Sandwriter

An exuberant, romantic new fantasy from the author of the popular Isis trilogy and, more recently, Dreamcatcher. Spoiled but bright Princess Antia, heir to the wealthy Twin Continents currently ruled by Antia's domineering aunt, the queen, suddenly learns that she is to be sent to the desert island of Roshan in preparation for her marriage to the crown prince. Sure that she's really in love with her childhood tutor, Antia readily agrees to spy while on Roshan; the tutor implies that her duty toward ""statecraft'' includes discovering Roshan's secret power. Determined to find fault with Roshan and its austerity, Antia instead acquires a different perspective of the world and her place in it. Then she meets Sandwriter, symbolic priestess of Roshan, and the game of ``statecraft'' becomes a deadly battle in which Antia must decide where her loyalties liewith her past, or with her future. Although the plot is familiar, this is a smooth and sensitively written novel. With sincere portrayals of likable characters and an original setting, Hughes has constructed an engrossing tale. Ages 12-up. (March)