The Chanters of Tremaris #1: Singer of All Songs: Book One In The Chanters Of Tremaris Trilogy

School Library Journal
(April 1, 2004; 0-439-55478-0)

Gr 6 Up-In Tremaris, a world with three moons, Chanters are sorcerers who can sing nine different types of magic. Calwyn, a soon-to-be priestess of "icecall" in the women-ruled Antaris, longs to travel beyond the wall that separates her country from the rest of the world. She gets her wish when she meets Darrow, a wounded ironcraft sorcerer who has somehow managed to enter Antaris. Darrow is in flight from Samis, an evil sorcerer who would control the world by learning all nine powers of Chantment. As Calwyn defies her priestess sisters to join Darrow and other companions who would defy Samis, she begins to realize that her own powers extend beyond that of icecall. The story contains elements of many great fantasy novels, including handsome, tormented sorcerers and scrappy urchins who reveal potent powers of their own. The landscape is vivid and fully realized, but the characters are sometimes static. Some of the plot devices seem overly familiar, but others are reworked and have the appeal of variants of well-loved fairy tales. Fans of Tamora Pierce's "Lioness" books (Atheneum) as well as Marion Zimmer Bradley's Mists of Avalon (Ballantine, 1984) will welcome the first book in this new trilogy from Australia.-Farida S. Dowler, formerly at Bellevue Regional Library, WA Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

Voice of Youth Advocates
(April 1, 2004; 0-439-55478-0)

Constable makes a solid debut in the United States with the first installment of The Chanters of Tremaris Trilogy. Calwyn, sixteen, is a novice ice priestess in Antaris, a land bound by an enormous wall of ice maintained by the priestesses through their sung chantments. Orphaned as an infant, her father unknown, Calwyn sings her chantments and tends bees; Antaris is the only world she has ever known. The routine of her life is disrupted when Darrow, an ironcrafter, makes his way over the wall while fleeing from Samis, a power hungry sorcerer-who happens to be his closest friend. Calwyn's life becomes bound up with Darrow's as they leave Antaris and set out across Tremaris to try to find a way to stop Samis. They acquire several companions along the way, each with a special gift. Constable's descriptive and detailed narrative is reminiscent of fellow Australian Garth Nix's writing but not quite as finely honed. The story carries itself well, although it occasionally slows. The plot does not founder, however, and it is compelling enough to keep the reader turning pages. Constable also is not afraid to let the story develop naturally, even where the fate of her characters is concerned. These characters are well rounded and complex, with authentic emotions and responses. There is a finished feel to the book, a sense of completion, even though the reader knows that there is more to come. This feeling of resolution is satisfying while piquing curiosity for more.-Donna Scanlon.

Publishers Weekly
(March 1, 2004; 0-439-55478-0)

Constable's debut novel, the first of a planned trilogy, takes place in a world where the song of the human voice is the carrier of strong magic. In the secluded kingdom of Antaris, hidden from the rest of the world by an enormous ice Wall, 16-year-old Calwyn keeps bees and prepares to become a full priestess, learning the power of song-spell "chantments." She finds an injured Outlander inside the Wall, and although the women of Antaris are suspicious (could he be a sorcerer, chanting spells used by the desert-dwelling Merithurans? Or perhaps a worker of the winds from Firthana?), Calwyn befriends Darrow and learns that he is being pursued by the sorcerer Samis, who seeks to be emperor of all Tremaris and, indeed, to be the fabled Singer of all Songs, "as powerful as the gods themselves." Moving outside the Wall, the story turns to a fast-paced nautical adventure, leading up to an unexpect