Samantha Lynn Bearden: The Crown of Hollow Stars, Kartoniert / Broschiert

Klappentext

In the kingdom of Aethelgard, the stars are worshipped as divine guardians whose light has protected humanity for a thousand years. But when the Star of Sovereignty suddenly disappears, leaving a terrifying crack in the sky, Princess Lyenne Ravenscroft begins to question everything she has ever been taught. Ordered by her father, King Valerian, to undertake a sacred pilgrimage, Lyenne is accompanied by Captain Knox Donovan and the troubled scholar Jasper Kingsley. What begins as a mission to restore the kingdom's failing light soon becomes a horrifying journey into a secret the royal family and the Star-Order have protected for generations. Lyenne discovers that the stars are not divine gifts at all. They are the imprisoned souls of ancient kings, their lives being harvested to power Aethelgard. Worse still, she learns that she has been prepared as the next sacrifice-the Thirteenth Star, destined to replace the failing celestial power and continue a thousand-year cycle of suffering. Faced with a choice between preserving a kingdom built upon suffering or destroying the system that sustains it, Lyenne chooses the terrifying truth. In a final confrontation, she shatters the Crown and releases the imprisoned stars, ending the ancient cycle forever. The Crown of Hollow Stars is a dark, atmospheric fantasy about sacrifice, rebellion, inherited power, and the price of living inside a beautiful lie. When the false stars finally disappear, Lyenne discovers that darkness is not necessarily the end-it may be the first true freedom her world has ever known.