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I received a complimentary ARC from the publisher, courtesy of NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review.BOOK SUMMARY

Charm is a witch, and she is alone. The last of a line of conquered necromantic workers, now confined within the yard of regrown bone trees at Orchard House, and the secrets of their marrow.

Charm is a prisoner, and a survivor. Charm tends the trees and their clattering fruit for the sake of her children, painstakingly grown and regrown with its fruit: Shame, Justice, Desire, Pride, and Pain.

Charm is a whore, and a madam. The wealthy and powerful of Borenguard come to her house to buy time with the girls who aren't real.

Except on Tuesdays, which is when the Emperor himself lays claim to his mistress, Charm herself.

Now—Charm is also the only person who can keep an empire together, as the Emperor summons her to his deathbed, and charges her with choosing which of his awful, faithless sons will carry on the empire—by discovering which one is responsible for his own murder.

If she does this last thing, she will finally have what has been denied her since the fall of Inshil—her freedom. But she will also be betraying the ghosts past and present that live on within her heart.

Charm must choose. Her dead Emperor’s will or the whispers of her own ghosts. Justice for the empire or her own revenge.

BOOK DETAILS

The Bone Orchard by Sara A. Mueller
Published on March 22nd 2022 by Tor Books
Hardcover, 432 pages
Fiction / Fantasy / Dark Fantasy
My Rating: 3.5 of 5 Stars

Overall, I enjoyed the unique concept created in The Bone Orchard. Dark, full of political machinations and necromancy, Mueller’s debut is filled visually with decadent descriptions and intrigue.

Imagine a courtesan, who is also a necromancer. One who grows and regrows her children—pieces of her she names: Shame, Justice, Desire, Pride, and Pain, in order to appease the many dark desires of her customers.

In this world, Lady Charm is also the favored concubine of the Emperor and is unexpectedly summoned to his deathbed where he charges her with choosing which of sons will carry on the empire—only first she must discover which one is responsible for his murder.

The beginning is a bit confusing as you try to separate and understand the workings of Charm and the Orchard House. Bone magic and conspiracies combine for a subtle unraveling of the mystery.

Although I really enjoyed the dark atmosphere and writing, my one complaint is that even though readers become familiar with Charm and her boneghosts, the concepts felt confusing and vague, especially in the beginning. It may be that this was done with the purpose of creating a mysterious atmosphere but in the end, it left me feeling somewhat underwhelmed.

Overall, an enjoyable debut that I would recommend to dark fantasy readers looking for something new and unique.

A History of Wild Places by Shea Ernshaw Travis Wren has an unusual talent for locating missing people. Hired by families as a last resort, he requires only a single object to find the person who has vanished. When he takes on the case of Maggie St. James—a well-known author of dark, macabre children’s books—he’s led to a place many believed to be only a legend.Called Pastoral, this reclusive community was founded in the 1970s by like-minded people searching for a simpler way of life. By all accounts, the commune shouldn’t exist anymore and soon after Travis stumbles upon it… he disappears. Just like Maggie St. James.Years later, Theo, a lifelong member of Pastoral, discovers Travis’s abandoned truck beyond the border of the community. No one is allowed in or out, not when there’s a risk of bringing a disease—rot—into Pastoral. Unraveling the mystery of what happened reveals secrets that Theo, his wife, Calla, and her sister, Bee, keep from one another. Secrets that prove their perfect, isolated world isn’t as safe as they believed—and that darkness takes many forms.Hauntingly beautiful, hypnotic, and bewitching, A History of Wild Places is a story about fairy tales, our fear of the dark, and losing yourself within the wilderness of your mind.

I received a complimentary ARC from the publisher, courtesy of Edelweiss, in exchange for an honest review.

BOOK SUMMARY

Travis Wren has an unusual talent for locating missing people. Hired by families as a last resort, he requires only a single object to find the person who has vanished. When he takes on the case of Maggie St. James—a well-known author of dark, macabre children’s books—he’s led to a place many believed to be only a legend.

Called Pastoral, this reclusive community was founded in the 1970s by like-minded people searching for a simpler way of life. By all accounts, the commune shouldn’t exist anymore and soon after Travis stumbles upon it… he disappears. Just like Maggie St. James.

Years later, Theo, a lifelong member of Pastoral, discovers Travis’s abandoned truck beyond the border of the community. No one is allowed in or out, not when there’s a risk of bringing a disease—rot—into Pastoral. Unraveling the mystery of what happened reveals secrets that Theo, his wife, Calla, and her sister, Bee, keep from one another. Secrets that prove their perfect, isolated world isn’t as safe as they believed—and that darkness takes many forms.

Hauntingly beautiful, hypnotic, and bewitching, A History of Wild Places is a story about fairy tales, our fear of the dark, and losing yourself within the wilderness of your mind.

BOOK DETAILS

A History of Wild Places by Shea Ernshaw
Published December 7th 2021 by Atria Books
Young Adult Fiction /Mystery/ Magical Realism
Hardcover, 368 Pages
My Rating: 4 of 5 Stars

 

A History of Wild Places by Shea Ernshaw does not disappoint when it comes to eerie atmosphere and a building mystery.

A History of Wild Places is the author’s debut adult book, and I felt Ernshaw overall did a good job transitioning out from YA.

I definitely got vibes of M. Night Shyamalan's, The Village and even though I guessed the villain early on, I did not mind because the writing kept me entertained and swept away to an enchanted and dark world.

“She was building a story in her mind, just like the fairytales she wrote-the ending not yet written. Or an ending only she foresaw.”

The community of Pastoral and its inhabitants added just the right edge of tension. I would have liked more from Maggie St. James and Travis as I found their circumstances and backgrounds enticing and is what drew me to the book in the first place.

“Death has a way of leaving breadcrumbs, little particles of the past that catch and settle and stain.”

Overall, Theo, his wife, Calla, and her sister, Bee, kept me intrigued. Their relationship within Pastoral had that twisty sensation like an elusive vine you find ensnared about you, tugging relentlessly.

I would recommend A History of Wild Places for fans of Ernshaw’s YA books. I’m looking forward to more writing from the author and I would also recommend The Wicked Deep for readers new to her writing.

I received a complimentary ARC from the publisher, courtesy of NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review.

BOOK SUMMARY

Practical, unassuming Jane Shoringfield has done the calculations, and decided that the most secure path forward is this: a husband, in a marriage of convenience, who will allow her to remain independent and occupied with meaningful work. Her first choice, the dashing but reclusive doctor Augustine Lawrence, agrees to her proposal with only one condition: that she must never visit Lindridge Hall, his crumbling family manor outside of town. Yet on their wedding night, an accident strands her at his door in a pitch-black rainstorm, and she finds him changed. Gone is the bold, courageous surgeon, and in his place is a terrified, paranoid man—one who cannot tell reality from nightmare, and fears Jane is an apparition, come to haunt him.

By morning, Augustine is himself again, but Jane knows something is deeply wrong at Lindridge Hall, and with the man she has so hastily bound her safety to. Set in a dark-mirror version of post-war England, Starling crafts a new kind of gothic horror from the bones of the beloved canon. This Crimson Peak-inspired story assembles, then upends, every expectation set in place by Shirley Jackson and Rebecca, and will leave readers shaken, desperate to begin again as soon as they are finished.

BOOK DETAILS

The Death of Jane Lawrence by Caitlin Starling
Published October 5th 2021 by St. Martin's Press
Adult Fiction /Mystery/ Gothic Lit
Hardcover, 368 pages
My Rating: 4 of 5 Stars

The Death of Jane Lawrence by Caitlin Starling is a gothic fantasy horror that reads like a feverish dream, with an atmosphere dripping in dark tones. There’s romance, magic, gore, and an unsettling feeling that builds until you turn the last page.

The moment Jane steps into the forbidden landscape of Lindridge Hall, Caitlin Starling begins to tightly weave a story that will have you questioning just how much is real and how much is from Jane’s possible unreliable perspective.

Readers will cheer for Jane and her independent nature as she tries to stay one step ahead while taking charge of her destiny. The terror Augustine Lawrence exhibits once Jane enters his abode becomes an increasingly dark tunnel the reader must navigate with Jane.

I was impressed with all the gothic elements, the occult and ceremonial magic, the grisly surgical moments, and the questionable reliability of the characters.

I would recommend this to readers who enjoy dark gothic reads and don’t mind a bit of gruesome horror balanced out by a touch of romance and terrific atmosphere.

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I received a complimentary ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

BOOK SUMMARY

Long ago Miren O'Malley's family prospered due to a deal struck with the Mer: safety for their ships in return for a child of each generation. But for many years the family have been unable to keep their side of the bargain and have fallen into decline. Miren's grandmother is determined to restore their glory, even at the price of Miren's freedom.

A spellbinding tale of dark family secrets, magic and witches, and creatures of myth and the sea; of strong women and the men who seek to control them.

BOOK DETAILS

All the Murmuring Bones by A.G. Slatter
Fiction / Fantasy / Gothic / Mermaids
Published March 9th 2021 by Titan Books
Paperback, 368 pages
My Rating: 4 of 5 Stars

  Book Review

ALL THE MURMURING BONES is an alluring gothic fairy tale. The story weaves together family secrets and lies, broken bargains, dangerous plots and adventures, all surrounded by the mystery of the O'Malley’s power granted by blood and salt.

Other families might have stories of curses, cold lads and white ladies, but we have old gods, merfolk and monsters.

What makes this such an enjoyable story is how effortlessly the magical qualities feel. I was in the mood for something dark and atmospheric. A story that did not just allude to the magical and strange, but one that gave me something tangible to grab onto when reading. A.G. Slatter did not disappoint me and I found the world she created part fairy tale—part gothic horror, perfect as an escape. There is plenty of briny, sea lore, ghosts, and even witchy magic.

Miren is a heroine coming into her own. She feels easily relatable and I enjoyed the fact that for the most part, magic did not solve all her problems. She's smart and resourceful and doesn't need anyone to rescue her from all the dangers. There is plenty of adventure along the way as she uncovers the secrets which bind her family to the sea.

I would recommend this book for readers who enjoyed either House of Salt and Sorrows by Erin A. Craig or The Wicked Deep by Shea Ernshaw.

I received a complimentary ARC from the publisher, courtesy of NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review.

BOOK SUMMARY

Be careful what you wish for.

When Jax receives nine missed calls from her older sister, Lexie, she assumes that it’s just another one of her sister’s episodes. Manic and increasingly out of touch with reality, Lexie has pushed Jax away for over a year. But the next day, Lexie is dead: drowned in the pool at their grandmother’s estate. When Jax arrives at the house to go through her sister’s things, she learns that Lexie was researching the history of their family and the property. And as she dives deeper into the research herself, she discovers that the land holds a far darker past than she could have ever imagined.

In 1929, thirty-seven-year-old newlywed Ethel Monroe hopes desperately for a baby. In an effort to distract her, her husband whisks her away on a trip to Vermont, where a natural spring is showcased by the newest and most modern hotel in the Northeast. Once there, Ethel learns that the water is rumored to grant wishes, never suspecting that the spring takes in equal measure to what it gives.

BOOK DETAILS

The Drowning Kind by Jennifer McMahon
Fiction / Noir / Mystery & Thrillers
Published April 6th, 2021 by Gallery/Scout Press
Hardcover, 319 pages
My Rating: 4 of 5 Stars

 

The Drowning Kind by Jennifer McMahon is a page-turning read filled with hauntingly beautiful prose that chills to the bone.

One of my favorite aspects of McMahon’s books is how she combines alternate timelines, each featuring a compelling protagonist and a mystery surrounding them both.

The setting here is in Vermont, current and 1929 timeline, on an estate rumored to have a very magical pool that grants wishes.

Fed from natural spring, some say the waters are healing, others say they are haunted, even cursed. Others warn against casting wishes in fear of what the waters will take in return.

McMahon writes with touches of horror and supernatural. Leaving long shadows and watery deaths in her wake as she builds a consuming mystery of just how Jax and Ehtel’s lives will be influenced by these mysterious waters.

I could feel the cold, wet chill and smell the sulfurous brine while reading The Drowning Kind. In fact, it may change how you feel about swimming at night, at least for a while. Be careful what you wish for.

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I received a complimentary ARC from the publisher, courtesy of NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review.

Book Summary

He saw the darkness in her magic. She saw the magic in his darkness.

Wren Southerland’s reckless use of magic has cost her everything: she’s been dismissed from the Queen’s Guard and separated from her best friend—the girl she loves. So when a letter arrives from a reclusive lord, asking Wren to come to his estate, Colwick Hall, to cure his servant from a mysterious illness, she seizes her chance to redeem herself.

The mansion is crumbling, icy winds haunt the caved-in halls, and her eccentric host forbids her from leaving her room after dark. Worse, Wren’s patient isn’t a servant at all but Hal Cavendish, the infamous Reaper of Vesria and her kingdom’s sworn enemy. Hal also came to Colwick Hall for redemption, but the secrets in the estate may lead to both of their deaths.

With sinister forces at work, Wren and Hal realize they’ll have to join together if they have any hope of saving their kingdoms. But as Wren circles closer to the nefarious truth behind Hal’s illness, they realize they have no escape from the monsters within the mansion. All they have is each other, and a startling desire that could be their downfall.

Book Details

Down Comes the Night by Allison Saft
Fiction / Fantasy / Gothic / Romance
Published March 2nd 2021 by Wednesday Books
Hardcover, 400 pages
My Rating: 3.5 of 5 Stars

  Review

DOWN COMES THE NIGHT is a debut YA dark fantasy filled with magic, mystery, and a forbidden romance set in a winter-drenched landscape where two enemies are trapped inside a crumbling manor fighting for their survival as each night threatens their lives.

I did enjoy the story, and loved the fact that it was a standalone novel that felt complete, but ended up being disappointed by the novel’s description labeling it as a “gorgeously gothic” YA debut.

Having a forbidding landscape of ice and snow and a crumbling mansion does not make for a Gothic read.

What Down Comes the Night did excel at was its strong combination of magic and science set in a fantasy world of gods and goddesses where two enemy kingdoms are battling for supreme reign. It had all the elements that I enjoy in dark fantasy.

Wren Southerland is the Queen’s most talented healer, but after using her abilities to mend an enemy soldier she is removed from her post and finds herself sent far north to the doorstep of a reclusive lord in order to cure his servant of a mysterious disease.

Nothing is quite what it seems. The lord is odd, the staff distant, and the patient hiding secrets. All of which I loved.

Wren uses her healing abilities, which are a blend of science and magic, to heal. This gave the novel a unique feel and Wren’s personal struggle to use her healing in a meaningful way made her a relatable and engaging heroine.

There is a slow-burn romance that I enjoyed while the mystery surrounding his illness and the remote location of the manor, made for a sinister feeling of danger.

Overall, I enjoyed the writing. The story felt atmospheric and its unique blend of magic made this YA fantasy interesting. There is also a nice message about forgiveness and compassion that readers will appreciate.

I would recommend this to readers of YA fantasy and look forward to more of Saft’s work. I anticipated a dark Gothic read but got a dark fantasy instead, enjoyable, but not what I expected.

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West Hall, Vermont, has always been a town of strange disappearances and old legends. The most mysterious is that of Sara Harrison Shea, who, in 1908, was found dead in the field behind her house just months after the tragic death of her daughter.

Now, in present day, nineteen-year-old Ruthie lives in Sara's farmhouse with her mother, Alice, and her younger sister. Alice has always insisted that they live off the grid, a decision that has weighty consequences when Ruthie wakes up one morning to find that Alice has vanished. In her search for clues, she is startled to find a copy of Sara Harrison Shea's diary hidden beneath the floorboards of her mother's bedroom. As Ruthie gets sucked into the historical mystery, she discovers that she's not the only person looking for someone that they've lost. But she may be the only one who can stop history from repeating itself.

Book Details

The Winter People by Jennifer McMahon
Published February 11th 2014 by Doubleday
Fiction / Thrillers / Suspense / Paranormal
Hardcover, 317 pages
My Rating: 4.5 of 5 stars

  Review

THE WINTER PEOPLE is a dark and haunting blend of writing which combines elements of a suspense novel with that of a supernatural horror-thriller.

The atmosphere is chillingly atmospheric. Set in a picturesque small town of Vermont, West Hall is home to strange occurrences and whispered old legends.

Jennifer McMahon weaves a tale of ghosts, murder, and the bonds between mother and child that reach beyond death, creating a spine-tingling read.

I’ve had this book on my to-read shelf and finally sat down to read it. Warning: it is hard to put down novel as the writing lulls you into a world of secret diaries, folklore, and legends. Where some things should be left alone and others are forgotten.

I was in the mood for a mystery but also wanted to read something with a supernatural bent. The Winter People filled that craving.

This is a story that weaves two timelines, both set at West Hall, one in 1908 with the murder of Sara Harrison Shea and one in the present day where nineteen-year-old Ruthie lives in Sara's farmhouse whose mother, Alice, has suddenly disappeared.

Expertly weaving the past and present, this is a story of twists and surprises.

The connection between the ghostly house, the haunted Vermont landscape, and folklore of The Devil's Hand come together, wrapping the story in a cloak of Wintery eeriness.

The two story-lines come together with a satisfying if uncanny, conclusion. I’m very excited to read more by this established author.

This is one of those reads where it really is perfect for Fall but I read it during the 110 plus digits of August and it still swept me away to a land of forests and ice.

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I received a complimentary ARC from the publisher, courtesy of Edelweiss, in exchange for an honest review.

Book Summary

Ash is descended from a long line of gladiators, and she knows the brutal nature of war firsthand. But after her mother dies in an arena, she vows to avenge her by overthrowing her fire god, whose temper has stripped her country of its resources.

Madoc grew up fighting on the streets to pay his family's taxes. But he hides a dangerous secret: he doesn't have the earth god’s powers like his opponents. His elemental gift is something else—something that hasn't been seen in centuries.

When an attempted revenge plot goes dangerously wrong, Ash inadvertently throws the fire and earth gods into a conflict that can only be settled by deadly, lavish gladiator games. The fights put Madoc in Ash's path, and she realizes that his powers are the weapon her rebellion needs—but Madoc won’t jeopardize his family, regardless of how intrigued he is by the beautiful warrior.

But when the gods force Madoc’s hand, he and Ash uncover an ancient war that will threaten more than one immortal—it will unravel the world.

Book Details

Set Fire to the Gods by Sara Raasch and Kristen Simmons
Set Fire to the Gods #1
Publishes August 4th 2020 by Balzer + Bray
Young Adult Fiction / Fantasy / Epic
Hardcover, 432 pages
My Rating: 3 Stars

  Review

SET FIRE TO THE GODS is the first installment in a new YA fantasy duology featuring elemental gladiators, fierce arena battles, and warring gods set in an inspired Greco-Roman world.

Avatar: The Last Airbender meets Gladiator is how the book is described and it has elements of both.

This is a world ruled by mercurial gods who choose elemental-wielding warriors to represent them in lavish, yet deadly, gladiator games.

Ash and Madoc find themselves in the arena on opposite sides, yet when an attempted revenge plot goes dangerously wrong, they join together and uncover an ancient war of the gods that could set the mortal world on fire.

Where this story shines is the epic battles scenes and the god's interaction with their chosen gladiators.

Each god represents an elemental power and readers will find this high-stakes adventure exciting. The plot is very slow-burn though, and I struggled because of this through the first 40 percent of the book.

Despite the intriguing concept of warring gods and elemental battling gladiators, I had trouble connecting emotionally with the characters.

The story is told from both Ash and Madoc’s perspectives and, although I did enjoy their interactions together and even the hint of their romance, but they felt somewhat lackluster.

Overall, an entertaining series opener filled with action and danger. I am curious enough to continue with the next book to find out what happens and hope for more world-building and deeper emotional development.

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I received a complimentary ARC from the publisher, courtesy of NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review.

Book Summary

In a small Western Queensland town, a reserved young woman receives a note from one of her vanished brothers—a note that makes her question memories of their disappearance and her father’s departure.

A beguiling story that proves that gothic delights and uncanny family horror can live—and even thrive—under a burning sun, Flyaway introduces readers to Bettina Scott, whose search for the truth throws her into tales of eerie dogs, vanished schools, cursed monsters, and enchanted bottles. Flyaway enchants you with the sly, beautiful darkness of Karen Russell and a world utterly its own.

Book Details

Flyaway by Kathleen Jennings
Published on July 28th 2020 by Tor.com
Fiction / Fantasy / Dark Fantasy
Hardcover, 176 pages
My Rating: 5 of 5 Stars

 

FLYAWAY brings Gothic storytelling to the Australian shores where Jennings’ lyrical words, edged and thorny, will enchant you.

Clever use of nestled cautionary folktales entwines with an eerie mystery making this a scrumptious, albeit touched by elements of horror, fairy-tale read.

“Trees bled resin like rubies, sprouted goitrous nests, suspended cat’s-cradles of spiderwebs, spinning disks of silk.”

There is no need for haunted moors nor dripping Spanish moss. You won’t find crumbling castles here but what you will find is carnivorous shape-shifting beasts, creeping—feeding lantern bushes and enchanted wishing bottles.

“Battles, massacres, murder; bushrangers and lonely revenge; tales of whose last stand was on this knob of land, of what will catch the toes of children swimming unattended, of witches in the scrub waiting for the unwary, of loping beasts and whispering megarrities.”

Behind the bright sunlight, Jennings paints shadows and doubt, dilapidated cottages, and paths you do not want to stray from. Unsettling and beguiling at the same time.

“Once, somewhere between the Coral Sea and the Indian Ocean but on the way to nowhere, there was a district called—oh, let’s call it Inglewell.”

This is a short book, one that should be savored. An avian story that takes place in a small town called Inglewell where a young woman goes on a quest to find her missing brothers and finds out just how twisty and ensnared the townspeople’s lives are.

A dark, delicious, tangled story that you won’t soon forget. Lyrical and lush, Flyaway is simply enchanting.

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There’s something wicked in Burning Lake…

Natalie Lockhart is a rookie detective in Burning Lake, New York, an isolated town known for its dark past. Tasked with uncovering the whereabouts of nine missing transients who have disappeared over the years, Natalie wrestles with the town’s troubled history – and the scars left by her sister’s unsolved murder years ago.

Then Daisy Buckner, a beloved schoolteacher, is found dead on her kitchen floor, and a suspect immediately comes to mind. But it’s not that simple. The suspect is in a coma, collapsed only hours after the teacher’s death, and it turns out Daisy had secrets of her own. Natalie knows there is more to the case, but as the investigation deepens, even she cannot predict the far-reaching consequences – for the victim, for the missing of Burning Lake, and for herself.

Book Details

Trace of Evil (Natalie Lockhart #1) by Alice Blanchard
Published December 3rd 2019 by Minotaur Books
Fiction / Mystery & Detective / Police Procedural
Hardcover, 370 pages
Source: Bought
My Rating: 4 Stars

  Review

TRACE OF EVIL is the first book in the Natalie Lockhart series. It features a plucky new rooky detective and a murder mystery that takes place in a small, New England town where secrets abound.

This is a page-turning read filled with chilling atmosphere. Burning Lake is the perfect setting as Blanchard weaves a spine-tingling tale of witchcraft, murder, and dark history.

I love it when suspense thrillers feature remote, sleepy towns built upon a dark history. Back in the 1700s this picturesque town accused and convicted three innocent women of witchcraft.

Once hidden in shame, today, the town of Burning Lake embraces its magical roots and thrives on a tourist business of New Age boutiques and occult gift shops. It all feels very Salem like, mixing a touch of supernatural with suspense.

Detective Natalie Lockhart is a rookie detective in Burning Lake assigned a cold case of uncovering the whereabouts of nine missing transients who have disappeared over the years.

A murder of a beloved school teacher pulls her into a case which will go reach into the very heart of Burning Lake.

Blanchard transports readers into a world of black magic, buried secrets, and plot twists that will keep you entertained and guessing.

Natalie Lockhart is a spunky, new detective whose troubled past makes her both intriguing and relatable. There is a whisper of romance and plenty of moody atmosphere in this series opener.

I’m looking forward to continuing this series that hints at the supernatural while keeping the mystery grounded. Recommended to fans of Mystery & Detective and Police Procedurals looking for a new heroine to follow.

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I received a complimentary ARC from the publisher, courtesy of NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review.

Book Summary

A young woman living in a rigid, puritanical society discovers dark powers within herself in this stunning, feminist fantasy debut.
 
In the lands of Bethel, where the Prophet's word is law, Immanuelle Moore's very existence is blasphemy. Her mother’s union with an outsider of a different race cast her once-proud family into disgrace, so Immanuelle does her best to worship the Father, follow Holy Protocol, and lead a life of submission, devotion, and absolute conformity, like all the other women in the settlement.

But a mishap lures her into the forbidden Darkwood surrounding Bethel, where the first prophet once chased and killed four powerful witches. Their spirits are still lurking there, and they bestow a gift on Immanuelle: the journal of her dead mother, who Immanuelle is shocked to learn once sought sanctuary in the wood.

Fascinated by the secrets in the diary, Immanuelle finds herself struggling to understand how her mother could have consorted with the witches. But when she begins to learn grim truths about the Church and its history, she realizes the true threat to Bethel is its own darkness. And she starts to understand that if Bethel is to change, it must begin with her.

Book Details

The Year of the Witching by Alexis Henderson
Fiction / Horror / Occult & Supernatural
Published July 21st 2020 by Ace
Hardcover, 368 pages
My Rating: 4 of 5 Stars

  Review

THE YEAR OF THE WITCHING conjures up a dark, supernatural fantasy about a young woman living as an outcast in a harsh, puritanical society who discovers her mother’s hidden legacy and the forbidden forest which calls to a growing power rising within her.

A bewitching tale of horror with a feminist twist — Salem meets The Handmaid's Tale

Henderson's debut crafts a dark, witchy, coming-of-age read that is equal parts frightening and enthralling.

Immanuelle is a fearless and resilient young woman who is trying to balance her spiritual life with that of being a woman of a different race who is shunned by the spiritual leaders of Bethel.

Henderson creates a complicated young, heroine torn between following the protocols of the Prophet and protecting those she cares about.

“She was born breech, in the deep of night. The midwife, Martha, had to seize her by the ankles and drag her form the womb. She slipped out easy, dropped limp into Martha’s arms, and lay still as stone.

Her name, she demanded, eyes sharp with moonlight. Give me her name.

Immanuelle, she finally bit it out like a curse. She will be called Immanuelle.”

I love the atmosphere created in this book. The story is suspenseful, its tones Gothic with a creeping sense of dread felt throughout.

I was on edge when reading about Immanuelle's first encounter with the witches of the Darkwood forest. The scenes of witchcraft and plagues are shocking and filled with visceral imagery.

“Immanuelle had always felt a strange affinity for the Darkwood, a kind of stirring whenever she neared it. It was almost as though the forbidden wood sang a song that only she could hear, as though it was daring her to come closer.”

The juxtaposition between the hedonistic supernaturalism of the forest and the stark spiritualism of Bethel really captures the essence of the story with Immanuelle caught between the two.

At its core, this is a story of forbidden love, curses, and forgiveness. It is also an exploration of the abuse of power in its many available forms. A bewitching debut with an exciting new voice that captures the horror of old world witchery with a feminist twist.

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I received a complimentary ARC from the publisher, courtesy of Edelweiss, in exchange for an honest review.

Summary

Steel Magnolias meets Dracula in this ’90s-set horror novel about a women’s book club that must do battle with a mysterious newcomer to their small Southern town, perfect for murderinos and fans of Stephen King.

Patricia Campbell’s life has never felt smaller. Her husband is a workaholic, her teenage kids have their own lives, her senile mother-in-law needs constant care, and she’s always a step behind on her endless to-do list. The only thing keeping her sane is her book club, a close-knit group of Charleston women united by their love of true crime. At these meetings they’re as likely to talk about the Manson family as they are about their own families.

One evening after book club, Patricia is viciously attacked by an elderly neighbor, bringing the neighbor’s handsome nephew, James Harris, into her life. James is well traveled and well read, and he makes Patricia feel things she hasn’t felt in years. But when children on the other side of town go missing, their deaths written off by local police, Patricia has reason to believe James Harris is more of a Bundy than a Brad Pitt. The real problem? James is a monster of a different kind—and Patricia has already invited him in.

Little by little, James will insinuate himself into Patricia’s life and try to take everything she took for granted—including the book club—but she won’t surrender without a fight in this blood-soaked tale of neighborly kindness gone wrong.

Book Details

The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires
Fiction / Thrillers / Supernatural Fiction / Southern
Published April 7th 2020 by Quirk Books
Hardcover, 404 pages
My Rating: 4.5 of 5 Stars

  Review

THE SOUTHERN BOOK CLUB’S GUIDE TO SLAYING VAMPIRES combines southern charm with 1990s horror. In this story, author Grady Hendrix pits middle-aged housewives, who share a passion for true crime books, against a vampire.

Nothing they have read before could prepare them for the real-life monster they are about to meet, nor prepare the monster for the discovery of just how badass southern ladies can be.

“I wanted to pit Dracula against my mom. As you’ll see, it’s not a fair fight.”

Like an overripe peach—sweet, gooey, and just about to go rotten, The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires fills the senses with warm nostalgia and creepy-horror. I loved every moment of it.

“Sometimes she craved a little danger. And that was why she had a book club”

This page-turning, Southern Gothic literature was such a refreshing read, but don’t misunderstand me, this book packs as much gore and dark atmosphere as it does heartwarming female friendship.

“He thinks we are what we look like on the outside: nice Southern ladies. Let me tell you something…there is nothing nice about Southern ladies.”

This book is smart as well as it artfully imbues the story with elements of repression and racism. I was embarrassed and frustrated. Hendrix definitely weaves into the book the question of who really is the monster in the story, and there is more than one.

From southern etiquette and book club love to grisly cockroaches, rats, and vampirism—The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires by Grady Hendrix was just the escape read I needed. It kept me on edge and put a smile on my face.

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I received a complimentary ARC from the publisher, courtesy of NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review.

Book Summary

A dragon shapeshifter and a healer with power over the earth fight a corrupt empire in this thrilling and deeply emotional romantic fantasy from the USA Today bestselling author of Radiance.

Magic is outlawed in the Krael Empire and punishable by death. Born with the gift of earth magic, the free trader Halani keeps her dangerous secret closely guarded. When her uncle buys a mysterious artifact, a piece of bone belonging to a long-dead draga, Halani knows it's far more than what it seems.

Dragas haven't been seen for more than a century, and most believe them extinct. They're wrong. Dragas still walk among the denizens of the Empire, disguised as humans. Malachus is a draga living on borrowed time. The magic that has protected him will soon turn on him--unless he finds a key part of his heritage. He has tracked it to a group of free traders, among them a grave-robbing earth witch who fascinates him as much as she frustrates him with her many secrets.

Unbeknownst to both, the Empire's twisted empress searches for a draga of her own, to capture and kill as a trophy. As Malachus the hunter becomes the hunted, Halani must risk herself and all she loves to save him from the Empire's machinations and his own lethal birthright.

Book Details

Dragon Unleashed by Grace Draven
Fallen Empire Book #2
Publishes on June 9th 2020 by Ace
Fiction | Romance | Sci Fi & Fantasy
My Rating: 4 Stars

  Review

DRAGON UNLEASHED is the second book in the Fallen Empires series and continues with another fabulous book filled with magic, danger, and a slow-simmering romance all set in a unique fantasy world.

If you are looking for fantasy-romance, that special blend of authentic world-building touched by magic, one filled with a captivating romance to love, then you really must try Grace Draven.

Readers are taken back to the same fantasy world first discovered in Phoenix Unbound. A world shadowed by a tyrannical empire ruled by an evil villainess bent on revenge.

Lush writing paints a world of deadly bazaars, enchanted barrows, earth magic, and a shape-shifting dragon.

In this book, we are taken from the mountainous steppes of Phoenix Unbound into the valleys and merchant city’s of the empire. A world of forbidden magic, markets selling sorcery, and a villainess named the Spider who spins a dangerous web of deceit.

Here, Draven transports readers into the daily life of free traders who travel in meandering caravans selling their wares, but in this world, it is rumored to be inhabited by the near-extinct Draga whose blood and bone are coveted for their magical properties.

Dragon Unleashed builds a layered, slow-simmering romance of friendship to lovers that packs plenty of emotions.

A dragon shapeshifter and a healer with power over the earth, Malachus and Halani, both, must keep their abilities and heritage secret but when they meet by accident and a mysterious artifact, a piece of bone belonging to a long-dead Draga, brings them together, they can’t deny their growing feelings despite the danger they present to each other.

Dragon Unleashed is filled with lush writing and an imaginative world setting perfect for building a fantasy romance between to characters that’ll be hard to soon forget.

Recommended highly to fantasy-romance readers and fans of Grace Draven books. I hope we have many more books in the Fallen Empire series to look forward to.

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I received a complimentary ARC from the publisher, courtesy of Edelweiss, in exchange for an honest review.

Book Summary

This breathtaking sequel to The Beholder will take you on a journey into a darkly sparkling fairy tale, perfect for fans of The Selection and Caraval.

When Selah found true love with Prince Torden of Norway, she never imagined she’d have to leave him behind. All because the Beholder’s true mission was a secret Selah’s crew didn’t trust her to keep: transporting weapons to the rebels fighting against the brutal tsarytsya, whose shadow looms over their next port of Shvartsval’d. A place Selah hoped she’d never go.

But gone is the girl who departed Potomac filled with fear. With a stockpile of weapons belowdecks and her heart hanging in the balance, Selah is determined to see the Beholder’s quest to its end.

Book Details

The Boundless (The Beholder #2) by Anna Bright
Young Adult Fiction / Fantasy / Retelling
Published June 9th 2020 by HarperTeen
Hardcover, 512 pages
My Rating: 3.5 of 5 Stars

  Review

THE BOUNDLESS is the second and concluding book in the Beholder series. This time it’s all about secret missions, rebel spies, and a ruthless adversary that Selah finds herself captive too.

Although I enjoyed all the romance and gorgeous landings in book one, The Boundless really gives more room for Selah to grow in her characterization.

Setting sail to Shvartsval’d to court another prince, she continues to aid her crew in a plot of rebellion but is captured by the tsarytsya’s army, where she finds herself indentured to the infamous Baba Yaga.

Forced into danger, we get to see a new side of Selah. Gone is the timid and shy girl. Fierce and even cunning, she does what it takes to survive.

There is romance and it is everything I could have wanted for Selah, but it is definitely in the background. Selah’s relationship with her crew, her feelings of betrayal, and her determination to make her own future is now the focus.

What I enjoyed most is the cat and mouse game played between the tsarytsya’ and Selah. Bright has given her readers a terrific villain and worthy adversary. Her knights and the scene with the game board is one of my favorites.

Overall, an entertaining conclusion to the series. I enjoyed seeing Selah learning to rely on herself and make her own choices, the romance did not disappoint, and the danger was definitely more intense this time around. Recommended to readers who enjoyed The Beholder.

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I received a complimentary ARC from the publisher, courtesy of NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review.

Book Summary

Katherine Addison, author of The Goblin Emperor, returns with The Angel of the Crows, a fantasy novel of alternate 1880s London, where killers stalk the night and the ultimate power is naming. This is not the story you think it is.

These are not the characters you think they are. This is not the book you are expecting. In an alternate 1880s London, angels inhabit every public building, and vampires and werewolves walk the streets with human beings in a well-regulated truce. A fantastic utopia, except for a few things: Angels can Fall, and that Fall is like a nuclear bomb in both the physical and metaphysical worlds. And human beings remain human, with all their kindness and greed and passions and murderous intent. Jack the Ripper stalks the streets of this London too. But this London has an Angel. The Angel of the Crows.

Book Details

The Angel of the Crows by Katherine Addison
Fiction / Fantasy / Historical / Sherlock Holmes
On Sale Date: June 23, 2020 by Macmillan-Tor/Forge
Hardcover, 448 pages 
My Rating: 3.5 of 5 Stars

  Review

Set in an alternate Victorian London, THE ANGEL OF THE CROWS by Katherine Addison re-imagines classic Sherlock Holmes only this world is inhabited by angels, vampires, and werewolves. Here, a madman treads the streets at night named Jack the Ripper.

Classic elements of Sherlock Holmes set into a fantastical fantasy world inhabited by Angels, Vampires, and Hellhounds.

Here, in this alternate London, Sherlock Holmes is envisioned as an Angel named Crow. His character comes complete with huge wings and the astute observation and deduction skills readers would expect. Dr. Watson is played by the eccentric surgeon Dr. Doyle who is recently returned from the war and finds himself a flatmate and assistant to the sleuthing Crow.

Told from Dr. Doyle’s perspective, Addison weaves into the main plot Crow and Doyle aiding the Scotland Yard in the grisly Whitechapel murders. Their search leads them into the dark underbelly of London, searching for the identity behind the notorious serial killer known as Jack the Ripper.

Readers familiar with the classic storylines will find threaded among the plot such investigating cases as A Study in Scarlet and The Hound of the Baskervilles. Several storylines seem very familiar as you are reading, but then there are twists and turns that take that familiarity away.

This is a fun read with its Sherlock Holmes retelling and mix of supernatural elements combined with the Jack the Ripper mystery. Angels, Vampires, and Hellhounds—oh my!

Fans of the classic will enjoy the character dynamics and brewing friendship between the feathery Crow and eccentric Doyle. As each case takes our duo one step closer to Jack the Ripper's identity, readers will feel like they're within familiar stories.

An engaging plot and mystery round out the story. My only wish was for a better feel of the Angels and the Fallen's history. Fans of Holmes and Watson will find familiar storylines while the twists keep you on your toes.

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I received a complimentary ARC from the publisher, courtesy of Edelweiss, in exchange for an honest review.

Book Summary

Irréelle fears she’s not quite real. Only the finest magical thread tethers her to life―and to Miss Vesper. But for all her efforts to please her cruel creator, the thread is unraveling. Irréelle is forgetful as she gathers bone dust. She is slow returning from the dark passages beneath the cemetery. Worst of all, she is unmindful of her crooked bones.

When Irréelle makes one final, unforgivable mistake by destroying a frightful creature just brought to life, Miss Vesper threatens to imagine her away once and for all. Defying her creator for the very first time, Irréelle flees to the underside of the graveyard and embarks on an adventure to unearth the mysterious magic that breathes bones to life, even if it means she will return to dust and be no more.

Book Details

The Bone Garden by Heather Kassner
Illustrated by Matt Saunders
Published August 6th 2019 by Henry Holt and Co.
Juvenile Fiction / Fantasy & Magic
Hardcover, 288 pages
My Rating: 4 of 5 Stars

  Book Review

THE BONE GARDEN is a gorgeously illustrated and hauntingly told middle-grade fantasy about a brave, young heroine made of magic, dust, and bone who just wants to be made into a real-life girl.

The atmosphere in this middle-grade debut is delightfully eerie, its pages are filled with graveyards, secret tunnels, a disembodied hand, two-headed bats, and lots of bones. You can hear the hum of bones, smell the graveyard dirt, and feel the powdery bone dust on your fingertips!

Brought to life by magic, Irréelle fears she’s not real and when she accidentally destroys her creator’s work, Miss Vesper threatens to unimagine her into nothingness.

Fleeing, Irréelle embarks on a desperate quest to discover “an unmarked grave that is very clearly marked” to discover mysterious magic that breathes bones to life and could make her into a living girl.

Irréelle is a wonderfully, imperfect young heroine made up of an odd assortment of bones who reminded me of Sally from The Nightmare Before Christmas by Tim Burton. You can’t help but love her sweetness and bravery.

This really is a sweet and heartfelt story about friendship set within some terrific atmosphere. The concept of bone magic and the adventure to be had within its pages is sure to make The Bone Garden appeal to young readers wanting a chilling read but not too scary.

Readers will be enchanted by the growing friendship between Irréelle, Guy, Hand, and Lass as they adventure in a land of graveyards and bones.

Overall, a lovely read that lends perfectly to reading aloud and with illustrations that enhance the story beautifully. The uneven execution in this debut is easy to ignore with its compelling atmosphere and mystery.

Readers who love Marcy Kate Connolly, Claire Legrand, or Karen Foxlee are going to love THE BONE GARDEN. 

While we can certainly be forgiven for not seeing our personal wounds as jewels, our most powerful wounds often have as many facets and hidden depths as an exquisitely cut gemstone. They are sharp, with hard edges that not only reflect back light but distort it somewhat.

As writers, we know that our character’s wounds are some of the most fertile ground for creating a rich, fully realized protagonist. But before we can explore this with our characters, we have to understand it ourselves. And because we have all been wounded in some way—and those places are always tender—it can be uncomfortable to look too closely.

In order to use our characters’ wounds to full effect, we need to understand that wounds aren’t simply an attribute to be filled in on a worksheet. They are the rocket fuel for our character’s backstory, the backstory that drives their motivation and colors their world. It must be deeply organic to that character and so intricately woven into their emotional DNA that it distorts the way the see the world and themselves.

While everyone’s wounds are uniquely theirs, they are also universal in that they’re something we all share.  What differs is their nature, how we carry them, and the many—often unexpected—ways they shape us and our behavior.

Because of course the impact of any given wound isn’t limited to that initial injury. I was reminded of that last week when I was out walking and twisted my ankle. It was nothing serious, but by the time I’d limped around favoring it for a day or two, everything else was out of whack as I contorted my body to accommodate the injury.

Emotional wounds are just like that, only worse by orders of magnitude.

Even when we know our character’s painful past, we often don’t use it to full effect. We don’t manage to weave into the very essence of who our character is—because make no mistake, wounds fundamentally shape us, especially those incurred in childhood when we are so defenseless. With wounds of the heart or soul—the ones that violate some deep fundamental part—it is the repercussions of that initial wound that create the most scarring. The blame, the self-doubt, the suffocating shame, all serve as a way to cut us off from our core self.

Emotional neglect, a betrayal, a rejection, a lie, are all painful enough, but often become the lens through which we see ourselves. We accept that rejection. Believe that lie. Justify the betrayal due to something fundamentally flawed within us rather than the betrayer. Or worse, we don’t see it as a betrayal at all, but simple evidence of how flawed and unlovable we really are.

The emotionally abandoned child believes they are undeserving of love.

The abused believes they deserve the abuse, that love will always hurt and often comes coated in shame.

The child of addicts learns to fundamentally mistrust the safety and stability of the world around them.

The child raised in a religion that vilifies all human behavior will inevitably see themselves as sinful and unworthy.

Any kind of abuse—emotional, physical, sexual—is often the starting point for a long, twisted, distorted journey from our true selves. And our worldview takes shape around that bad information we’ve deduced because of it.

One of the biggest challenges we face as writers is how to hook our reader emotionally and forge a connection in those first few pages without becoming the literary equivalent of the stranger in the checking line, blurting out every gory detail of the drama of their lives without even having been asked.

The secret, I think, is to show or hint at the character’s contortions and defense mechanisms that have sprung up around that deeper wound. As readers, we’re trained to look for clues and hints, so we’ll spot those coping mechanisms and be intrigued—we’ll want to know why.

So as writers, we need to ask ourselves: In what ways does our character limp through the world? How do they favor that wounded place inside? What distorted belief do they cling to with both hands?  What ways do they disassociate from parts of themselves that brush too closely to that wound? In what ways do they wear their wound like a chip on their shoulder, insisting to the world it has made them tough, impervious to future wounding?

And why are these characters indelibly scarred by these events, when others might brush them off or take them in stride?

I believe the answer to that last question is that because for some, the psychic soil has been well prepared and cultivated—their soil broken down and covered in so much manure before the wound even shows up—that the individual is supremely susceptible to the final blow.

But what about characters who don’t have a tragic or traumatic event in their past?  What about lesser, garden variety wounds? The kind we acquire from the simple life lessons of growing older or growing up? Because the majority of the time, these shaping wounds are incurred early in life—either in our childhood, teen, or early adult years.

These less traumatic experiences still shape us, although to what degree will vary widely from character to character and will depend on things like the psychic equivalent of adrenaline, momentum, individual pain thresholds, and how cultivated the soil was.

We all have memories from our childhood, of playing with other kids, either on the playground or in the neighborhood, then taking a fall, skinning our knee or scraping an elbow. Chances are we bounced right up and kept on going, utterly impervious to any pain. At least until it was time to come inside and wash up for dinner. THEN we could feel that sucker throbbing and stinging.

Science has also shown that pain thresholds within the same person vary depending on how stressed our systems are. When we are under chronic stress, our body produces a lot more of some chemicals and fewer of others. The reformulation of our brain chemistry intensifies pain response—both physical and emotional.

So even if the story you’re writing does not involve characters with large traumatic wounds in their past, common everyday wounds can be equally fertile ground for deepening character.

• Why does a character have a gambling problem?
• A shopping addiction?
• Why are they terrified of clowns? Cats? Blimps?
• Why do they feel the need to be perfect?
• So competitive?

Each of those behaviors could be fueled by either a traumatic wound or a common every day one. It is the tone and theme of your story that will decide which it should be. Or rather I should say, it is the nature of your character’s wounds that will determine the tone and theme of your story.

We are often our own worst enemy—there is no denying that. Many writers feel that their character is his own antagonist, and that is likely true. Our desperation to avoid acknowledging our wounds, to avoid awakened that old pain and our deeply held beliefs about the nature of that pain are often an enormous component of getting in the way of our own happiness. It is hard and scary to look that deeply inside and reorient our world view, even it if ultimately frees us. It is scary to be thrust back into the same powerlessness and vulnerability we had in that moment. That is why we need stories to show us how.

Some of our character’s most transformative moments will come from facing those wounds, freeing themselves from the weight of them, and beginning the healing process. And of course, the stories we write aren’t about the wounds—but how we can overcome them.

We need stories to show us that being wounded or broken doesn’t lessen our character’s—or our own—humanity in any way. It is, in fact, what make us deeply human. The best stories show us that having been wounded doesn’t mean we are less than, or broken beyond repair, or unworthy. Instead, they illuminate all the different shapes wounds can take and the many different paths to healing that await us, if only we have the courage to look.

Do you know your character’s defining wounds? Can you brainstorm three to four ways these wounds create behaviors that readers can see on the page?

 

(Originally published on Writer Unboxed April 13, 2018)

 

Hoping to find an ally from the convent, Sybella instead discovers yet another initiate who has been misled and misused by the former abbess of Saint Mortain. But with long held secrets exposed and allegiances revealed, Sybella must form an uneasy trust borne of desperation to combat enemies at the French court who would have them branded as traitors and heretics.

Some mistakes cannot be fixed—that is Genevieve’s growing fear. Though she may have been a fool, she is no coward and will do whatever it takes to set things right and ensure her Queen’s—and Sybella’s—safety. It will take all of Genevieve’s strength of will and cunning, along with Sybella’s willingness to embrace her growing power. But even that may not be enough.

Plans fail, fragile loyalties are tested, and bridges burn in this riveting conclusion to the Courting Darkness duology. Here, the Daughters of Death finally embrace the full depth of their power—and try to make whole that which has been broken, including themselves.

 

Want to read more? You’re in luck! My publisher is providing an e-sampler of the first eleven chapters. I hope you have as much fun reading it as I did writing it! (And if you get so excited that you feel like pre-ordering the book–be sure to save your receipts! There will be a pre-order gift. Details coming soon!)

As I wrote Dark Triumph, I wanted to be sure and populate the book with some of the colorful characters from the Middle Ages that I had come across in my research, and yet it had to feel organic to the story and not wedged in there.

As Sybella and the wounded knight were racing through the countryside, trying to escape pursuit, I had to do some serious thinking as to who they would actually run in to, and of those people, who would help, who would hinder, and who would turn them in in a heartbeat for a reward. Since they would need to slip into the forest to evade capture, I decided to draw from those who lived in the forests or obtained their livelihood from the woods, and settled upon a group of charcoal burners.

Oddly, it is often the outcasts in society who are most accepting of other outcasts. Their very disenfranchisement sometimes makes them more willing to challenge the status quo or thumb their nose at rigid authority. While charcoal burners were not (probably) true outcasts, they did keep to themselves somewhat, confined by their livelihood to dwelling in forests and tending their charcoal fires rather than living in cities or villages.

In the middle ages, one of the most efficient fuels at the time was charcoal. Coal itself was rare and difficult to mine with their technology, but charcoal could be made through the slow burning of wood, then stopping the process before the wood was fully burned to ash. Charcoal burning was a tricky thing, requiring fairly esoteric knowledge of how to build the fire pits just so, how to pile the wood so it wouldn’t burn too quickly, and how to read the smoke to discern when the charcoal was ready. There were a number of occupational hazards, primarily involving collapsed fire pits and burns. It was also an occupation full of hazard, for a stray spark or ember could start a conflagration in minutes.

As I continued to research charcoal burners, I came across a curious mention of the Carbonnari, a branch of Italian charcoal burners. They started off as a guild, as many medieval trades did, and developed into an organization or brotherhood similar to Freemansons, only with their charcoal burning trade being at the center of their rituals and organizations. While their organization and political involvement was most evident in 19th century Italy, it is believed the groups’ origins began in the middle ages. When I learned they had a French counterpart called the Charbonnerie, I knew I’d found my outcasts.

As a writer, a dozen questions immediately went off in my mind. Who were they? What would compel them to become political and engage themselves in the affairs of the kingdom? How would they make those decisions? And, most importantly in a world populated with patron saints, whom would they worship?

Any deviation from normal church doctrine in the middle ages was rigorously opposed, so it made sense to me that they would worship someone not approved by the church, one of the older gods who’d not make the transition to patron saint.

Dovetailing nicely with this was my personal fascination with the concept of the Black Madonna. There are various theories for the origin of the Black Madonna, whether it was simply the color of Jesus and Mary’s skin before Renaissance artists reimagined them as fair skinned and blonde, or an origin that spoke to possible African roots. There is some speculation that the huge popularity of the cult of the Virgin Mary in the middle ages was a redirecting of earlier earth/mother goddess worship.

But interestingly, over the years I’d also run into mentions of the Black Artemis, rumored to have been worshipped by the Amazons, or Black Demeter, the aspect of the earth goddess when she was in deep mourning for her daughter Persephone. I took all those threads and swirled them around until I had the Dark Matrona, the unsanctioned aspect of Dea Matrona, the former earth goddess now patron saint. I decided that her darkness would be of a more spiritual nature, not unlike the Egyptian god Osiris, for in the Egyptian pantheon, black was not only the color of the underworld, but regeneration as the rich dark silt from the Nile river allowed them to grow their crops each year, and so black was also the color of regeneration, which dovetailed nicely with the book’s themes of finding hope in the darkness.

 

While the Nine Old Gods of Brittany are my own invention, they were built on a number of historical, geographical, and ancient theological precedents, so I thought I’d share some of those here for those of you who are curious to know what my inspirations for world of His Fair Assassin were.

As the Catholic Church struggled to gain acceptance among people who were reluctant to let go of their own pagan beliefs, it made a conscious decision to actively subsume those beliefs into Christianity, white washing and Christianizing them along the way. They felt it would make it easier for people to accept the new religion if they could recognize parts of their old beliefs in it.

Brittany was also home to the last remaining group of druidesses, called the Gallinezae, who were said to possess mysterious power. Additionally, Brittany had nine bishoprics, or districts, that were based on the nine earlier Celtic tribes who inhabited the land.

Since Brittany was originally inhabited by the Celtic tribes, I built the mythology of His Fair Assassin on a Celtic foundation. It’s also important to note that I drew from Continental Celtic roots for my mythology rather than the Irish Celts.

Trying to accurately recreate any Celtic beliefs is tricky however, because the Celts themselves did not create any written record of their beliefs or practices; it was all passed along through the oral tradition. In fact, druids in training were required to study for twenty years in order to learn all their lore and history by committing it to memory.

Consequently, nothing of the Celtic religion or spiritual beliefs and practices was written down until they were invaded by Rome. In addition to viewing the Celts practices with scorn, the Romans often interpreted other pantheons according to their own, thus a mother goddess must be equated with Zeus’s wife Hera, or a god of the Underworld with Hades, etc. This Interpretatio romana colored everything we knew about Celtic practices up until fairly recently when improved archaeological techniques and methods began revealing a more complete and accurate picture. The funny thing is though, by the middle ages the myth and folklore of these earlier Celts would have been very much written over and ‘tainted’ by the Romanization of those myths, so that those living in the 15th century would have been more familiar with this Romanized version. Since I set the story in that timeframe, I wanted to be true to that worldview rather than our own, more knowledgeable one.

Here is a list of the Nine Old Gods of Brittany along with their Roman/Greek or Celtic influences/inspiration:

Saint Mortain – god of death. The Celtic equivalent to Dis Pater, the Romanized Celtic god of death, with some similarities to the Welsh Arawn. Greek and Roman counterparts would be Pluto and Hades, but the Celtic Dis Pater had other aspects to him that tied him to older beliefs that enveloped not only the underworld, but the entire cycle of life and death. Also inspired by the Breton figure of personified death, the Ankou.

Dea Matrona – Gaulish mother goddess, responsible for the earth’s bounty. Similar to the Celtic Anu or Ana.

Saint Amourna – daughter of Dea Matrona and one of the twin goddesses of love. Amourna is the gentle aspect of love. The Celtic pantheon had no goddess of love per se, so she definitely has aspects of Aphrodite or Venus. However, the idea of twin sister goddesses representing the dual aspects of love was my own invention.

Saint Arduinna – daughter of Dea Matrona and goddess of love’s sharp bite, protector of virgins. There was a Celtic goddess Arduinna who was a goddess of the forest. Boars, highly revered by the Celts, were sacred to her. Similar to the Gallo-Roman Diana.

Saint Mer – goddess of the sea. While there is no known Celtic god of the sea, there were many deities of springs and lakes, most of whom were goddesses so I decided to make the deity of the sea in my world in keeping with the feminine representations the Celts seemed to favor.

Saint Camulos – god of battle and warriors. Wears a corona of oak leaves and ram’s horns. The Romans equated him with Mars, but I also drew slightly on the cult of Mithros.

Saint Brigantia – goddess of wisdom; brought medicine and healing knowledge to mankind. Based on the Celtic goddess Bridget, who is one of the most widely known pagan goddesses to have become a saint. Her Greek and Roman counterparts would be Athena and Minerva.

Saint Cissonius – god of crossroads and travelers. I took the Celtic Cissonius, god of trade, and expanded on it a bit.

Saint Salonius – god of mistakes and patron saint of bastards. Ah, this is my most historically tenuous god. I have always been a fan of the trickster god who appears in so many pantheons, and I saw a fleeting entry on the Wikipedia Celtic Gods and Goddesses page that reference Salonius, god of mistakes. Alas, when I later went to reference it, the entry was gone and I couldn’t even find it in the Google cache search. Although it seems fitting that my god of mistakes might have been born of one of my own.