When We Were Two by Robert NewtonĪ beautiful, funny and deeply moving book set at the beginning of the Great War that suggests an answer to the eternal question: Why would anyone want to go to war? The final in the series, Quintana of Charyn cannot come out quickly enough for me – or for the legion fans Froi of the Exiles will inevitably attract. I wept at the end, for Froi, for Quintana, but most of all for myself. By showing the heart of the enemy, the hardships of refugees, and the call of blood to blood, it challenges us to examine our own prejudices, our own contemporary failures.Īt almost six hundred pages, and charged with sexual tension, this is a novel for mature readers, fifteen plus. Like all the best fantasy, Froi of the Exiles canvasses great themes, challenging the reader to view the harsh realities of war through the microcosm of those who endure it. He discovers unexpected bonds of kinship with Charyn’s damaged people, and an unlikely love with the land’s abused and half-mad Princess, Quintana. When he is ordered to infiltrate the enemy kingdom of Charyn and assassinate the cruel despot who rules it, his fierce loyalties are tested. The little thief from Finnikin is now eighteen years old and trained by the Royal Guard to protect Lumatere’s royal family with his life. Froi of the Exiles is superb storytelling – gripping, complex, and intense, with characters that will steal your heart. 🙂 F roi of the Exiles by Melina Marchettaįinnikin of the Rock was a fine fantasy novel in its own right, but its sequel Froi of the Exiles proves that Melina Marchetta just keeps getting better.Īfter making her name in contemporary realistic fiction with award-winning books like Looking for Alibrandi and The Piper’s Son, she is now really hitting her straps in the richly imagined world of fantasy. I hope you enjoy what you see in my shortlist and that you’ll take the time to rummage through My Clayton’s Notable Books for 2012 for a shortlist of your own. We all read the same words…but we all see different things.’ I’ve enjoyed being a Clayton’s Judge for CBCA Qld.
As Kate Grenville once wrote: ‘Each of us brings our own experiences, memories and prejudices to a work of art and looks at it through that unique lens. We are all Clayton’s judges of what we read. We all clasp books to our hearts for different reasons – what speaks to me might fall on deaf ears elsewhere. No doubt my Six Pick will be different to the CBCA judges’ Shortlist (out on 3 April), and, no doubt, different to yours – and so it should be. Finally, here it is – my 2012 Clayton’s Shortlist for Older Readers.
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