The Chimes of Alyafaleyn
Grace Chetwin
Perfect Paperback
(Feral Press, Inc., Dec. 16, 2002)
Caidrun is born into Alyafaleyn - Region of Harmonies - where golden spheres, heynim, float in the air. Their gentle chiming uphold the very world's existence. While the ability to control the chimes usually comes in adolescence, Caidrun pulls a huge mass of them to her at lethal speed before she is two. A young boy, Tamborel, shields her from their impact and is badly hurt. People decide she has to be protected from herself. Deprived of the chimes, she grows up tone-deaf and filled with rage. Finally, she scatters someone's heynim and runs off. Tamborel sets out to find her, and thereby hangs the rest of the tale. Chetwin regards this revised and expanded edition of the book as one of her finest efforts, and Tamborel as now on a par with her favorite hero, Gom.