A girl on the run must uncover the truth about her past in order to secure the future. Auris has just broken out of a Goblin prison. If recaptured, she faces certain, gruesome death. She doesn't know why Humans are penned up like animals, and she doesn't know how she herself ended up in the prison. She remembers having parents who loved her, but not who they were or where they lived. All she knows is that she has to keep moving to stay alive. When she's rescued by a strange young man with greenish skin who turns out to be Fae, she's quickly drawn to him and to the beauty of the Faerie city he shows her. She yearns to belong somewhere, and why not in this beautiful city in the trees? But in order to win a place with the Fae, she must recover her lost memories of her own past and prove she's not a danger to the community. The mystery of Auris' past drives the plot forward, and secrets are revealed and new questions uncovered at an appealingly steady pace. Formal language, and the characters' tendency to constantly and explicitly state how they feel ("His hand is stroking my hair and I let him continue for a moment, comforted by the feeling it provides"), keeps the reader at arm's length. But Auris' quest to understand herself and be accepted into a community is a compelling one. A fast-paced plot packed with secrets makes this an enjoyable read in a slightly old-fashioned high-fantasy style. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Auris Afton Grieg has been in the children's prison since the age of 15, with no real memories of her prior life. Her 19th birthday is approaching, when she'll be forced to move to the adult prison. Before Auris can be transferred, she and several others enact a bold escape into the wastelands, chased by their fierce Goblin captors. Only Auris survives and she's soon rescued by a peculiar, handsome, green-skinned stranger named Harrow, who tells Auris that he is Fae, a race that she'd only heard of in stories. Harrow then reveals that he suspects Auris is also Fae, even though she looks more like a human with her olive skin. Harrow and Auris travel to his beautiful home, Viridian Deep, where Auris is by turns welcomed and shunned by the Fae. As her knowledge about magic and the world grows, Auris journeys back to her past to uncover the answers that will unlock her future. VERDICT Brooks's (The Last Druid) latest series launches in an exciting new world filled with juxtapositions of magic and machine, Fae and human, and introduces the one young woman who may be able to bridge the gaps.--Kristi Chadwick, Massachusetts Lib. Syst., Northampton

Bestseller Brooks's first fantasy since retiring the long-running Shannara series offers an enticing new mystery while delivering enough familiar elements--in both tone and worldbuilding--to make his fans feel right at home. Nineteen-year-old Auris Grieg remembers nothing of her life before being imprisoned by goblins in the middle of a wasteland, though she catches snippets of memories in dreams. After four years, she and her fellow prisoners escape, but at great cost, as her comrades die wandering the wasteland. She believes she will be next--until she is rescued by Harrow, a Sylvan Fae. Harrow introduces Auris to his idyllic, magical world in the belief that she may be Fae herself, despite her human appearance. The more Auris learns of Harrow and his homeland, the more she is drawn to them both, but the truth of her connection with the Fae also ties her to a deeply held secret. Consumed with the need to understand her history, she embarks on a dangerous quest back into human lands with Harrow at her side. Auris is a tough but enchanting protagonist, and the page-turning mystery of her magical origins form the novel's heart. Brooks's fans will be thrilled to have a new series to savor. (Oct.)