A magical island welcomes back its prodigal son in a tale that blends political intrigue with elements of a fantasy thriller. Thanks to a centuries-old curse, the controlling clans of the east and west live in completely different worlds on the Isle of Cadence. The Breccans in the west can wield magic themselves, but the land is unyielding and the spirits there, hostile. In the east, the Tamerlaines weave magic into objects at a steep cost to their well-being, yet they maintain bountiful relationships with both the land and its spirits. The Tamerlaines sent Jack away from Cadence when he was just 11 years old, forcing him to leave the magical island he'd always called home and train as a bard at a mundane university. He comes home a decade later, after he receives a letter from the Laird of the East asking him to return. After making the dangerous journey homeward, however, he learns that it was his childhood rival, the laird's daughter, Adaira, who summoned him. The spirits have kidnapped two young girls, and Adaira wants Jack's help to find out why. The young bard finds himself torn between his successful career as a music teacher on the mainland and his family--his mother and the younger sister he didn't know he had. When a third girl disappears, however, it becomes clear that no spirit is responsible for the east's troubles. Here, Ross has built a fully realized world clearly inspired by Scottish myth and legend and thick with heroes. Jack and Adaira are not alone in their fight but are instead surrounded by a bevy of well-rounded kith and kin. Readers begin to sense just how deeply intertwined the lives of the Tamerlaines are the moment Jack returns home, and they'll quickly realize this is not his story but that of Cadence itself. A rich fantasy of bards and bairns in which the magical island setting becomes the main character. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

After years of honing his bard craft on the mainland, Jack is summoned back to the island of Cadence by his former rival and the Tamerlaine heir, Adaira, who hopes he can help her solve a mystery: young girls have been disappearing, and they need to find out who's responsible. As tensions rise at the magical border that separates the east from the raiding Breccans, Adaira dreams of a united Cadence, something that captain of the guard Torin doubts is possible. Ross' novel builds a rich and tangible world of enchanted woven plaids, hidden cottages that disappear the moment you turn around, and spirit folk that will feel as dangerous and sharp as in classic Scottish fairy tales. The characters are rich, and readers will find themselves invested very quickly in their relationships: not just the simmering connection between Adaira and Jack, but the complex marriage between tough, surly Torin and gentle healer Sidia, as well as Jack's relationship with his mother. A River Enchanted is a vivid fantasy that is impossible to put down, an intricate, character-driven story with a lot of heart set in a shifting, mysterious, heather-blanketed landscape. Readers will be left impatient for its sequel.

With this vividly imagined, Scottish-inspired mythic fantasy, Ross makes her adult fantasy debut (after the YA novel Dreams Lie Beneath) and launches the Elements of Cadence duology. Jack Tamerlaine departed Cadence, an island divided by an age-old feud between two clans, 10 years ago to train as a bard on the mainland. Now he is summoned back to the childhood home he hoped to leave behind. Young girls are going missing from the island, and Adaira Tamerlaine, future Laird of the East and Jack's childhood enemy, needs Jack's help to find them. The rescue mission forces Jack and Adaira to work together to appease the spirits of earth, fire, water and air--but this magic comes at a high cost, one Jack may be unable to pay. Ross puts a faith-based spin on the familiar elemental magic system and infuses her richly drawn world with dangerous spirits, while raising thoughtful questions about spirituality, morality, man's relationship with nature, and the meaning of home. This will appeal to lovers of fantasy from Name of the Wind to the Earthsea series. Agent: Suzie Townsend, New Leaf Literary. (Feb.)

First in the "Kithamar" trilogy, set in an ancient city with a blood-bathed history, Nebula-nominated, Hugo-winning Abraham's Age of Ash tells the story of a thief named Alys whose hunt for her brother's murderer reveals secrets that could bring down rulers (40,000-copy first printing). With Clean Air, award-winning author Blake introduces a postapocalyptic world where trees are so overgrown that pollen chokes the world and people must live in domes that someone is viciously slashing. From Hugo nominee and internationally best-selling Dutch author Heuvelt, sends Nick Grevers and climbing partner Augustin up a remote mountain in the Swiss Alps called the Maudit ("cursed" in French), whose eerie stillness presages the horror to come (150,000-copy first printing). In The Thousand Eyes, a follow-up to Larkwood's LJ-starred debut, The Unspoken Name, Csorwe has defied the wizard she served and disappeared into the unknown to lead a quiet life with her mage-girlfriend--but not for long; bits and pieces of an ancient goddess are arising in the worlds of the Echo Maze, and Csorwe must join with old companions to resist (150,000-copy first printing). Owen, The Boy with the Bird in His Chest in Lund's debut, is hidden away by his mother for years to protect him but decides to risk an outing in the woods that turns catastrophic (60,000-copy first printing). Successful YA author Ross's first adult fantasy, A River Enchanted takes place on an island as magical as Prospero's, where spirits responding only to a bard's music thrive--and the trouble they are stirring up forces just-returned musician Jack and his nemesis, heiress Adaira, to cooperate (50,000-copy first printing).