{"id":1324,"date":"2013-12-06T06:00:37","date_gmt":"2013-12-06T14:00:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/bestfantasynovel.com\/?p=1324"},"modified":"2013-12-06T06:00:37","modified_gmt":"2013-12-06T14:00:37","slug":"the-shifter-book-one-of-the-healing-wars-by-janice-hardy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/taramayastales.com\/bestfantasynovel\/2013\/12\/06\/the-shifter-book-one-of-the-healing-wars-by-janice-hardy\/","title":{"rendered":"The Shifter: Book One of The Healing Wars by Janice Hardy"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a><\/div>\n

A dangerous secret. A deadly skill.<\/p>\n

Nya is an orphan struggling for survival in a city crippled by war. She is also a Taker\u2014with her touch, she can heal injuries, pulling pain from another person into her own body. But unlike her sister, Tali, and the other Takers who become Healers, Nya’s skill is flawed: she can’t push that pain into pynvium, the enchanted metal used to store it. All she can do is shift it into another person, a dangerous skill that she must keep hidden. If discovered, she could be used as a human weapon.<\/p>\n

But one day Nya pushes her luck too far and exposes her secret to a pain merchant eager to use her shifting ability for his own sinister purposes. She refuses\u2014until Tali and other League Healers start disappearing mysteriously. Now Nya must decide: How far will she go to get Tali back alive?<\/p>\n

You can find The Shifter<\/i>\u00a0on Amazon<\/a>, Barnes and Noble<\/a> or IndieBound<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Excerpt<\/h4>\n

Danello lived in one of the better boardinghouses on Market-Dock Canal, in a neighborhood I could only dream of affording. His family had three rooms to themselves\u2014two bedrooms attached to a small kitchen and dining area. Though a woman\u2019s touch still showed, it had been a long time since it showed strong. Two dying plants\u2014possibly coriander\u2014sat on a shelf near the window, holding back faded and singed curtains bunched on one side. A rack of worn copper pots hung above a small stove, its skinny pipe chimney snaking up the side wall. They did have a view, though it was only a grassy corner of a market square. Two people were huddled under a bush, a ratty blanket tucked around them. I looked away.<\/p>\n

\u201cDid you find her?\u201d a boy called, running out of the room on the left. \u201cOh, I guess you did.\u201d His mouth wiggled as if he was unsure whether to be happy I was there or scared that I had come.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is\u2014\u201d Danello turned to me and laughed sheepishly. \u201cI don\u2019t even know your name.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNya.\u201d<\/p>\n

He nodded. \u201cNya, this is Jovan. The other two are with our da.\u201d<\/p>\n

Not knowing what else to do, I waved, and the smaller version of Danello waved back. Same rich brown eyes, same pale hair, same determined yet sad set to the chin.<\/p>\n

\u201cDa\u2019s unconscious now,\u201d Jovan said in the measured tone of someone trying very hard to sound grown-up. Saints, he was so young. Too young to carry pain that wasn\u2019t his. \u201cDo we need to wake him?\u201d<\/p>\n

My stomach twisted, but I shook my head. \u201cDon\u2019t wake him. I can do it while he\u2019s asleep.\u201d<\/p>\n

We moved into the back bedroom, small but cozy. Paintings of flowers hung on the walls, some painted on wood, others on squares of cotton. By the bed, Jovan\u2019s twin brother sat on a yellow stool, his unhappy face pale and tight. Their little sister sat on the floor at his feet. Her blond head rested on his<\/p>\n

knee and her arms were wrapped around his shin. Neither looked up.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s Bahari, and Halima there on the floor.\u201d<\/p>\n

I backed away. No bed was worth this. I wasn\u2019t healing, I was deciding who suffered. Saints did that, not me. \u201cI can\u2019t do this.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYes, you can. So can they.\u201d Danello squeezed my hand, drew me forward. \u201cWhat do we do?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cChange your mind, find a pain merchant who\u2019s buying, drag him here by his hair if you have to, just please don\u2019t make me do this.\u201d<\/p>\n

He took both my hands, held them tight. They were warm, and for one irrational moment I felt safe. \u201cWhat do we do?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n

What we had to, even if we didn\u2019t like it. Hadn\u2019t I always wanted to be a Healer? It might not be what Tali did, but I could help them. The shift was only for a few days, until the pain merchants were buying again. It wasn\u2019t as if I were permanently hurting them. I gulped down air and reluctantly pulled my hands away.<\/p>\n

\u201cNothing yet,\u201d I whispered. \u201cI have to see how badly he\u2019s hurt first.\u201d<\/p>\n

His da\u2019s forearm bent the wrong way, so that was broken for sure. The thigh was bloody and gouged, but the leg was straight. I glanced at Jovan and my stomach rolled. Just think about their father . I went to the opposite side of the bed and placed my hand on his forehead. Cold, wet strands of the same pale hair as his children\u2019s stuck to my fingers.<\/p>\n

Tali\u2019s voice echoed in my head. She\u2019d been teaching me what they taught her, claiming it was in case the League ever let me in one day, but I wasn\u2019t so sure of that. I figured it was just her way of making it up to me \u2019cause she got accepted and I couldn\u2019t.<\/p>\n

I took a deep breath. Feel your way through the body, to the injury. My hand tingled as I felt my way through blood and bone. Broken arm, as expected. Three broken ribs. Torn muscle on the leg, but not broken. Cuts and bruises all over, but he\u2019d heal that on his own.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not as bad as you thought.\u201d I explained his injuries as best I could without scaring the little ones. Bahari already looked ready to bolt.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ll take the arm and leg,\u201d Danello said as if ordering dinner. \u201cThey can each take a rib. That won\u2019t be too bad, will it?\u201d<\/p>\n

Spoken like someone who\u2019d never had a broken rib.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019ll hurt to breathe deep. Bending and stretching will be hard.\u201d Three sets of brown eyes went wide. I almost smiled, but figured my grin would scare them more than the pain. \u201cNo roughhousing \u2019til the pain merchants are buying again.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bahari jumped up, his fists clenched at his sides. \u201cI don\u2019t want to do this.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have to. It\u2019s for Da,\u201d Jovan snapped back.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ll\u201d\u2014Bahari looked around the room\u2014\u201cdo something else to help. Go to the herb sellers.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBahari!\u201d Danello gasped. \u201cHalf the time they sell you poisons. I\u2019m not risking Da\u2019s life like that.\u201d<\/p>\n

I shuffled back against the wall. I wasn\u2019t sure I wanted to do this either, and I didn\u2019t want to shift anything to Bahari if he didn\u2019t want it.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019ll hurt,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cYes, but you can handle it for a few days.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBut\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cDo it, Hari,\u201d Jovan said in a voice too old for such a small boy. \u201cDa\u2019s never let us down, and we\u2019re not letting him down now.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bahari didn\u2019t agree, but he didn\u2019t say no again either.<\/p>\n

\u201cFine, then it\u2019s settled. Me first.\u201d Danello dragged over a chair from under the window and sat down, grabbing the arms tight.<\/p>\n

\u201cDanello\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cDo it.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Find more from Janice on her writing blog<\/a>, website<\/a>, Facebook<\/a>, and Twitter<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A dangerous secret. A deadly skill. Nya is an orphan struggling for survival in a city crippled by war. She is also a Taker\u2014with her touch, she can heal injuries, pulling pain from another person into her own body. But unlike her sister, Tali, and the other Takers who become Healers, Nya’s skill is flawed: […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1326,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[161,162,177],"tags":[642,668,730],"class_list":["post-1324","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-excerpt","category-excerpts","category-fantasy","tag-fantasy","tag-magic","tag-ya"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/taramayastales.com\/bestfantasynovel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1324","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/taramayastales.com\/bestfantasynovel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/taramayastales.com\/bestfantasynovel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/taramayastales.com\/bestfantasynovel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/taramayastales.com\/bestfantasynovel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1324"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/taramayastales.com\/bestfantasynovel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1324\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/taramayastales.com\/bestfantasynovel\/wp-json\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/taramayastales.com\/bestfantasynovel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1324"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/taramayastales.com\/bestfantasynovel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1324"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/taramayastales.com\/bestfantasynovel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1324"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}