Cursed by a dying wise woman, the land of Lumatere waits for its lost heir to open the walled gates and free the population from a depraved and predatory usurper who killed their royal family. Finnikin of the Rock, his mentor Sir Topher and the mysterious novice Evanjalin trek through a variety of kingdoms (two maps are included, for which readers will be grateful) freeing exiled leaders and accumulating an army. Standard fantasy characters people this book, but they develop in surprising, non-stock ways. Finnikin, the hero, surprises with contradictions: A linguist, a scholar and a sometime diplomat, he’s also warrior, leader and barely reformed hothead. Although it’s a long story, fantasy readers will enjoy the rousing and complex plot, filled with political intrigue and frequent red herrings and dotted with abductions, arrests and close escapes from a variety of dangers. Buy it for lovers of Marchetta’s school stories, but its true audience is readers of fantasies like Kristin Cashore’s Graceling (2008) and Christopher Paolini’s Inheritance series. (Fantasy. 14 & up)
