''Song of the Arkafina'' is a four volume work of fantasy by English author
Suzanne Francis
Suzanne Francis (March 20, 1959) is an English science fiction and fantasy author. She was born in King's Lynn, Norfolk, and now lives in Dunedin, New Zealand. She has been married twice and has four children.
Suzanne Francis is the author of ...
. The books were published in
Ebook
An ebook (short for electronic book), also known as an e-book or eBook, is a book publication made available in digital form, consisting of text, images, or both, readable on the flat-panel display of computers or other electronic devices. Alt ...
format in 2007-2008 by Mushroom Publishing and later in
paperback
A paperback (softcover, softback) book is one with a thick paper or paperboard cover, and often held together with adhesive, glue rather than stitch (textile arts), stitches or Staple (fastener), staples. In contrast, hardcover (hardback) book ...
by Bladud Books.
Description
The books tell the life story of Katrione Estelle du Chesne. ''Heart of Hythea'' begins with her childhood and career as an apprentice healer of the Unity of Lalluna. The books are set in an imaginary sphere called Yrth that is ruled by a race of immortals called the Amaranthine. Katrione, her daughter Gwenn Faircrow, and granddaughter Myriadne Svalbarad play key roles, in the battle between the Amaranthine and their enemies, the Dark Angellus, which continues through all four books.
Song of the Arkafina comprises the following four books:
Volume One--''Heart of Hythea''
Volume Two--''Ketha's Daughter''
Volume Three--''Dawnmaid''
Volume Four--''Beyond the Gyre''
The Divinatory Systems
Each book in Song of the Arkafina features one of four imaginary
fortune-telling system devised by the author. The characters in ''Heart of Hythea'' use the Luckcast, a deck of 60 cards divided into three estates. In ''Ketha's Daughter,'' the seafaring race called the Fynara call on the Linnun, a series of stones with images of water in its differing forms. The Firaithi, a traveling people, use the
octahedral Triske Stones to practice
lithomancy
Lithomancy is a form of divination by which the future is told using stones or the reflected light from the stones. The practice is most popular in the British Isles.
History
The earliest verified account of lithomancy comes from Photius, the p ...
in ''Dawnmaid''. In ''Beyond the Gyre'', the Angellus, also known as the Irais, use tokens representing the
leaves
A leaf (plural, : leaves) is any of the principal appendages of a vascular plant plant stem, stem, usually borne laterally aboveground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", wh ...
of different species of
tree
In botany, a tree is a perennial plant with an elongated stem, or trunk, usually supporting branches and leaves. In some usages, the definition of a tree may be narrower, including only woody plants with secondary growth, plants that are ...
s. These are called The Folium.
[Beyond the Gyre, Mushroom Publishing, 2008]
References
{{reflist, 2
21st-century British novels
British fantasy novels
Fantasy novel series