The truth will test you...
For fans of Game of Thrones and The Hunger Games: high fantasy and dystopia meet in this high-stakes tale of a civilization built on lies and the girl who single-handedly brings it down.
When Eva’s twin brother, Eamon, falls to his death just a few months before he is due to participate in The Testing, no one expects Eva to take his place. She’s a Maiden, slated for embroidery classes, curtseys, and soon a prestigious marriage befitting the daughter of an Aerie ruler. But Eva insists on honoring her brother by becoming a Testor. After all, she wouldn’t be the first Maiden to Test, just the first in 150 years.
Eva knows the Testing is no dance class. Gallant Testors train for their entire lives to search icy wastelands for Relics: artifacts of the corrupt civilization that existed before The Healing drowned the world. Out in the Boundary Lands, Eva must rely on every moment of the lightning-quick training she received from Lukas—her servant, a Boundary native, and her closest friend now that Eamon is gone.
But there are threats in The Testing beyond what Lukas could have prepared her for. And no one could have imagined the danger Eva unleashes when she discovers a Relic that shakes the Aerie to its core.
Review
"Heather Terrell excavates a richly realized and adventurous world from the iced-over wreck of our own."
—William Alexander, New York Times bestseller and 2012 National Book Award winner
"Fans with an insatiable appetite will eat this up."
—Booklist
"Adult author Terrell, in her books for teens, weaves fresh complexity... with smart, thoughtful, and resourceful heroines."
—Publishers Weekly
"A suspenseful novel that’s as smart and well written as it is inventive, original, and surprising."
—M. J. Rose, author of The Reincarnationist series
“A dystopia set in a post–global-warming future: plucky heroine, lying leaders, ridiculous endurance tests and, yes, two hot guys.”
—Kirkus Reviews
"A remarkable story.... highly recommended."
—Mysterious Reviews --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
About the Author
Heather Terrell worked as a commercial litigator in New York City for over ten years, but she has always been obsessed with myth, lore, and the gap between history and the truth. This preoccupation has led to several loosely factual historical novels (The Chrysalis, The Map Thief, Brigid of Kildare) and the pure-lore Fallen Angel series. Relic is the first installment of The Books of Eva series. She lives in Pittsburgh with her family. Visit her at www.heatherterrell.com.
