Book Giveaway For Shadow Queen (The Binding, #1)

[close] Book 1 of The Binding, Australia & New Zealand giveaway: 1 winner will receive the trade paperback (ISBN:9781741756166) and 1 will receive the mass market paperback (ISBN:9781741759327).

Matilde of the House of Svanaten has spent her life in training for when she will ascend the Turasi throne. Yet, two years past Matilde's coming of age, her indomitable grandmother remains reluctant to hand over power.

When Matilde's exiled aunt, Helena, turns up for the most important festival of the year, suspicion abounds. Why has Helena – long married into the despised Ilthean nobility – suddenly returned? And what of the Ilthean soldiers massed at the southern border?

Hard on Helena's arrival, Matilde is struck by a vision warning of doom. And it isn't long before a forceful new enemy strikes at the very heart of power, leaving a trail of death and destruction in his wake.

After narrowly surviving the conflagration that shatters her entire world, Matilde must pit herself against her family's conqueror – her new husband – in a battle not just for the throne, but for her very existence.

"a striking, infuriating, endlessly surprising and wonderfully disturbing work, penned in prose whose clarity, wit and elegance more seasoned wordsmiths must dream about." (Aurealis)

"This is strong, tense, economical yet poetic writing by first-time author Kalin, and her world is harsh and treacherous. Gripping. Highly recommended." (Herald Sun)

"Deborah Kalin has hit the ground running with this superb fantasy." (Specusphere)

"Kalin’s writing is smooth and effortless … The plot is engaging and fast-paced, making this book very difficult to put down … Deborah Kalin is an Australian talent to watch." (HorrorScope)

"Kalin is a master of world building and her strengths as a writer lie in her ability to weave a complex plot complete with political turmoil and hard won alliances." (Australian Women Online) [close]