Ina is set to marry Roan Gerling, one of the sons from the Everless estate. She’s been searching for an heir, and has found one in the gregarious Lady Ina Gold. After founding a kingdom won with her sword and stewarding it to prosperity over several centuries, it looks like her time is almost up. The only other person near their age is the Queen of Sempera. Having disappeared long ago, the pair has become the stuff of legend. With the aid of the Sorceress, the Alchemist devised the blood magic that creates the blood coins. The only true immortals in Everless are two mysterious figures called the Sorceress and the Alchemist. Death does eventually come calling, but can be held back for multiple decades if you’re willing to literally ingest someone else’s bodily fluid and life-force.

In Sempera, some of the characters we meet have been around for over a century. Conversely, those mired in poverty are always working hard to earn even the bare necessities. Having plenty of currency generally means you have more time to enjoy your existence. People have always used riches to search for ways to prolong life and the appearance of youth. It’s no secret that money makes living easier. Unfortunately, an elderly man in frail health doesn’t have much to bargain with, so when an opportunity arises for Jules to work at the Everless estate, she takes it.Įverless is a fascinating rumination on time, life and wealth. But as her father has aged and they’ve fallen on hard times, he has been selling whatever is left of his time to cover their rent and taxes, hence hastening his own demise. Our heroine is a resourceful teen named Jules Ember who, with her father, escapes from Everless, an estate run by the Gerlings, one of Sempera’s aristocratic families. In the kingdom of Sempera, alchemists have perfected the technique of syphoning years off your life by draining your blood and transmuting it and its accompanying life-force into “blood coins” that can be consumed to give the eater those additional living years from your now-shortened existence. (See our interview with Sara Holland here.)

Her fresh approach to the old adage “Time is money” is literally true and her book is riveting because of it. Get the Sunday Star newspaper tomorrow (Jan 28) for a 20% discount coupon on 'Everless' at MPH bookshops nationwide.Īs debut novels go, Everless by American author Sara Holland – not to be confused with Harlequin romance British writer Sarah Holland – is a stand-out piece of young adult fiction.

Everless summary