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Part allegory, part romance and part against-the-odds survival story, Keira Drake's sparkling debut novel engages readers with questions of social responsibility, the nature of peace and violence, and the value-and danger-of nationalism. Thought-provoking, fast-paced and surprising, The Continent will haunt readers long after its covers have been closed. From a land without war to a continent of two warring nations... one girl's crash landing becomes a fight to survive.For her sixteenth birthday, Vaela Sun receives the most coveted gift in all the Spire a trip to the Continent. It seems an unlikely destination for a holiday: a cold, desolate land where two 'uncivilised' nations remain perpetually locked in combat. Most citizens lucky enough to tour the Continent do so to observe the spectacle and violence of war, a thing long banished in the Spire. For Vaela a talented apprentice cartographer the journey is a dream come true: a onceinalifetime opportunity to improve upon the maps she's drawn of this vast, frozen land.But Vaela's dream all too quickly turns to a nightmare as the journey brings her facetoface with the brutal reality of a war she's only read about. Observing from the safety of a heliplane, Vaela is forever changed by the bloody battle waging far beneath her. And when a tragic accident leaves her stranded on the Continent, she finds herself much closer to danger than she'd ever imagined. Starving, alone and lost in the middle of a war zone, Vaela must try to find a way home but first, she must survive.