The Bird and the Sword by Amy Harmon
New Adult Fantasy
May 6, 2016 from CreateSpace
Swallow, Daughter, pull them in, those words that sit upon your lips. Lock them deep inside your soul, hide them ‘til they’ve time to grow. Close your mouth upon the power, curse not, cure not, ‘til the hour. You won’t speak and you won’t tell, you won’t call on heav’n or hell. You will learn and you will thrive. Silence, Daughter. Stay alive.
The day my mother was killed, she told my father I wouldn’t speak again, and she told him if I died, he would die too. Then she predicted the king would trade his soul and lose his son to the sky.
My father has a claim to the throne, and he is waiting in the shadows for all of my mother’s words to come to pass. He wants desperately to be king, and I just want to be free.
But freedom will require escape, and I’m a prisoner of my mother’s curse and my father’s greed. I can’t speak or make a sound, and I can’t wield a sword or beguile a king. In a land purged of enchantment, love might be the only magic left, and who could ever love . . . a bird?
Setting
Jeru
Character + City Pronunciations
The Gifted
The Gifted lived long and had many children of their own, but even with blessed words and magnificent abilities, life in the world was dangerous and difficult.
The Spinner spins objects into gold, but it can lead to greed and get out of control.
The Changer can transform into an animal, but one might lose control of himself to the animal side. The Volgar are Changers.
The Healer could heal others, but not oneself.
The Teller predicts the future and breathes life to objects with words, which can lead to trouble if not careful.
Favorite Quotes
"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God,
and the Word was God."
-- Amy Harmon, The Bird and the Sword
"The castle was full of secrets and schemes, full of people hungry for power and afraid of magic."
-- Amy Harmon, The Bird and the Sword
"Suddenly yearning had a flavor. It tasted like a king, a beautiful, frightening, infuriating man who flew into my life and began to free my words." -- Amy Harmon, The Bird and the Sword
"Love might be the only magic left."
-- Amy Harmon, The Bird and the Sword
Meet Amy Harmon
Amy Harmon is a Wall Street Journal, USA Today, and New York Times Bestselling author. Amy knew at an early age that writing was something she wanted to do, and she divided her time between writing songs and stories as she grew. Having grown up in the middle of wheat fields without a television, with only her books and her siblings to entertain her, she developed a strong sense of what made a good story. Her books are now being published in twelve countries, truly a dream come true for a little country girl from Levan, Utah.
Amy Harmon has written ten novels - the USA Today Bestsellers, Making Faces and Running Barefoot, as well as The Law of Moses, The Song of David, Infinity + One, Slow Dance in Purgatory, Prom Night in Purgatory, and the New York Times Bestseller, A Different Blue. Her newest release, The Bird and The Sword will be released in the spring of 2016. She will release From Sand and Ash in October of 2016, via Lake Union Publishing.
To receive updates on upcoming book releases, author posts and more, follow Amy on Facebook, Twitter or subscribe to her newsletter.
Amy Harmon is represented by Jane Dystel of Dystel and Goderich Literary Management.
For foreign rights inquiries contact Lauren Abramo - labramo@dystel.com.
For film rights contact Jane Dystel - jane@dystel.com.
Purchase The Bird and the Sword
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Sasha Alsberg is currently attending Emerson College as a Writing, Literature & Publishing major.
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