For as long as she can remember, Alara Martin has had strange dreams about a beautiful, faraway world. They increase with intensity as she approaches her fifteenth birthday, and Alara has a hard time distinguishing them from reality. She thinks about them constantly-and wonders why no one else in her family experiences them. After suffering from a particularly traumatic and vivid nightmare, Alara learns an astonishing truth from her parents: she is not their real daughter! Alara is devastated by the news and riddled with more questions than answers. Who are her real parents? Where does she belong? And why do these strange dreams plague her every night? Alara's daily routine is interrupted by extraordinary landscapes, unbelievable creatures, and strange waking visions. Her search for answers will thrust her into the middle of a conflict for which she is completely unprepared. Can Alara's destiny really lie in the world of Malent? And how can Alara leave all that she loves in her current world for her true heritage? Desperate for help from anyone who will listen, Alara fights to uncover her real identity- before it's too late.