The Chosen - Softcover

Pinto, Ricardo

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0553505815 ISBN 13: 9780553505818

Publisher: Bantam Books (Transworld Publishers a division of the Random House Group), 2000

Synopsis

Carnelian is of the Masters, cruel beings who rule their kingdom from an earthly paradise hidden in a crater that is the navel of the world. Soon after he is born, Carnelian's father takes him across the sea to an island in the colourless north. Far from the Crater's rituals and pomp, their household is allowed to become a family to the boy and the world of the Masters fades to alluring fairy tale. n deepest winter, years later, a ship comes riding before the gales, three Masters her only cargo. As these giants remove their masks of gold, Carnelian is awed by the light that seems to radiate from their skin. In formal conclave they ask Carnelian's father to end his exile and return with them to oversee the election of a new God Emporer. His father's agreement feeds Carnelian's longing for the world beyond the sea, but as the days pass Carnelian watches with growing horror as the ship's needs devour his home. The Masters are indifferent, imperious, concerned only with their blood politics, their majesty. As his father becomes strangely powerless, Carnelian strives to save his people, but when the ship turns her pro towards the stormy sea he knows that he is abandoning them t

About this title

About the Author

Ricardo Pinto is Portuguese, but has lived and studied in Scotland since he was a child. Previously he designed and programmed computer games. This is his second novel. He lives in Edinburgh and is currently working on the final volume in this trilogy.

From the Back Cover

Hidden within a avolcanic crater, the earthly paradise of Osrakum is the very heart of the Three Lands - a vast empire ruled over by the imperious and cruel Masters. Carnelian is a Master but, living in exile with his father on a remote island, he has grown up free from their pomp and ritual, humanised by the love of his household.

Years later, through bitter winter gales, a great black ship arrives to shatter his world. It brings three mask-clad Masters come to beg Carnelian's father to return to oversee the election of a new God Emperor. Seemingly powerless to refuse, Carnelian journeys with him, across the seas and the Guarded Land, to fabled Osrakum.

In the city's echoing halls and forbidden gardens, bitter, bloody lessons of power and intrigue have to be learned, love sought and treachery endured, and in fufilling his destiny, Carnelian sets in motion the concluding events in a story 4,000 years old...

The first book in a remarkable new trilogy, The Chosen heralds the arrival of a dazzling and original new voice.

Edition details

• Publisher: Bantam Books (Transworld Publishers a division of the Random House Group)
• Publication date: 2000
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0553505815
• ISBN 13: 9780553505818
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 736