When eleven-year-old Connie is sent to live with her eccentric aunt by the sea, she’s not expecting anything great, not to make friends with Col, the coolest guy in town, and certainly not to discover that mythical creatures still exist, that an ancient society has protected them for centuries, and that a dark and treacherous force is lurking in their midst.
All four books in the Companions Quartet series have an average review rating of 4.5/5 stars, and as of this writing (6/15/16) all four are priced at just $3.99 each.
The Secret Of The Sirens – Companions Quartet #1
Golding offers the softer side of adventure fantasy. In the lovely opening scene, Connie plays and talks with seagulls. Living with eccentric Aunt Evelyn, she learns of a secret Society charged with protecting “mythical” beings (actually real) from humanity’s violence.
Each Society member is companion to a particular species: water sprites, selkies, unicorns, dragons or one of many others. Might Connie be a companion to the sirens who live on nearby rocks tempting sailors to their deaths? Her destiny is far greater: she’s a universal, a rare human companion to all mythical creatures.
Foils include an international oil company poised to pollute the ocean, and Kullervo, a malevolent spirit in the process of taking over the world. Perspective is mostly Connie’s but occasionally shifts to Col, a companion to “pegasi.” Structurally epic but gentle in aura; an easily accessible tale for readers who enjoy mythical creatures.
–Kirkus Reviews, March 15, 2007
The Gorgon’s Gaze – Companions Quartet #2
Connie Lionheart’s calculating great-aunt and uncle try to take her away from the tantalizing reach of the Society for the Protection of Mythical Creatures.
What they don’t realize (or do they?) is that Connie is the Society’s most important member–she is the only universal companion able to bond with all mythical creatures.
Connie’s great gift also puts her in great danger, as the evil shape-shifter Kullervo needs her power to destroy the Society once and for all. But how can Connie help anyone, even herself, when she hasn’t learned how to use her gift yet?
In this second book of the Companions Quartet, Connie and her friends team together again to protect the fragile bonds between humans, creatures, and the world we must share.
Mines of the Minotaur – Companions Quartet #3
“The clock continued to tick calmly in the hall, out of step with the stormy sea of panic surging inside Connie. She could make no sense of this.
How had she ended up on the beach? She felt a hum in her bones as if she had been meeting with some powerful creature.
But what beast or being had the power to draw her out of her house without her knowing about it? And what had happened when they were together?”
Thirteen-year-old Connie Lionheart is the only Universal Companion, able to communicate with all the mythical creatures hidden in our world. She is the most important member of a secret society sworn to protect the bonds between humans and creatures.
But her power brings great responsibility and great danger.
The Chimera’s Curse – Companions Quartet #4
Connie Lionheart is the most important member of the secret society sworn to protect the bonds between humans and creatures. But the shape-shifter Kullervo wants to use her power to wipe out humanity. Connie must stop him, but how? There are no simple answers in the exciting conclusion to this award-winning eco-fantasy series by a Nestlé Prize-winning author.
“Come to the mark. Come to me. You know you must. Connie surfaced from sleep, struggling like a swimmer caught in weeds, thrashing to reach air. When she woke, she found the bedclothes twisted around her. She threw them off and sat up to gulp some water from the glass on her bedside table, her hand shaking slightly.
The voice had crept into her dreams again: the voice of Kullervo, the shape-shifter, her enemy—–and her companion creature. He said the same thing each time, repeating the message again and again so that she could hear its echo during the daylight hours as well as in the stillness of the night. She knew where he wanted her to go: he wanted her to meet him at the mark he had made deep in her mind, the breach in the wall between her and his dark presence. But she would not give in to him.”
* * *
Tech Tip of the Week: 6 Reasons Not To Upgrade To 4K UHD
* * *