Thornspell

PRINCE SIGISMUND HAS grown up in a remote castle, dreaming of going on heroic knightly quests while staring out at the forbidden wood that looms to the west. His great-grandfather placed an interdict on the wood nearly 100 years ago, though no one seems to know exactly why. But for those still young or credulous enough to believe in magic, the rumors and stories aboundof an enchanted castle and a sleeping princess cursed by an evil faie. Helen Lowe has spun a grand, adventurous, romantic tale about the prince destined to wake the sleeping princess. This thoughtful hero must delve into a world of mystery and magic to discover the truth of his own fate. Enemies with powers he never imagined abound, sometimes hiding behind a mask of friendship. And an elusive girl haunts his dreamsis she helping him or binding him tighter into a thorny cage? For Sigismund, the truth turns out to be more fantastical than any story he's ever heard. From the Hardcover edition.

Helen Lowe won the inaugural Robbie Burns National Poetry Award in 2003 and was the recipient of a New Zealand Society of Authors/Creative New Zealand award for emerging writer. For Thornspell, she received the Sir Julius Vogel Award for best young adult novel. She received a second Vogel Award as best new talent in the fantasy field.

In addition to her writing life, Helen has a second-dan black belt in aikido and represented her university in the sport of fencing. She lives in a ninety-year-old house with a woodland garden in Christchurch, New Zealand, which she shares with her partner, Andrew, and two cats.