The Girl of Fire and Thorns
2011 novel by Rae Carson
The Girl of Fire and Thorns is the debut novel of author Rae Carson, published by Greenwillow Books, an imprint of HarperCollins. It is the first novel of the Fire and Thorns trilogy, followed by The Crown of Embers (2012) and The Bitter Kingdom (2013).
Plot
The Princess of Orovalle, Lucero-Elisa de Riqueza, was born as the chosen one, selected by God to fulfill a prophecy shown by a blue gem in her navel called the Godstone. Lucero-Elisa lacks confidence in herself, and often eats out of unhappiness; she is described as "fat" in the novel. On her sixteenth birthday, Lucero-Elisa is married to King Alejandro de Vega of Joya d'Arena, a country soon to be at war with Invierne. While traveling to Joya d'Arena, Elisa's caravan is attacked. Elisa, who has studied military history, provides sound military advice about the conflict, rescues herself and her companions, and saves the king's life, but her companion Aneaxi dies of injuries sustained in the attack, leaving her with one ally, her nurse and bodyguard, Ximena.
When they arrive at Alejandro's palace, the King announces Elisa as princess and special guest, but conceals his marriage, and her Godstone. For some weeks, Elisa lives at the Palace as a "guest", making connections with the local priest, Alejandro's friend, and Alejandro's son, Prince Rosario. She is also forced to contend with a rival, Condesa Ariña, the king's mistress, and Ariña's maid, Cosmé.
“The Girl of Fire and Thorns” enters the record as 2011 novel by Rae Carson. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Girl, Fire and Thorns can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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Object files, edition statements, performance records and contemporary criticism preserve different stages of the work’s history. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 23, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q17152672. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2012 and 2013.
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This entry incorporates text from “The Girl of Fire and Thorns” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.