Alison Croggon Books In Order

The Gift / The Naming

‘An epic fantasy in the Tolkien tradition, with a strong girl hero…
I couldn’t put it down!’ Tamora Pierce

Maerad is a slave in a desperate and unforgiving settlement, taken there as a child when her family is destroyed in war. She doesn’t yet know she has inherited a powerful gift, one that marks her as a member of the noble School of Pellinor and enables her to see the world as no other can. It is only when she is discovered by Cadvan, one of the great Bards of Lirigon, that her true identity and extraordinary destiny unfold. Now, she and her mysterious teacher must embark on a treacherous, uncertain journey through a time and place where the forces of darkness wield an otherworldly terror. The first book in a projected quartet, Alison Croggon’s epic about Maerad and her remarkable yet dangerous gift is a beautiful, unforgettable tale. Presented as a new translation of an ancient text, ‘The Naming evokes the rich and complex landscape of Annar, a legendary world just waiting to be discovered.

The Riddle

A young woman embraces her power and her destiny as the thrilling quest begun in THE NAMING continues!

Maerad is a girl with a tragic and bitter past, but her powers grow stronger by the day. Now she and her mentor, Cadvan, hunted by both the Light and the Dark, must unravel The Riddle of the Treesong before their fractured kingdom erupts in chaos. The quest leads Maerad over terrifying seas and vast stretches of glacial wilderness, ever closer to the seductive Winterking ally of her most powerful enemy, the Nameless One. Trapped in the Winterking’s icy realm, Maerad must confront what she has suspected all along: that she is the greatest riddle of all. A sequel to THE NAMING, this second book in a captivating quartet about the ancient world of Edil Amarandh is a sweeping epic readers won’t soon forget.

The Crow

As this enthralling epic nears its climax, the young hero*ine’s brother discovers his own hidden gift and the role he must play in battling the Dark.

Hem is a weary orphan whose struggle for survival ends when he is reunited with his lost sister, Maerad. But Maerad has a destiny to fulfill, and Hem is sent to the golden city of Turbansk, where he learns the ways of the Bards and befriends a mysterious white crow. When the forces of the Dark threaten, Hem flees with his protector, Saliman, and an orphan girl named Zelika to join the Light s resistance forces. It is there that Hem has a vision and learns that he, too, has a part to play in Maerad s quest to solve the Riddle of the Treesong. As The Crow continues the epic tale begun with THE NAMING and THE RIDDLE, Alison Croggon creates a world of astounding beauty overshadowed by a terrifying darkness, a world where Maerad and Hem must prepare to wage their final battle for the Light.

The Singing

The climactic volume of the epic quartet follows the Bards of Edil Amarandh on a vital quest to merge their powers against a nameless evil.

In an increasingly battle ravaged land, Maerad, Cadvan, and Hem desperately search for one another as they make their separate journeys. The Black Army is advancing north, and even as Maerad faces a mighty confrontation with the Landrost to save Innail, all of the Seven Kingdoms are threatened with bitter and devastating defeat. Yet in Maerad and Hem lives the secret to the mysterious Singing, and legend holds that if they release the music of Elidhu together, they have the power to defeat the Nameless One. Can brother and sister find each other in time to fight this all powerful enemy, and are they strong enough even reunited to defeat him before all is lost?

Attempts at Being

This is a poetry of changes, dissolvings, transformations, fluidity between inside and out, between people and nature. Other starting points are the poetic tradition and musical forms the ways that art works, what it can articulate and fail to articulate, the inexpressible, white space and silences, unfaithful translations.

Theatre

Uses a range of narratives, fables, monologues and compressed lyrics to examine female identity and the idea of divine experience.