What if everything we imagine, every world we can dream up — is REAL — given infinite space and time? In THE STARGAZERS’ DAUGHTERS, Lilliea Graton discovers just that.
It’s hard enough being the stargazer’s daughter, harder still when everyone in town thinks you’re an insufferable know-it-all. And having a sister like Rose—a precocious eight-year-old with an overactive imagination and a frog for a pet—is no picnic either. But when a comet blazes across the noonday sky, throwing the superstitious townsfolk into a panic, the girls’ father, Merowin Mathonway, assures the hysterical mob the world isn’t about to end. And yet, for Lilliea and Rose, it does just that. For on that fateful night, Mathonway is whisked through a magic doorway, never to return, and Lilliea and Rose are swept into a cosmic, mind-bending adventure full of danger, magic, and mystery. They are joined by Kalima, a no-nonsense dwarf; Sekhmet, a thief of royal blood; and Ecthros, a would-be hero and archer with terrible aim.
To save their father, Lilliea must overcome her personal demons while questioning everything she knows about the man who raised her and the nature of the universe itself.
"And above all else, do not neglect your sense of wonder ... for that is the key to all things—the doorway to the Cosmos."
Art and Illustration courtesy of Jasmine Alimonos at instagram.com/jaslovecreativity/
Lilliea Graton lives with her eight-year-old sister, Rose, in the port town of Graton. Her thirst for knowledge and the lessons she learns from her stargazer father, Merowin Mathonway, lead her to an understanding of the Cosmos centuries beyond her time, bringing her into conflict with the townsfolk, who consider her and her family crazy, and alienating her from her friends.
When a comet blazes across the noonday sky and throws the superstitious townsfolk into a panic, Lilliea's father assures the hysterical mob the world isn’t about to end. But for Lilliea and her sister, the world does just that. That night, Mathonway disappears into a magical doorway, and Lilliea and Rose are swept into an adventure of cosmic proportions, forcing Lilliea to rethink everything she believes about the man who raised her and the nature of reality itself.
Eight-year-old Rose Graton is often seen wearing her pet frog, Ted, like a hat. While she loves her 'Sissy' dearly, the two girls couldn't be more different. Rose tackles the world with reckless abandon, never afraid of getting dirty, climbing from the second-story rafters of their home, or careening out of control on her self-made, barely functioning wagon. She arrives late for dinner with scraped knees and bruised elbows, and couldn't be happier about it. Where Lilliea notices dreadful things around every corner, for Rose, the world abounds with magic and wonder. When events in her life become frightening, Rose finds courage in her fertile imagination, becoming "Dragon Rose," a staff-twirling warrior.
Sekhmet ibnatu Thutmose was born in the fabled Oasis City of Shemselinihar, the daughter of the Grand Vizier, Thutmose. When her brother, Amir, falls in love with the Sultan's intended bride, Haweya, Thutmose is duty-bound to slaughter his only son. Sekhmet intervenes, pleading with her father to spare his life, and Amir goes on the run as an outlaw. Days pass until, on the Sultan's wedding night, she follows the vizier's elite guard, the Assassi, expecting Amir to try and steal Haweya back from the Sultan. But instead of her brother, Sekhmet discovers a cave, a monster, and an abandoned newborn that may or may not be a kitten. In time, Amir urges her to flee the city to escape their father's wrath and the Sultan's tyranny, and taking up her grandfather's daggers, Sekhmet makes her way across the Great White Flat to the coast of the One Sea and the port of Graton.
Ecthros' fondest memories are of his father, Xenox, performing remarkable feats of accuracy with bow and arrow. When Xenox leaves on an urgent summons and never returns, the boy relentlessly practices his archery in the hope of someday making his father proud.
In his formative years aboard his Uncle Davos's airship, Ecthros visits every port along the Potamis River until reaching the fabled kingdom of Tyrnael, where he is smitten by Princess Radia Noora. But when his uncle dies in battle and she ascends the throne, he leaves the kingdom in search of his other uncle, Davor. In the town of Graton, he befriends the stargazers' daughters and volunteers to find their father after he vanishes into a magic portal, crossing the Great White Flat to reach Shemselinihar, where a second portal is said to exist.
Appearances: The Princess of Aenya, The Magiq of Aenya
Dwarves aren't supposed to exist other than in fairytales, which is why Lilliea is dumbfounded to meet Kalima in a tavern on the night Rose and her father go missing. Of all Lilliea's companions, Kalima's identity remains the biggest mystery. Who she is and where she comes from are questions the dwarf refuses to answer, though Lilliea suspects some hidden connection between Kalima and her father.
Always in a grumpy mood, Kalima seems as if she would rather be doing anything but lend a helping hand. But for Mathonway's daughters - two girls she has only just met - she risks life and limb, rushing headlong into battle with her improbably-sized polearm, Problem Solver. When she is not teaching Rose the proper way to break someone's bones, she's stirring up pots of her delicious dwarf chili. Just don't call her 'the cook,' or you may get your head caved in!
