This March, our guest will be Marie Rutkoski, author of the Kronos Chronicles, a series which currently includes the books The Cabinet of Wonders and The Celestial Globe. Set in 16th-century Europe, the books parallel our world with one significant exception. In the world of the books, magic is possible, even though magical ability is rare, especially outside the nobility.
In Okno, a small town near Prague, Petra Kronos lives with her father and relatives at their shop, The Sign of the Compass. Petra’s father, Mikal Kronos, is a craftsman blessed with a brilliant mind and a magical ability to work with metal. He is hired by Prince Rodolfo to build a fabulous clock in Prague with a secret power that could wreak havoc on the Prince’s enemies. When Master Kronos finishes the clock, the cruel Prince magically removes his eyes and sends him home, blind. Outraged, Petra travels to Prague to steal her father’s eyes back from the Cabinet of Wonders, the Prince’s infamous magic collection, and destroy the heart of the clock in the process.
In the second book in the series, The Celestial Globe, Petra and her father are once again in danger as the Prince demands their capture. Petra barely escapes and finds herself in London, caught in a complex world of espionage, murder, magic, and the hunt for the Mercator Globes, a legendary set of globes that can open portals into different locations all over the world.
If you are searching for an original, ingenious, and captivating series, look no further than these books. Rutkoski weaves adventure, fantasy, magic, and history together perfectly to create a fascinating world of intrigue, danger, triumph, and friendship. The dialogue is just as fast-paced as the action, making the pages fly by and leaving you wanting more immediately after you close each book.
Author photo by Stephen Scott Gross