"Thief Eyes"

Janni Lee Simner's first novel for teens, Bones of Faerie, is a post-apocalyptic fairy tale, set after the war with Faerie has destroyed much of the world. Her second, Thief Eyes, is a contemporary fantasy based on the Icelandic sagas, Njal's Saga in particular. She is also working on Faerie Winter, a sequel to Bones of Faerie.

She applied the Page 69 Test to Thief Eyes and reported the following:

When I turned to page 69 of Thief Eyes--my contemporary young adult fantasy based on the Icelandic sagas and Norse mythology--I was startled at just how representative it was of the larger story. Most of the book's major elements are mentioned in those 27 lines: that the protagonist, Haley, is trapped with the memory-controlling raven Muninn; that secondary character Ari is trapped, somewhere offstage, as a bear; that Haley has been touched by fire magic that could do harm if set free; and that she holds a magical coin that's somehow tied to that fire magic.

Only Haley's ancestor, Hallgerd--the woman who's spell brings most of those elements together--isn't on the page, though Muninn refers to her when speaking to Haley:

Time is fluid in this cave, not firmly bound to the outside world. As long as you remain here, the bond between you and the other one is muted. Should you leave, you would surely meet her again, though none can say when, in your life or hers. I will not risk seeing you harmed by that meeting. I'll not risk setting the fire free.

To catch a glimpse of the "other one" in question, though, the reader has to turn to page 70.

Visit Janni Lee Simner's website and blog/journal.

Writers Read: Janni Lee Simner.

Check out the complete list of books in the Page 69 Test Series.

--Marshal Zeringue