The colour of hope by Ross MacKenzie

The Dominion is cursed. Years ago, the Emperor and his Necromancer stole all the colour from the world. Now they keep it for themselves, enjoying its life-giving power while everyone else must exist in shades of grey, until a miracle baby is born, in colour. But her life is at risk from the start - the Emperor's ripper dogs and black coats come hunting - colour has a telling scent and the ripper dogs can always find it. Her parents die protecting her, assisted by a wandering mage. Left with the baby full of colour in his care, Sandy Burns raises her, continuing to protect and hide her colour as she grows. Named Hope, she learns that life is lived colourless for all but the Emperor, and as the only one with colour, she embarks on a journey to bring change to the world.

This adventurous fantasy has so many twists and turns, readers will lose themselves quite quickly in the thrill of the escape and the thrill of colour as a hunted commodity. With well developed characters, the novel switches between view points throughout the book seamlessly, all the while building a story of inspiration and courage. Readers may find it difficult to imagine the world as it is depicted in the book, as colour is automatic in most imaginations of stories, so switching to a 'black and white' narrative is intriguing. MacKenzie has created a lovely novel for readers in upper primary through to high school, with plenty of action, humour and heart.

Themes: Fantasy; Hope; Resistance; Struggles; Action; Adventure; Journey.

Melanie Pages