Nancy Keane's Booktalks -- Quick and Simple
 
Hanley, Victoria.
THE LIGHT OF THE ORACLE
New York : David Fickling, 2005
IL YA
ISBN 0385750870
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In this companion book to The Seer and the Sword and The Healer's Keep, Bryn a 15 year old stonecutter's daughter is unexpectedly chosen to become a student at the Temple of the Oracle. Before the visit of the High Priest to her village, the village priest had taught her the essentials of reading and writing, but any other talents she might have were unknown.

Bryn knows that this will be her only chance to escape the drab poverty of the village. On the desert crossing on the way to the Temple, Bryn gives her water bottle to a woman begging at the side of the road, a generous impulse that she does not regret even when she learns that this woman has been banished from the Temple and left to die.

At the Temple, Bryn realizes immediately that not all the students are equals. The rich and the poor are different. But what they do have in common is that each has some unique power, powers that are revealed to them by being “called” by various god-linked birds. Bryn, however, learns that she is extraordinary: she is wind-called and her powerful gift is prophecy.

Whispers stirred in Bryn's ears. One word was clear, spoken in a voice that rang through her mind like a bell. Prophecy.
The wind increased, grew louder, whistling now, taking hold of her, bringing with it a storm of change. Oh yes, change would come, blowing sorrowfully across the land. Not only for Bryn, but for the Queen of Sorana.
Bryn's arm lifted, her finger pointing at Princess Zorienne. "Beware his death," she whispered. "His sleeping death."
During 2 years at this training school for future priests and priestesses, Bryn finds friends, and hopes for love. She becomes aware of the political treachery around her, and is cursed by a jealous, rich , royal young woman named Clea. She becomes discouraged when the wind no longer touches her with prophecy. She has to develop the powers of her mind and allow the goodness of her spirit to overpower the evil. Eventually, love and good prevail and the new generation of spiritual leaders guide the Queen and her daughter. Colorado Blue Spruce Young Adult Book Award, 2006-2007
SUBJECTS:   Priests -- Fiction.
                   Schools -- Fiction.
                   Fantasy.
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