The Eyes of a King : The Last Descendants #1

FIFTEEN-YEAR-OLD LEO NORTH'S prospects in life are limited. He attends military school, lives with his fearful grandmother, and looks after his brother Stirling. He resists his innate powers, because those who demonstrate any sort of magical ability are considered enemies of the state. But when he finds a blank book in the snow, his typical indifference melts away. From the first moment he touches the book, he senses its strange power. Passages start to appear on the pages--revealing family secrets, telling the history of Malonia, and uncovering the story of Ryan and Anna, two teens from a parallel universe. When Leo's seemingly narrow path takes an unexpected tragic turn, he finds himself on a journey from which he can never really return. And, as he slowly begins to lose touch with reality, Ryan and Anna's story comes to the forefront. Their idyllic summer romance--seemingly worlds away from Leo--has everything to do with Malonia.From the Hardcover edition. Ten years have passed in war-torn Malonia since the king and queen were murdered and the throne usurped by Lucien and his rebel troops. The people believe the prince has been exiled to a far-away land, saved by a prophecy that threatened those who would harm him. But they ask themselves, Is the prince still alive? Has he actually been murdered along with his parents? A country on the brink of revolution awaits his return in silence.

Leo is a rebellious soldier-in-training with secret powers. When wandering home one night, he stumbles upon a mysterious black book lying in the snow. Its strange aura and empty pages both frighten and fascinate him. Soon the pages begin to fill with the stories of Anna and Ryan in England – a country that is only a fairy tale in Malonia. When tragedy strikes, Leo tries to rid himself of the book but its stories haunt even his dreams. In The Eyes Of A King, a fast-paced novel with a unique style, these three fifteen-year-old characters, and the parallel worlds of contemporary England and the dictatorship of Malonia, become increasingly entangled.

The Eyes of a King is founded on a detailed world of magic, Malonian traditions, and politics, but its focus is always on the human element. It will appeal to young readers who love epic adventure as well as those who seek a reflection of the day-to-day challenges of their own lives. Adults will also be swept up in this grand tale, in which the ordinary meets the extraordinary, dreams mingle with reality, and heaven and earth may co-exist.

From the Hardcover edition.

In Malonia, fifteen-year-old Leo North finds a mysterious book that slowly reveals information about his family's history, the history of his war-torn country, and glimpses of two other teenagers living in a country called England, which Malonians think is make-believe