Medalon: Book One of the Demon Child Trilogy (Hythrun Chronicles Series #1) » (~)

The ninth child in a family of 13 girls, Jennifer Fallon was born in a suburb of Melbourne, Australia. After living in various areas of Australia, including Canberra, Darwin, and a remote mining settlement, Fallon settled in the Northern Territory in 1980. She has two daughters and a son. She has had 32 foster children and friends refer to her home as "the ashram" due to the large number of stray teenagers that still inhabit her house at irregular intervals.

Fallon has worked as a youth worker, a store detective, shop assistant, an advertising sales rep and executive secretary, among other things. She has managed two hire car companies, an ISP, and a video shop, as well as founding the Anzac Hill Gymnastics Club in 1991. She is a member of the Business & Professional Women's Association and is often in demand as a guest speaker.

Fallon started writing when she was about 14. Her mother, who died when Fallon was 13, was an aspiring children's writer who encouraged her daughter to write. She started writing fantasy in 1990 when she decided she would be better off writing something for herself, rather than trying to please everyone else. In 1995, Jennifer vowed to either get published by the year 2000 or give up writing and get a real job. Her first novel, Medalon, was released in Australia in August 2000 and hit the bestseller list the first week it was released, as well as being shortlisted for the 2000 Aurealis Awards as the best Fantasy novel.

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The small country of Medalon lies between the vast nation of Karien in thenorth and the nations of Fardohnya and Hythria in the south. For centuriesthe Medalonians co-existed peacefully with the Harshini, a magical race thatabhors killing. But now they are gone and in their place the Sisters of theBlade rule Medalon from the Citadel. An elite army of Defenders enforces theSisterhood's oppressive rule. The Harshini and their demons are believed tobe extinct and Medalon has an uneasy peace with its northern and southernneighbours.

R'shiel Tenragan, daughter of the First Sister, and her half-brother Tarjafind themselves caught up in the political infighting amongst the Sisters ofthe Blade. When their mother's scheming becomes too much to bear, R'shieland Tarja are determined to follow their own path and they flee the Citadel.Their lives take a turn neither could ever have imagined and the Defendersof Medalon hunt them as traitors.

Meanwhile, far south in Hythria, Brak, a Harshini outcast, is called to findthe demon child, the half-human child of the dead Harshini King,Lorandranek. But what can this mean to R'shiel.

Special E-Book Features include:

Never-before-published sketches and watercolours of Medalon scenes and characters by artist Stephanie Pui-Mun Law

Reading Notes

Special excerpt of Chapter One of Treason Keep, Book Two in the Demon Child Trilogy

Publishers Weekly

Convoluted intrigues, rivalries and romance provide an entertaining tangle in the second book in Australian fantasy author Fallon's Hythrun Chronicles (after Medalon). The rebellion led by Tarja Tenragen and his half-sister R'shiel against their mother, the ruler of Medalon, has succeeded, but not without costs. Medalon is threatened by neighboring Karien and internally torn by those still loyal to the fallen First Sister of the Blade. Sorely wounded R'shiel (half-human and half-demon) lies in the hands of the legendary Harshini healers but the Harshini have their own agenda, and the race's prohibition against violence doesn't prevent them from manipulating others to do their killing. While a recovering R'shiel is groomed to destroy the fundamentalist Kariens' god Xaphista, Tarja allies with dashing Damin Wolfblade, Warlord of Krakandar, and settles into Treason Keep to prepare for a Karien attack. Meanwhile, Hablet of Fardohnya sends his strong-willed daughter Adrina to forge an alliance with Karien by wedding crown prince Cratyn. Although the fates of Tarja and R'shiel form the series heart, Damin and Adrina are the heart of this exciting story, accompanied by a large cast of compelling characters. While new readers may have trouble getting up to speed initially, their patience will be well rewarded; fans arriving straight from book one can dive right in. Agent, Jack Byrne at the Sternig & Byrne Literary Agency. (Nov. 24) Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.