Finished Copies of Quintana

The awesome Penguin Teen Australia tweeted a picture featuring finished copies of Quintana of Charyn straight from the printer!

Isn't the book beautiful? Can't believe it's already less than a month before its release in Australia. Let's just keep staring at the photo and maybe a copy will magically come through the computer screen and into our eager little hands.

Quintana of Charyn Teaser Quotes

Melina Marchetta posted examples of the six point of views that will be featured in Quintana of Charyn! All of them are posted below.

And here where we’re hidden, I sleep in a corner. My dreams are consumed by She who has stealth. I feel her, I fight her, I grit through my teeth, ‘Keep far from my king or I’ll tear you to pieces.’ I call out your name to help fight this demon. I call out your name.
‘Froi! Save Charyn’s son.’

---

'Are you calling me a liar?’ Isaboe asked softly. ‘Because I’d be careful of that, my love.’

---

‘But I failed,’ Froi said, pained to think of how much he had.‘You don’t know how that feels.’
Arjuro’s laugh was humourless. ‘You are saying those words to the wrong man, Froi. Failure is more of a twin to me than my own brother.’

---

Phaedra of Alonso’s death was a never-ending pain that gnawed at his insides. It made him a prisoner in his own cottage.

---

Up in the distance the whistle of the wind sang to her from the mountain. From Lucian’s mountain. It beckoned and taunted and she wanted to run towards it. To be enveloped in its coat of fleece and to hear its safe sounds.

---

Outside the inn, Finnikin watched the man and woman before him. They were of the same height. Both reed thin. And they loved each other. That was the fact Finnikin wanted to forget. That he was about to assassinate a man who loved someone.

Thoughts on the teasers? I am loving them and also kind of freaking out over the last one!

Ferragost Review

Ferragost by Melina Marchetta
Release Date: August 7, 2012
Published in: Review of Australian Fiction - Volume 3, Issue 4

"Lady Celie of the Lumateran Flatlands is visiting the Belegonian spring castle on the isle of Ferragost. Cut off from the rest of Belegonia by poor weather, she is confined to the island with four others, including the mysterious castellan of the castle. When the body of one of the guests is discovered on the rocks outside the east tower, Celie is not only considered a suspect, but finds herself embroiled in events that are entwined with her own kingdom's cursed history, as well as the future of the entire land of Skuldenore."

Every spring the King of Belegonia and his family stay at the Ferragost castle located off the coast of Belegonia. This year they invite Lady Celie of the Lumatere Flatlands to join them at Ferragost. While the arrival of the royal family is delayed by the weather, someone is murdered at Ferragost Castle and Celie decides to help the Castellan of the isle, Banyon, solve the murder. But it becomes tricky when Banyon suspects her of the murder and accuses her of being a spy for Lumatere.

Although it's a short story, Ferragost pretty much has everything I love to find in a Melina Marchetta story! There's always a surprise (or two or three!), something I never see coming. Even when I think I have the mystery solved, I never would have guessed the real reasons behind the characters' motives and actions. It tends to leave me in awe with my mouth hanging open and wondering how Melina Marchetta always manages to do this to her readers.

Melina's characters and the relationships in her stories are some of my favorites ever. Celie and her relationship with Banyon is no exception. On the outside Celie looks frail, but on the inside she's a total badass. I adored her! I also loved Banyon and Celie's interactions with him. Banyon doesn't seem to trust her and comes off as really rude, but there's an attraction there between them. So you can imagine the tension that builds whenever they're around each other. Celie will play a role in Quintana of Charyn, and I'm really really hoping Banyon will too! Even if it's a minor one, I don't care. He is up there with how I feel about the other male leads in the series. It amazes me how quickly and easily I can fall in love with Melina Marchetta characters. They are just that awesome.

According to Melina, Ferragost takes place around the same time as events in Quintana of Charyn but doesn't spoil anything. If you're a fan of the Lumatere Chronicles, I highly recommend you read Ferragost! It'll make you want the final book in the series even more, but at the same time it'll satisfy you and be the fix you need while you wait for QoC's release.

(Ferragost is featured in an issue of the online journal Review of Australlian Fiction. More info here. And it can be purchased here!)

Ferragost in Review of Australian Fiction

Review of Australian Fiction is an online journal that publishes short stories every two weeks by established and emerging Australian authors. RoAF invites an author to write a story, and then that author chooses an emerging author to be featured with them in an issue.

In the case of their upcoming issue (volume 3, issue 4), they invited Melina Marchetta and she chose Kirsty Eagar, the author of Raw Blue. Kirsty Eagar's story is called Molasses and set in the Australian city of Rockhampton. Melina Marchetta wrote a story called Ferragost, which is about Lady Celie, a character from the Lumatere Chronicles.

Volume 3, Issue 4 will be available on August 7 for purchase at the price of $2.99AUS on the Review of Australian Fiction's website, exclusively through Booki.sh. Accounts are free on Booki.sh, and it is the ONLY site where you'll be able to access issues of Review of Australian Fiction. RoAF's ebooks are DRM-free, though, and once you make a purchase, you can download it as an Epub file and you'll be able to convert it to whichever type of ebook format you need to.

If you have any questions, you can tweet Review of Australian Fiction @AustFicion or find their email contact info on their website. Thanks to the editor Matthew Lamb for providing all the info about Review of Australian Fiction and Booki.sh!

So while we wait for this exciting issue to be released, you can read an extract of Ferragost that Melina Marchetta posted here. It already sounds good! Be sure to add Ferragost to your GoodReads bookshelf and check back on 132 Minutes soon for an early review.

Synopsis: Ferragost and Quintana of Charyn

Penguin Australia's official synopsis of Quintana of Charyn has been out for awhile, but we actually never posted it on the blog until now. We also have the synopsis of Ferragost, a short story in the Lumatere Chronicles, from Melina Marchetta. According to Melina, it takes place at the same time as the events in Quintana of Charyn. We'll have more information on that soon. In the meantime, here are the synopses:

Ferragost

Lady Celie of the Lumateran Flatlands is visiting the Belegonian spring castle on the isle of Ferragost. Cut off from the rest of Belegonia by poor weather, she is confined to the island with four others, including the mysterious castellan of the castle. When the body of one of the guests is discovered on the rocks outside the east tower, Celie is not only considered a suspect, but finds herself embroiled in events that are entwined with her own kingdom's cursed history, as well as the future of the entire land of Skuldenore.

Quintana of Charyn

Quintana of Charyn is the spine-tingling and unforgettable final volume in the Lumatere Chronicles, which began with Finnikin of the Rock and Froi of the Exiles. An achingly satisfying and masterfully plotted novel from the pen of internationally best-selling and multi-award-winning author Melina Marchetta.

Separated from the girl he loves and has sworn to protect, Froi and his companions travel through Charyn searching for Quintana and building an army that will secure her unborn child's right to rule. While in the valley between two kingdoms, Quintana of Charyn and Isaboe of Lumatere come face to face in a showdown that will result in heartbreak for one and power for the other.