translating their languages and learning their secrets. Now sixteen she knows little of the outside world — except for the documents that traders and travelers bring her to interpret. Then during the coronation of the new Queen of Raine a young mage gives Nepenthe a book that has defied translation. Written in a language of thorns it speaks to Nepenthe's soul — and becomes her secret obsession. And as the words escape the brambles and reveal themselves Nepenthe finds her destiny entwined with that of the young queen's. Sooner than she thinks she will have to choose between the life she has led and the life she was born to lead...