The Ruby Key (Moon & Sun) - Hardcover

Lisle, Holly

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0545000122 ISBN 13: 9780545000123

Publisher: Orchard Books, 2008

Synopsis

Bestselling fantasy writer Holly Lisle brings us her children's debut with a lyrical, fast paced fantasy for middle-grade readers!

Mankind is Sunkind
And rules by the light;
Nightlings are Moonkind,
And rule in the night;
Or there will be war.

Human and Nightlings are never to meet, but when Genna and her brother Dan venture into the old forest at night, they encounter a Nightling slave who reveals a terrifying secret: Genna and Dan's village chieftain has made a dangerous deal with Letrin, ruler of the Nightlings, offering the lives of his people in exchange for his own immortality.

About this title

About the Author

Holly Lisle has been doing the pro novelist gig since 1992.  Prior to that, she was an on-again, off-again missionaries' kid, high-school entrepreneur, and once past graduation, a newspaper ad rep, a sign-painter/commercial artist, the "window girl" at a McDonald's, a guitar teacher for absolute beginners, a singer at local restaurants, and because all of those together paid starvation wages, she went to nursing school the next year, and two years later was an RN.

For ten years.  

She paid off her student loan the same year she got her first three-book contract, and...well...she's been writing for her supper ever since.

She is active online, providing courses teaching what she has discovered about writing fiction as well as maintaining her own weblog and website, HollyLisle.com. And with more than a million books in print via commercial publishers, she has now moved to publishing herself.

Reviews

Grade 5–8—Gennadara and her brother, Danrith, live in the primitive village of Hillrush and are surrounded by danger. Like other humans, they can go out only in daylight, and they have an uneasy truce with the nightlings, creatures of the nearby forest who only come out after dark. All are ruled by Letrin, an arrogant and powerful being who lives in a kind of underground fairy mound. Genna and Dan's father is thought to be dead, and the children are terrified of their evil Uncle Banris, who conspires to marry their very ill mother. When the siblings sneak out at night to milk sap from the taandu trees to cure their mother, they are catapulted into a series of wild adventures involving a young nightling, a talking cat, magic moonroads, and plenty of beasties and ghoulies. They must find a young man named Doyati to save their family and the villagers from death at the hands of Letrin. While the book offers enough requisite fantasy elements—a seemingly impossible quest, plenty of magic, poetic language, and brave young protagonists—the plot twists need too much overt explanation to ring true, and the overly complicated fantasy structure sinks under its own weight. The nightling is an intriguing character, but her facile ability to smooth over difficulties strains credulity.—Quinby Frank, Green Acres School, Rockville, MD
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

*Starred Review* In this strong opener to the Moon & Sun series, which is also a welcome first children’s novel from seasoned fantasist Lisle, 14-year-old Genna and her brother are swept into a tricky bargain with an otherwordly lord. Humans in the village of Hillrush and nightlings in the forest have held an uneasy truce for centuries. But when Genna and Dan meet a nightling slave, they learn the truce is meaningless: Banris, the village head, has struck a deal with the nightling lord, Letrin, to trade his people’s lives for immortality. The siblings and rebel nightlings concoct a plan to defeat their corrupt rulers, and Genna brokers a deal with Letrin that involves locating a nightling in hiding. The world Lisle creates is as distinctive and intriguing as any real place, with a complex history, well-developed societies, and a strong sense of magic. Many readers will find Lisle’s creative embellishments of fairy lore especially arresting. Binding it all together is Genna’s forthright, first-person narrative of the risky adventure, through which she remains steadfast even as her duties expand beyond her personal desires. Though one plot is resolved, hints of a possible romance for Genna and the promise of a larger catastrophe will leave readers clamoring for the next installment. Grades 6-10. --Krista Hutley

Edition details

• Publisher: Orchard Books
• Publication date: 2008
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0545000122
• ISBN 13: 9780545000123
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 368