About the Author

Amelia Atwater-Rhodes wrote her first novel, In the Forests of the Night, when she was 13 years old. She has since published Demon in My View, Shattered Mirror, Midnight Predator, all ALA Quick Picks for Young Adults, Hawksong, a School Library Journal Best Book of the Year and VOYA Best Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror List Selection, and Snakecharm. She lives in Massachusetts.

Reviews

Gr 7-10-The intricate power struggles between various breeds of avian shapeshifters continue in this third book in the series. Nicias, 19, son of Kel and Sebastian, falcons who were stripped of their falcon magic and exiled from their homeland of Ahnmik, is one of the personal guards to Oliza, heir to the avian and serpiente thrones. He is loyal to her despite never having felt at home in Wyvern's Court. He has inherited his parents' magic and it will destroy him unless he can learn to control it. His parents reluctantly send him to Ahnmik to be taught to bind it by his grandmother, the Empress, and her heir, Lady Araceli. Nicias finds himself torn between his duty to Oliza and the political manipulation and newfound power he discovers as a royal heir on Ahnmik. His only ally is Darien, an exiled member of the Empress's royal guard. Despite the many characters in the series (a family tree is included), the personalities are uniquely drawn and the mythological avian world is vividly described. Characters from Hawksong (2003) and Snakecharm (2004, both Delacorte) return briefly and events from those books are recapped. This title lacks the compelling romance found in Hawksong, and focuses more on the history of the avian conflicts.-Sharon Rawlins, Piscataway Public Library, NJ Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

Falcondance by Amelia Atwater-Rhodes opens with a "blade dance" performed by Oliza, daughter of Zane, a serpiente, and Danica, an avian, who mated in order to make peace between their clans in the Kiesha'ra series launch title, Hawksong (about which PW wrote, "readers are likely to be caught up in the details of the avian Hawk's Keep and the serpiente palace"). The novel's main focus is on Nicias, son of two exiled falcons, who is loyal to Oliza (the heir to both clans' thrones) but is haunted by his visions and must make a terrible choice; a tantalizing ending suggests more to come. Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.