Graceling by Kristin Cashore

Not everyone in the seven Kingdoms are normal. Some are born with skills beyond the norm, and are called Graced. They are marked by their eyes, each of a different color, and often, they are feared. Some Graces, though, are welcomed- Graces for cooking or dancing, or mathematics, while others are even more feared, such as those for fighting. But Katsa of the Middluns is the most feared of all, for her Grace is the Grace of Killing, and her uncle, King Randa of the Middluns, uses her as an enforcer, to kill, maim and hurt those who defy him.

Katsa discovered her Grace when a relative of hers tried to grab her, and she smashed him in the face with her hand, breaking his nose and driving it into his brain, which killed him instantly. Immediately, she became an Outcast, and none of the people of her Uncle's court can meet her eyes without becoming afraid and running. Randa took her from her mother, and installed her at court, where she was trained under the auspices of his chief spymaster. She learned to use all sorts of weapons, and even her bare hands.

But Katsa can't stand killing, and the things her Uncle makes her do shrivels her soul so that she can barely stand to hear him talk to her. To fight back against the meanness and greed of the Kings around her, not just her Uncle, she has formed the Committee from some of Randa's spies, his spymaster, Oll, and one of the guardsmen, Giddon. They fight to protect the common people who too often suffer from their ruler's greed, hatred and bad judgement. Now, she rides to the City of Murghon, in Sunder, to rescue Tealiffe, the Father of the Current ruler of Lienid, who has been abducted from his home. But for what purpose?

Katsa doesn't know, but it is wrong to torture and imprison an old man who has done nothing wrong, so she rescues him from the dungeon along with Oll and Giddon. The last man she fights is a Lienid, and also graced, but she defeats him and takes Tealiffe back to Randa City with her. Then, the man she fought, a Lienid named Greening Grandemalion, called Po, the seventh son of the Lienid King, comes to Randa City. Somehow, he has tracked her down and knows she is the one who stole away his grandfather. But he's grateful to her for not killing him, and suggests sparring with her to allow her to better control her Grace.

She likes the idea, and they talk as well as spar, and it is a relief to Spar with someone equally Graced in fighting, even if they are not so evenly matched. She is still better than he is at fighting, but he can see much better in the dark. Since Katsa usually fights against seven or eight normal men in plate mail, and cannot use the full force of her Grace against them, she enjoys the chance to fight without really hurting someone, but she always overcomes him. She can even forget, sometimes, that her Grace is for Killing. Meanwhile, she and the Committee try to find out who might have had Tealiffe kidnapped. But it doesn't seem to be any monarch nearby.

The only choices left are King Murghon of Sunder, Po's family and the King Leck of Monsea, who is married to one of Lienid's sisters. As Katsa is set another task by King Randa, to torture a kind Lord who doesn't want to marry one of his daughters to a Lord whose lands are regularly devastated in raids by other Kingdoms, Katsa finally realizes she cannot do this any more. She cannot be Randa's assassin and thug, bullying his lords into doing his bidding, and she confronts the King and leaves his service, setting out with Po for Sunder, looking for who might have ordered Tealiffe's capture and imprisonment.

But their journey will make Katsa, who never wanted marriage or children, long for something more than a lonely existence, and make her discover the true nature of her Grace, as well as bringing to light a horrible Grace possessed by one of the Kings of the Seven Kingdoms. Can she and Po fight the menace, or will they die on their escape from the Kingdom, leaving behind only bones to litter the mountain passes?

I really enjoyed this book, which took a strong female character who actually possesses very little feminine grace, and yet made her live and breathe and seem like a real person, not a character in a book. Katsa has a very bad self-image at the beginning of the book, thinking of herself as a thug- good at killing and hurting people, but not very intelligent or smart, and completely turns us around, and herself, through her meeting with the Lienid, Po.

She is intelligent, and smart as well, but hers relates mainly to people. At the same time, she's rather naive to some things, such as not realizing that Giddon is in love with her, mainly because her entire life has been spent training at battle and killing, and on missions for King Randa. Since no one can stand to look in her eyes, no one spends time with her, and she remains clueless about a great deal of human interaction that young women normally get.

But by the end of the book, she's changed, mainly because of her relationship, both in friendship, and as lovers, with Po. And while this book is complete in this volume, I'd definitely love to read more about the world and see other Graced individuals and how they live. And while it's possible that there could be a sequel to Graceling, I'd read that, too. Although it would have to be quite an urgent need to bring Katsa and Po out of self-imposed retirement.

If you can't tell by now, I loved this book and I am going to recommend it to everyone I know. I recommend it very highly. I just wish my library owned a copy!