Introduction

The astounding, epic conclusion to the Keeper of Tales Trilogy brings together the cryptic prophecy in The Mapmaker’s War and the troubling mysteries in The Chronicle of Secret Riven—leading to an unforgettable reckoning between lies and truth.

We are all born made of gold.

Secret Riven—the mystically gifted heroine who now represses her uncanny telepathic power—works for the mysterious magnate Fewmany as an archivist in his private library. There, she stumbles upon the arcane manuscript that had vanished following her mother’s untimely death. She suspects the manuscript contains a profound secret, and she is yet unaware of its link to a thousand-year-old war and her own family’s legacy.

The tasks before her are clear: Secret must finally learn what Fewmany wants from her as well as the meaning of a strange symbol she’s dreamed of since childhood. At last, she must confront the questions haunting her and depart on a quest to find the truth about herself, her dead mother, and her fate—to unleash a Plague of Silences meant to destroy, and transform, the world as all have known it.

A dazzling, genre-bending masterwork, The Plague Diaries illuminates the power of our choices, the scars they leave, and the wounds they heal.

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Excerpt

Prologue

Fate is a line free will twists into a spiral. A path fractured into forks that lead to the same place. A snake that bites its own tail. The beginning knows its end.
This is the paradox: Free will slips among the twists of fate. Crosses the valley, scales the mountain, enters the cave. Finds a new way through fixed space. The end remembers where it began.
When I was a child, I knew—believed—none of this.
On a summer morning, weeks before I turned eighteen, a pigeon, a dove, and a sparrow summoned me to visit an estranged friend. I went to her cottage in the woods west of town. There, Old Woman revealed the symbol carved in stone at her hearth. She knew I’d once dreamed of this symbol but had long concealed its presence in her home from me. Then, she said it was known “the man Fewmany” was buying land where other stones lay, but not the reason why. She spoke of the missing arcane manuscript entrusted to my late mother, who was meant to decipher the text but didn’t. Old Woman told me, “You are here to shift a balance, one with the potential to deepen our darkness or bear forth a hidden light.” ... view entire excerpt...

Discussion Questions

1. Fewmany and Secret have an intense, unusual relationship, which seems to have an imbalance of power in the beginning. How does that balance shift over time? What do you think either of them truly felt about the other? Had Secret made a different choice at the end of Part I, what do you think would have happened?

2. Nikolas often reveals himself as a contemplative, compassionate young man. How does this put him at odds with the role he was born into? How does this affect his leadership later in the story? What influence, if any, does Secret have on this side of him?

3. Secret often struggles between being open and helpful to the people in her life and being closed off and self-protecting. How did you find yourself sympathizing with her difficulties, if at all? How did your understanding of Secret change as she (and you) learned more about her mother, Zavet?

4. What do you think of the role that nature and animals played in guiding the lives and choices of the characters?

5. How did you react to the Plague of Silences and what each phase revealed? Imagine if such a plague struck our world. What do you think would happen?

6. How does the kingdom of Ailliath change because of the plague? What aspects of their society do you see reflected in ours?

7. What did you think of the secret Harmyn kept from everyone?

8. Secret discusses the seeming paradox of fate versus free will. Are these concepts incompatible? How have they affected your own life?

9. Throughout the novel, there are allusions to myths, folklore, and fairy tales. Which ones did you notice? How did those references, explicit or implicit, affect your understanding of the characters and their world?

10. If you were casting a movie or TV series of this book, which actors would you select for major and minor roles?

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