July Suggested Reading: The Named by Marianne Curley

Though The Named is a Young Adult Novel, it is a good read for any age, a captivating story that mixes time travel, psychic powers and immortality.




Ethan is a 16 year-old Guardian of Time, one of The Named, whose purpose is to prevent the Order of Chaos from disrupting history in their schemes for overtaking the world. His life changed brutally when he witnessed the murder of his sister at age 4, and since then was tutored by a 600-year-old mage Arkarian.

Arkarian assigned to him an apprentice, Isabel, the younger sister of his former-best friend. Isabel has a crush on Ethan, while her brother is attracted to Ethan’s girlfriend, which is sure to cause much trouble, while they take part in the conflicting events around them.

As they unfold, secrets of the past involving both criminals and heroes are found out. Making the transition between time periods through a trance-like sleep, they go back to Medieval England, at the time of King Richard II, where they uncover a mystery connecting Marduke, a monster member of the Order of Chaos who wants to alter the past for revenge, and the death of Ethan’s sister.

A final battle between The Named and the Order is about to happen, and Ethan and Isabel are bound to play a decisive part in it.

The Named is the first book in a trilogy published between 2002 and 2005, written by Australian Marianne Curley.

She said that her idea for the Guardians of Time came up when she was writing her first novel Old Magic. “In “Old Magic” I had toyed with the concept of what might happen to the present, or the future, if a figure from the past was tampered with or even killed. I took this concept further and thought of writing a story about organized manipulation of the past, and the potential havoc it would create.” [1] 

Check the Amazon.com page below to read an excerpt from the book.

Marianne Curley's Official Site # The Named @ Amazon.com