Alison Croggon Books

"Epic fantasy in the Tolkien tradition, with a strong girl hero who is entirely believable in her struggles. . . . I couldn't put it down!" — Tamora Pierce, author of the Protector of the Small and the Circle Opens quartets In a battle-ravaged land, Maerad and Hem desperately search for each other as the Black Army advances, and all of the Seven Kingdoms are threatened with devastating defeat. Yet in Maerad and Hem lives the secret to the mysterious Singing, and prophecy holds that if they release the music of Elidhu together, they have the power to defeat the Nameless One.

The climactic volume of the epic quartet follows Merad and Hem, the Bards of Edil-Amarandh, on a vital quest to merge their powers against a nameless evil. Can brother and sister find each other before all is lost?

Maerad is a girl with a tragic and bitter past, but her powers grow stronger by the day. Now she and her mentor, Cadvan, pursued by both the Light and the Dark, are seeking the Riddle of the Treesong - the key to restoring peace to the ravaged kingdom. But is Maerad herself the greatest riddle of all? Alison Croggon's epic fantasy continues, as Macrad travels from terrifying seas to vast stretches of glacial wilderness; drawn ever closer to her enemy the Winterking, towards the author of her sorrows and the strongest ally of the Nameless One - the greatest tyrant of them all. Drawn from the rich and complex cultures of Edil-Amarandh, The Riddleis the thrilling sequel to the highly acclaimed The Gift.

Maerad is a slave in a desperate and unforgiving settlement, taken there as a child when her family is destroyed in war. She is unaware that she possesses a powerful Gift, a Gift that marks her as a member of the School of Pellinor. It is only when she is discovered by Cadavan, one of the great Bards of Lirigon, that her true heritage and extraordinary destiny unfolds. Now, she and her teacher Cadavan must survive a punishing and uncertain journey through a time and place where the dark forces they battle stem from the deepest recesses of other-worldly terror. Alison Croggon's epic fantasy about Maerad and her astonishing yet dangerous Gift is a beautiful, unforgettable tale. Steeped in the rich and complex landscape of Annar, a legendary world few have yet discovered, it is one of literature's most exciting stories . . .

Orphaned Hem is sent to Turbansk for safety but, as the armies of the Dark overrun the city, he flees with his mentor Saliman, his white crow Irc, and the orphan girl Zelika to join the resistance forces of the Light.

Cadvan of Lirigon, one of the most powerful Bards of his time, has been exiled from the School of Lirigon for a grievous crime that unleashed the power of the Bone Queen. Isolated and guilt-ridden, he is burdened by memories of his dealings with the Dark. Meanwhile, across Edil-Amarandh, a number of disturbing events suggest that the Bone Queen may not have been successfully banished, as was previously believed. The Light is under threat, but does Cadvan have the strength to face the Bone Queen again?

In a highly anticipated prequel to the Books of Pellinor, Alison Croggon captivates fans old and new with her ancient, legendary world of Annar. After being seduced into sorcery by an agent of the Dark, the promising Bard Cadvan of Lirigon recklessly unleashed the terrible Bone Queen, bringing destruction down upon Annar. Cast out of the Schools of Barding for his crime, Cadvan now lives in exile, burdened by memories of his dealings with the Dark. At his former home, Cadvan’s mentor, Nelac, and his rival, Dernhil, begin to suspect that the Bone Queen may yet lurk in Annar, and a young Bard named Selmana is plagued by an ominous presence and an unsettling new ability to step between worlds. With darkness gathering and Bards giving in to fear and paranoia, a guilt-ridden Cadvan must once again earn the Bards’ trust and Selmana must gain control of her newfound powers if they are to bring peace to the living and the dead. Fans of the Books of Pellinor will savor this glimpse into Cadvan’s past, and readers new to Alison Croggon’s intricately built world will relish The Bone Queen as a stand-alone epic of light, dark, magic, and redemption.

An atmospheric and riveting fantasy adventure, perfect for fans of Frances Hardinge and Cornelia Funke. Pip lives on his wits in the city of Clarel. When he pickpockets the wrong man, he finds himself in possession of a strange object - a heart in a silver casket. What's more, the heart seems to be trying to communicate with Pip, and the royal officials who lost it will stop at nothing to get it back.Pip has unwittingly broken an ancient spell, and his theft will have far-reaching consequences for the whole city. As the ancient war between the Spectres and witches of Clarel reignites, the heart prepares to seek revenge for all it has suffered...Alison Croggon conjures a rich, immersive world with brilliant and memorable characters in this captivating story of loyalty, courage and friendship.

'I was born as part of a monstrous structure -- the grotesque, hideous, ugly, ghastly, gruesome, horriblerelations of power that constituted colonial Britain. A structure that shaped me, that shapes the very language that I speak and use and love. I am the daughter of an empire that declared itself the natural order of the world.' From award-winning writer and critic Alison Croggon, Monsterstakes as its point of departure the painful breakdown of a relationship between two sisters. It explores how our attitudes are shaped by the persisting myths that underpin colonialism and patriarchy, how the structures we are raised within splinter and distort the possibilities of our lives. Monstersasks how we maintain the fictions that we create about ourselves, what we will sacrifice to maintain these fictions -- and what we have to gain by confronting them.

Maerad is a girl with a tragic and bitter past, but her powers grow stronger by the day. Now she and her mentor, Cadvan, hunted by both the Light and the Dark, must unravel the Riddle of the Treesong before their fractured kingdom erupts in chaos. The quest to solve this ancient puzzle lures Maerad ever closer to the seductive Winterking — author of her sorrows and the ally of her most powerful enemy, the Nameless One. Trapped in the Winterking's icy realm, Maerad must acknowledge what she has always suspected - that she is the greatest riddle of all.