In a place where your every moment is planned out in strict accordance to the Emperor, sixteen year old Katrina Rawl feels as though there is a tug pulling her away. Moving in with her mother’s friend Helen after the death of her mother, Katrina tries her best to keep in line. During one of the routine searches performed by the Emperor’s army, Katrina is surprised to find that they are searching for her. Determined to escape before she is found, she embarks upon the long hard journey to find Amile the Warrior a man her mother told her seek out. Not knowing what awaits her on her journey Katrina meets an eclectic group of people, some she can and must trust and some she must watch. Making friends with a quirky blue bird she names Twitter, Katrina soon enters into the town of Achen, after being attacked by one of the evil spirit’s the Emperor sent in search of her, she is forced to journey the rest of the way with a young warrior named Arlon. Their journey is not without it’s share of hardships in the form of everything from bounty hunters, evils spirits, and herds of wild animals all sent by the cruel, devious, Emperor, who is determined to stamp out the last remaining threat of the Rawls. After Arlon is injured, Katrina is forced to leave him in the care of a kind stranger that happened to be friends with her mother. Will Katrina be able to find Amile the Warrior or the Emperor find her first?

From the first line, young author Meg Christian transports you to the magical world she has created. Integrating you among the characters, as Katrina travels along the path of discovery it is as though you are her traveling companion, feeling each defeat and victory. Highly descriptive with well developed characters, “Battling the Unknown”, is the beginning of what I believe to be a highly successful series. Defiantly a book that all tens will love.