Aenir
Aenir book cover
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| Author | Garth Nix |
|---|---|
| Illustrator | Se Rawlings |
| Cover artist | Madalina Stefan |
| Country | Australian |
| Language | English |
| Series | The Seventh Tower |
| Genre | Fantasy novel |
| Publisher | Scholastic |
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Publication date
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January 1, 2001 |
| Media type | Print (Paperback) |
| Pages | 233 pp |
| ISBN | |
| OCLC | 45644811 |
| LC Class | CPB Box no. 1881 vol. 20 |
| Preceded by | Castle |
| Followed by | Above the Veil |
Aenir is the third book in Garth Nix's The Seventh Tower series, published in 2001 by Scholastic. The cover design and art are by Madalina Stefan and Steve Rawlings respectively. This book was released recently in the UK.
Tal: A Chosen teenager brought up in the Chosen castle on the Mountain of Light to use Sunstones and summon Spiritshadows. These Spiritshadows come from the dream world of Aenir and are trapped by the Chosen on their ascension day, where they become true chosen. These creatures absorb the chosen's shadow and therefore become their new shadows when they return to the land where the chosen live, the dark world. Thus named because of the magic veil placed above the land to block light from the sun, and so lessening the powers of rebel spiritshadows who are untrapped and therefore free to wreak havoc. Tal's family is scattered and each member is in peril, remembering the final words his father told him he sets out to Aenir so he can find the chosen Codex (which can answer all questions) so that he can track down his kidnapped brother.
Milla: A teenage Icecarl brought up on the icy wastelands surrounding the chosen castle. She has been brought up believing that the spiritshadows are evil creatures. She longs to be a shield maiden, a female warrior sworn to protect her clan. Her clan lives on an ice ship, a ship on skates pulled across the ice. They live by hunting the most common animal on the ice, massive Selski that move around the herd in massive herds destroying everything in their way. They make their weapons using the horns of narwhal-like creatures called Merwins. The Sunstone used to light up her ship is dying, and so she is sent by her elders to assist Tal (who fell from the chosen castle and came upon their ice ship) in his quest, as well as finding a powerful sunstone for their ship. After entering the castle she decides to aid Tal in finding the Codex.
Thus we find Tal and Milla in the spirit world of Aenir, where rivers and trees move daily, and even the most solid mountains can lift themselves off the earth.
After arriving in Aenir they offer up blood on the hill they are standing on. This summons up two storm shepherds, Aenirian creatures with a heart of thunder and cloud, who then demand a life in exchange for a great gift. Soon the two characters discover that the two shepherds do not like taking lives, but only do it because they were bound thousands of years ago to do that exact task ever more. When they do not take a life and hesitate when Tal offers to make them his and Milla's spiritshadows to release their bind on the hill, the spirit in the hill awakes to sort out the problem. Afraid, the two creatures accept Tal's offer and quickly grab their new chosen and escape the hill, exhilarated to finally be free. Tal's spirit shadow is Adras, a big but dim witted male. While Milla ends up with Odris, a more sharp witted slender female. Neither is very good at reading human emotions and find themselves confused quite often.
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