The Echorium Sequence
A trilogy of Singers, half-creatures, and Songs of Power.
The Echorium Sequence is a young adult fantasy trilogy by Katherine Roberts, set on the Isle of Echoes and following generations of Singers. The series comprises Song Quest (1999), Crystal Mask (2001), and Dark Quetzal (2003), and features mythical creatures such as nāgas, centaurs, and half-creatures.
Quick Facts
- Author
- Katherine Roberts
- First book
- Song Quest (1999)
- Second book
- Crystal Mask (2001)
- Third book
- Dark Quetzal (2003)
- Setting
- Isle of Echoes
- Main antagonist
- Frazhin
Facts from the source article.
Plot summary
In Song Quest, novice Singer Rialle travels to the mainland to stop the hunting of Merlee and other Half Creatures, joined by her friend Frenn. Another novice, Kherron, runs away with merlee hunters. They discover Frazhin controlling the Karchlord with poisoned merlee eggs. Crystal Mask, set 20 years later, follows Rialle's son Renn and a wild girl named Shaiala, raised by centaurs. They find Frazhin alive, kidnapping children and enslaving Half Creatures with his lover Yashra. Renn's songs and Shaiala's kicks defeat the khiz, though Frazhin disappears. Night Plume, a quetzal under Frazhin, is freed by Rialle's song. Kyarra struggles with being Frazhin and Yashra's daughter. The characters unite, kill Frazhin, and free the Half Creatures.
Magic
Magic in the series is divided into Songs, Half Creatures, and Stones of Power. Singers use five Songs of Power: Challa (dream song), Kashe (laughter song), Shi (crying song), Aushan (fear song), and Yehn (death song). Songs are amplified by bluestone, khiz, and water, and are most effective when sung to a relaxed individual by five Singers on a Pentangle. They can also contact Half Creatures and communicate over distance with bluestones. Singers can listen over great distances and detect lies. Half Creatures are half-human, half-animal beings protected by treaty. They communicate via Wild Speech with each other and certain novices. There are four types of Half Creatures, each with distinct abilities.
Locations
The Isle of Echoes, made of bluestone in the Western Sea, is home to the Echorium and the Singers. It is ten days sail from Silvertown and thirty from Southport on the Purple Plains. The island hosts orderlies, patients, and non-Singer villages, the largest being Harbourtown, which relies on fishing. Merlee infest the surrounding waters. The Echorium is a complex of bluestone buildings in the island's center, housing Singers, novices, orderlies, classrooms, treatment cells, offices, and the Pentangle. The Birthing House is nearby. The Pentangle, a five-sided bluestone chamber, is the heart of the Echorium, used for official Songs and focusing power. Treatment cells and Song Potion stores are nearby. Adult Singers teach novices and sing on the Pentangle. Singers give their children to the Echorium as novices.
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