Crystal Mask (The Echorium Sequence) (Winner of the Branford Boase Award)

Shaiala scrambled down the canyon floor...The sight beyond brought her to a halt. Nearly a hundred exhausted, frightened Centaur foals...hobbled and taunted by Two Hoofs. The second book in the Echorium Sequence and a stunning sequel to SONGQUEST, winner of the Branford Boase Award. A wild girl, a horselord prince, half-creatures, the rumoured return of the dreaded Khiz priest, and an awesome challenge to the power of the Singers make the Crystal Mask a breathtaking new adventure which started so brilliantly with the award-winning SONGQUEST. In a world where the slightest whisper can bring down an avalanche, black crystal is destroying the Second Singer's power. It's a race against time, and their own fears, if Renn, the novice Singer and Shaiala with her raw physical strength are to conquer the evil power that has enslaved Half Creatures and Two-Hoof children - a power that can bend minds and steal memory.

Praise for Song Quest in the UK:

"For the child who keeps asking for the next Harry Potter...a Tolkeinesque fantasy." -- The Times

"There are so many deft and exciting touches...I raced through it, occasionally moved to tears." -- Jacqueline Wilson

"Fascinating and poetic...extremely original too." -- Joan Aiken

"Full of good ideas and original thinking. It's a page turner." -- Jan Mark

Praise for Spellfall:

"Unicorns, Spell Lords and the Death Head Gang join together to give a thrilling and fast paced fantasy adventure with shades of Tolkein and Pullman. Superb." -- The Bookseller

"A great read. Roberts knows exactly how to rack up the tension and create parallel universes." -- The Guardian

"A welcome and well-written addition to the sorcery genre." -- The Observer

"Involving and suspenseful." -- The Sunday Times

"I think this is a brilliant book -- a bit spooky at times, but very, very exciting too...It's just like Harry Potter -- only better!" -- Time Out (Anna Weguelin, aged 8)

"A spellbinder! I raced enchanted through every twist and turn." -- Jean Ure

Praise for Crystal Mask

Roberts (Spellfall, 2001, etc.) returns to the fantastic world she created for Song Quest, but fails to include any likable inhabitants. Twenty years have passed at the Echorium, where the Songs of Power keep the peace, when Shaiala, a wild girl raised by centaurs, is brought for treatment. The apprentice Singer Renn reluctantly uses his ability to communicate with magical Half Creatures to uncover her suppressed memories hinting that black "khizerstal" is again being used for sinister purposes. Despite their annoying bickering, the two young people join a perilous expedition to the lands of the Horselords to confront this danger, never dreaming that they will need to join forces to overcome the evil that lurks ahead. Song-based magic, while hardly an original premise, is skillfully handled, and the Half Creatures are charming entities, although treated disdainfully by most humans. Unfortunately, they are used as little more than triggers for the incomprehensible actions of the unappetizing heroes. Renn is self-centered, petulant, and cowardly; Shaiala is heedless, pigheaded, and shockingly violent; even Kherron, who returns from the first novel to provide adult leadership is arrogant and abusive. Only Erihan, a Horeslord prince who inexplicably befriends Shaiala, is at all appealing; indeed, it is difficlut to distinguish heroes and villains on the basis of either their actions or their attitudes. As the final confrontation sputters into an inconclusive anticlimax, the one interesting revelation, which might explain some contradictions, is pointlessly repudiated. Fans of the first book might enjoy the updates on favorite characters, but hardly anyone else will care.
--Kirkus Reviews, Feb. 1st 2002

On the Isle of Echoes, Singers keep peace between Half Creatures and humans through the power of four songs. Twenty years earlier, the Singers conquered an evil renegade who tried to wrest away their power into his own hands using a crystal spear. Now, when a wild girl with little language and strange stories of centaurs is brought to the Isle of Echoes for Song treatment, eighth-year student Singer Renn is pulled into a desperate plot to rid the world of the same evil fought by the previous generation in Song Quest (Element, 1999). In Crystal Mask, Roberts continues the story with fast-paced action and surprising plot twists. Her world is original and detailed, and the characters respond realistically to extraordinary events. The pacing is consistent, with enough cliff-hangers and mystery to maintain interest. Readers familiar with the first book will enjoy revelations about the previous generation.