Dragonclaw ~ Paperback ~ Kate Forsyth

A complex and gripping story of witches, enchantment, magical creatures and dragons. Dragonclaw Book One of the Witches of Eileanan A complex and gripping story of witches, enchantment, magical creatures and dragons. Dragonclaw is Kate Forsyth's first novel. Since the Day of Reckoning witches and magic have been outlawed on Eileanan. The great towers, once centres of learning, are now abandoned ruins. The penalty for practising witchcraft is death. Yet the lodestar still calls to the Righ, king of Eileanan, making him uneasy. And there are those determined restore witches and their craft to their rightful place in Eileanan. In a hidden valley deep in the mountains, in the shadow of the peak of Dragonclaw, Isabeau the foundling grows to womanhood in the care of Meghan, an old wood witch. Meghan can call animals to her hand and knows the secrets of herb-lore. But Isabeau dreams of adventure ...Carrying a magic talisman that contains the last hopes of the persecuted witches, Isabeau is hunted through the land by the evil Banrigh. Meanwhile the sea-dwelling Fairgean stir, children mysteriously disappear in the night, and Isabeau's guardian climbs DrAccoladesShortlisted for Aurealis Award for Excellence in Fiction: Best Fantasy Novel 1997.Author BiographyKate Forsyth is the internationally bestselling author of more than twenty books, including The Witches of Eileanan and Rhiannon's Ride series for adults, and The Puzzle Ring, The Gypsy Crown, and The Starthorn Tree for children. She has won or been nominated for numerous awards, including Best First Novel and a CYBIL Award in the US, five Aurealis Awards, and a CBCA Notable Book. Her books have been published in 13 different countries, including Japan, Poland, Spain and Turkey, and Kate is currently undertaking a doctorate in fairy tale retellings at the University of Technology and recently published Bitter Greens a retelling of the Rapunzel story. Kate is a direct descendant of Charlotte Waring, the author of the first book for children ever published in Australia, A Mother's Offering to her Children.