The Chimera's Curse: 4 (The Companions Quartet) - Tapa blanda

The final installment in the Companions Quartet, "The Chimera's Curse". ‘How shall we kill the Universal?’ asked the serpent, its tongue flickering between its teeth. ‘Bite, burn or venom?’ Connie is the world’s last Universal – the only person who can communicate with all creatures; the only person who can keep peace between humans and the hidden mythical beings being destroyed by pollution. But the shapeshifter Kullervo craves her power. He wants to wipe out humanity. During a long, hot summer, as the sun beats down and the earth gets dryer, Kullervo prepares for war. The serpent-like chimera is just one part of his frightening army. As the inferno of Kullervo’s hatred crackles into life, Connie and her best friend Col must stop him. But how? And who will survive this fight to the death?

Julia Golding also writes under the pen names of Joss Stirling and Eve Edwards. She is a multi-award winning writer for children and young adults. Former British diplomat and Oxfam policy adviser, she has now published over thirty books in genres ranging from historical adventure to fantasy. Read carefully and you’ll spot all sorts of material from her diplomatic and Oxfam careers popping up in unexpected places. She has a doctorate in English literature from Oxford University. Studying for this prompted her to write her first novel, 'The Diamond of Drury Lane', set in 1790 and told by her intrepid heroine, Cat Royal. It went on to win the Waterstones Children's Book Prize 2006 and the Nestle Children's Book Prize 2006 (formerly known as the Smarties Prize). In the US, 'Secret of the Sirens' won the honor book medal of the Green Earth Book Award. 'Dragonfly' won the 2012 Beehive Book Award, Young Adult Division, given by the Children's Literature Association of Utah and voted on by readers in schools and public libraries. Writing as Stirling, 'Finding Sky' is shortlisted for the German Children's Literature Award 2013 and 'Stealing Phoenix' reached the last three of the Lancashire Children's Book Award 2013. She is also a Fellow of the English Association. Over half a million of her books have been sold worldwide in many languages.