Free (DRM-free PDF) Racing the Dark [Polynesian-Based Epic Coming-of-Age Fantasy]

[ATDrake]

Racing the Dark by Nebula & Andre Norton Award-finalist African-American author Alaya Dawn Johnson (ISFDB, Wikipedia) is the 1st in her Spirit Binders epic coming-of-age fantasy trilogy based on a Polynesian-derived cultural and mythological setting, starring a young woman who discovers an artifact which becomes an uncomfortable source of dark power that complicates her life, as such things often do, free courtesy of publisher Agate's Bolden imprint, from whence it also went to the Science Fiction Book Club in 2007.

A Publisher's Weekly review likens it to Ursula K. Le Guin's Earthsea novels.

Currently free, just until the weekend, directly @ the publisher's webstore (DRM-free PDF available worldwide).

And this has been the selected 3rd (non-repeat) free ebook thread of the day.

Because we could use more epic coming-of-age fantasy novels with less frequently-used settings and character cultural backgrounds not just for diversity in its own sake, but also to keep the field from getting stale and repetitive the way it tends to do when the umpteenth pseudo-Arthurian medieval-esque D&D-ish destined world-saving farmboy and his standardized motley quasi-mentoring quest companions' endless doorstopping prophesied Hero's Journey shows up on the New Books Shelf, as they so often do.

And it gets even better when we get it from up-and-coming award-nominated young authors from diverse backgrounds as well. Bonus!

(Now if only we could get it in ePub, as well… But it's nice that we're getting it at all. )

Enjoy!

Description
Enter a land of volcanoes and earthquakes, plagues and typhoons, of island nations separated by water but bound by fear of the spirits they imprisoned to control their volatile environment. In Racing the Dark, the first act in a grand dance of loyalty, love, sacrifice, and death is about to begin.

Like the other women of her nameless backwater island, Lana had always expected to become a diver and harvest precious jewels from a fish native to their surrounding freshwater seas. But during her initiation dive, she receives a horrifying gift—a blood-red jewel that marks her as someone with power. Someone to be used.

Though Lana hides the jewel, the power it represents drives her family away from their home island, and Lana into an apprenticeship with a one-armed witch with a peculiar interest in her fate. The witch hides the extent of her own power (and of her intentions) even as she trains Lana in geas—the spells and incantations that allow humans to sacrifice for control of the spirits.

But powers far greater and intrigues far older than anything she could imagine are driving Lana down a dangerous road. When she dares to use a dark, ancient geas to save her mother's life, she is set onto a path toward becoming a creature beyond her wildest imaginings. A creature of great power...and a perfect pawn of the spirits themselves, in their bid to break free of a millennia-long imprisonment.

A bold new talent in fantasy fiction, 25-year-old Alaya Dawn Johnson has created an unforgettable coming-of-age story set in a world where wielding power requires understanding the true meaning of sacrifice.