Tuesday, November 14, 2006

Enna Burning


Hale, Shannon. 2004. Enna Burning.

Enna, a character first introduced in Shannon Hale’s first novel The Goose Girl, is the narrator of Hale’s second novel, Enna Burning. Set a year or so after the the first novel, Enna has returned to the forest to care for her brother, Leifer, who is unknowingly about to unleash a dark power that will either save or destroy Bayern. What he has discovered buried deep in the forest is an ancient parchment that reveals a secret kept hidden from mankind for centuries: the power of fire.

Isi, now the princess of Bayern, has the power of wind--the ability to control the wind and learn its secrets. But now a young man is about to teach himself the power of fire. After an incident where his anger literally burns his sister, Enna, she flees to the city--to the palace--to seek her old friend’s advice. She wants to know just how dangerous her brother could be. Enna is already curious wanting to know if it might not be better for everyone if she could learn this power to in order to help her brother learn how to control his new gift. Isi makes her promise never to try to learn the power. It is a gift as much as a curse to be able to commune with nature and control it.

But all promises are forgotten when Bayern is attacked by the neighboring country of Tira. Could this ‘curse’ be the secret weapon that will save the country from years of war? Is risking one’s sanity--and one’s life--worth it if it means a victory in the end? What will Enna decide? And can she live with the conseqences...

http://www.squeetus.com/stage/books_enna.html

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