On Fire's Wings by Christie Golden (2004, Paperback)

Because Kevla Bai-sha's fevered dreams - looming threats to their land and visions of dragons that had once watched over her people - held the promise of truth. "

And _On Wings Of Fire_ holds the promise of a world so well-built you will lose yourself in this book within the first few pages. We meet Kevla as a girl without a father working the marketplace seeking customers for her mother's wares. When she is found by a great uhlah, you will remember what it was like to be a little girl or boy who had fantastic dreams of far-away places that contained princes and princesses. Only Kevla's come true. Sort of...

And it is that sort of that the entire book hinges on. She does go live in the palace, but her life there is not exactly what she thought it might be. Her very existence is based on lies of omission and half truths until one day her dreams bring her into the vivid nightmare of reality. People die. People she loves turn their backs on her. She is betrayed by her own dreams.

Rescued from certain death by a power she has only been toying with, Kevla must undertake a journey to reunite her country that has been split into warring clans for decades and more. Without her, her country will fall to the Shadow. But her own fear of her power leads her up a mountain into the waiting jaws of the Great Red Dragon. She sacrifices all that she is to this God of her land. The outcome will surprise you and shock you as well as delight you.

Christie Golden is a multi-published author, but this is her first book in the Luna line. Luna promises to deliver a "new face in fantasy" and Christie has certainly held up her end of the bargain. If you love fantasies that wrap you up and pull you in like Mercedes Lacky or Stephen Donaldson or Charles DeLint, then this book is for you. Take a chance and travel to Arukan where you will meet a little girl whose destiny will lead her to love, despair, and triumph but she can't stop there.

This is the first novel in a series. The next will be about the Stone Dancer. You can also follow Luna and Christie at eharlequin.com's Luna community "The Lorekeepers' Loft: The Elements and Beyond with Christie Golden.