Freda Warrington is the author of numerous books, most recently the AETHERIAL TALES series: Elfland, Midsummer Night, and the newly released Grail of the Summer Stars (see my review here). These three books have been among my favorites of the last few years. Ms. Warrington has kindly taken some time to answer a few questions, and I’m thrilled to welcome her to FanLit. We’re also giving away a copy of Grail of the Summer Stars to a reader in the US or Canada.

Kelly Lasiter: In an earlier novel, The Court of the Midnight King (which I've been meaning to read for a few years now), you deal with the history of Richard III, a plot that gets a little cameo in Grail. I was just thinking recently that the discovery of Richard's burial si... Read More

Grail of the Summer Stars by Freda Warrington

Grail of the Summer Stars is the third in Freda Warrington’s AETHERIAL TALES series, following Elfland and Midsummer Night. Each novel can stand alone, though they have some overlapping plotlines and characters, such that each novel will be more meaningful and resonant if you’ve read the others. Grail of the Summer Stars has more overlapping elements than either of the two previous books and is connected more strongly to each of them than they are to each other.

Warrington introduces us to Stevie Silverwood, a metalworking artist and museum curator who has always been a little odd, seeing things no one else could see — and whose past before age 15 is a mystery even to herself. Her quiet life is disrupted when her old college sweetheart, Daniel, sends her a triptych of fantastic paintings along with a cryptic note, and goes missin... Read More

The Suburban Strange by Nathan Kotecki

Celia is a high school sophomore who’s grieving the death of her father and starting at a new school. She is swept up into a clique called the Rosary, a group of friends who pride themselves on their “darkness” and their sophistication. Celia feels awkward with them at first but gradually begins to gain confidence from these friendships. Meanwhile, something eerie is going on at Suburban High. Girls are suffering injuries or sudden illnesses on the day before their sixteenth birthdays. Will Celia find out what’s going on before her own birthday rolls around?

The main problem with The Suburban Strange is that the plot doesn’t pick up until well after the 200-page mark. Before that, it’s heavily focused on scenes of Celia and her friends hanging out and talking about music and books. It reminds me of when I was in college and thought all my circle’s late-night conversations were... Read More

An Inquiry Into Love and Death by Simone St. James

I enjoy a good Gothic novel, and I was intrigued by An Inquiry Into Love and Death as soon as I first heard about it. After reading it, I can report that it is indeed a good Gothic novel, and fans of the genre should definitely check it out.

Jillian Leigh’s life as an Oxford student is interrupted when her uncle Toby dies in a fall from a cliff in the remote village of Rothewell. With Jillian’s parents out of the country, settling Toby’s affairs falls to Jillian.

Toby was a ghost hunter and had traveled to Rothewell to investigate the ghost of a smuggler, Walking John, who is reputed to haunt the village. His death is a mystery. Did he fall by accident? Did he commit suicide? Or was he murdered? Jillian’s inquiries in Rothewell uncover mysteries both mundane and supernatural in this spooky, twisty novel.

Jillian is a quirky, endearing charac... Read More

Today we welcome Laura Bickle, author of Embers, Sparks, and the YA novel The Hallowed Ones. The Outside, a sequel to The Hallowed Ones, will be released later this year. Laura also writes the DARK ORACLE series under the name Alayna Williams. Her question for you today is: Where do you want to be when the apocalypse hits? One commenter wins a copy of The Hallowed Ones.

One of the great things about writing is getting to ask those “what-if” questions. When I was writing The Hallowed Ones, I knew that I wanted to unleash a plague of bloodthirsty vampires on humanity. But I wanted to also explore the idea of survival, and I gave some thought into who might be best-equipped to surv... Read More

Deep Down by Deborah Coates

Hallie Michaels is back in civilian life for good, but she’s not sure yet what she wants to do with that life, and she’s loath to be tied down to any one option. An old Army friend offers her a job that would take her away from her small South Dakota hometown again. She’s tempted to take it, but when she checks on her elderly neighbor Pabby Pabahar at her father’s request, Hallie discovers a mystery that may keep her in town for a while.

Pabby’s property is surrounded by black dogs that no one but Pabby and Hallie can see. The dogs, as it turns out, are harbingers of death; they appear when someone’s “time” approaches. What’s really weird is that Pabby knows it’s not her time. Her mother was psychic and predicted Pabby’s date of death — still some years in the future.

Death omens showing up at the wrong time turn out to be the tip of the iceberg. Hallie discovers even... Read More

It's the first Thursday of the month, which means it's time to report!

What is the best book you read in February 2013 and why did you love it? It doesn't have to be a newly published book, or even SFF. We just want to share some great reading material. Feel free to post a full review of the book here, or a link to the review on your blog, or just write a few sentences about why you thought it was awesome.

(And don't forget that we always have plenty more reading recommendations on our Fanlit Faves page and our 5-Star SFF page.)

As always, one commenter will choose a book from our stacks. Read More

The Magic Circle by Jenny Davidson

[In our Edge of the Universe column, we review mainstream authors that incorporate elements of speculative fiction into their “literary” work. However you want to label them, we hope you’ll enjoy discussing these books with us.]

The Magic Circle by Jenny Davidson is the story of three young women in academia, all of whom become involved in a particular type of game that combines urban exploration with LARPing (live-action role-playing). Logical Ruth is primarily interested in games as teaching tools. Anna, a more right-brained sort, prefers visceral games that effect a psychological transformation on their players. Their more reserved friend Lucy is along for the ride. The novel is primarily narrated by Ruth and Lucy, with occasional Internet posts from Anna interspersed.

The novel begins slo... Read More

House Rules by Chloe Neill

Chloe Neill’s CHICAGOLAND VAMPIRES novels have been brain-candy reading for me for a few years now. The books are quick reads that don’t require a lot of thinking but provide action, romance, humor, and occasional pathos. But, sad to say, I think I’m breaking up with this series.

I had high hopes at the beginning of this seventh book, House Rules. Neill introduces a mystery: two rogue vampires have gone missing, last seen at one of the vampire registration offices the new mayor has set up. In the other main plot, Cadogan House has voted to secede from the Greenwich Presidium, and that would surely shake things up a bit.

The series, however, has fallen into the same trap that Neill’s DARK ELITE series did for me. The plot often seems secondary to immature bickering among the characters. It’s not funny enough to work as comic relief; it’s just sniping. An example ... Read More

Wonder Woman: The Hiketeia by Greg Rucka (writer) and J.G. Jones (artist)

I’m a card-carrying geek if there ever was one, but there are a few areas where my fannish education has been a little spotty, one of them being superhero comics. It’s not for lack of enjoying them when I do read them; it’s more that the reams of backstory and frequent reboots feel a little daunting. Then, this past Christmas, I found a copy of The Hiketeia among the presents from my boyfriend, along with a Post-It note that read, ‘I’ll turn you into a comic book geek yet!”

The Hiketeia was, by all measures, a gateway drug that was right up my alley. Greek mythology, powerful female characters, cool art, and a plot centering on conflicting vows? Sign me up!

Writer Greg Rucka introduces the eponymous Hiketeia, a ritual by which a supplicant throws himself or herself on someone els... Read More

Venice?
Aruba?
Madam Puddifoot's Tea Shop?

Everyone loves a romantic getaway!

This Valentine's Day, we want to know where you'd like to take your sweetheart to celebrate -- and the sky is most certainly not the limit. Anywhere in any science fiction or fantasy world is fair game.

As for me, I choose the Beast's castle from Disney's Beauty and the Beast. The food is superb, the dishes will sing a lovely tune to slow dance to, and afterward, there's that library to explore!

How about you? What's your fantasy romantic getaway?

As usual, one commenter picks a book from the stacks. Read More

Between by Kerry Schafer

I hate to give a DNF review to Between by Kerry Schafer. I love finding new authors to read, the cover art is pretty (check out the subtle scales on her shoulder!), and the premise sounded great. Unfortunately, I only got about halfway through the book before setting it aside.

Schafer’s heroine, Vivian, has always had strange dreams, and now those dreams are affecting reality, for her and everyone around her. She’s an ER doctor, and one of her patients dies after an attack by dragons — dragons that come from the Between, which is the realm that lies between the waking world and the dreaming one.

Meanwhile, her mother (who lost her grip on sanity because she slipped too easily between the worlds) has gone missing from the institution in which she lives, and her grandfather has died and left her some strange objects and cryptic information. And the handsome man she just met seem... Read More

Biting Cold by Chloe Neill

Biting Cold is the sixth book in Chloe Neill’s CHICAGOLAND VAMPIRES series. It’s impossible to even give the premise of this book, let alone a useful review, without mentioning major spoilers for books four and five, Hard Bitten and Drink Deep respectively, so if you haven’t read those books, stop reading this review now!

Is the coast clear? OK, here goes. Ethan has just come back from the dead, but he and Merit hardly have a chance to catch up; they must immediately embark on a road trip to stop Mallory before she can reach the Maleficium spellbook and unleash the evil bound therein. But not everything goes according to plan during this trip, and soon they’re back in Chicago with a dangerous new supernatural enemy to face.

The character arc of Mallory is the most compelling aspect of Biting Cold. The showdown between her and Merit is actually r... Read More

Ashes of Honor by Seanan McGuire

It sometimes seems like Faerie reserves the hardest choices for the children.

It’s been a year since the events at the end of One Salt Sea — events that left October Daye deep in mourning. Since then, she’s been taking unnecessary risks and feeling directionless in her life. But now a new emergency has arisen that requires her attention. Etienne, a fellow knight of Sylvester’s court, has a changeling daughter he never knew about. He only just learned of her existence because she’s gone missing.

It’s surprising enough to Toby that the straitlaced Etienne was incautious enough to father a changeling in the first place, but the real bombshell is that the daughter, Chelsea, possesses a staggering amount of teleporting ability. She could be anywhere, and her travels are opening doors into Faerie realms that were supposed to stay closed. Her talent also makes he... Read More

A Night in the Lonesome October by Roger Zelazny

A Night in the Lonesome October is an odd little book. It’s a mashup of H.P. Lovecraft, Sherlock Holmes, Victorian horror, monster movies, and dry humor, from the point of view of a dog. It’s definitely worth the read if you like pastiche-style horror. It’s written in a weird style and it won’t be for everyone — I’m not even sure it’s exactly for me! I didn’t like it quite as much as Steven did, but I did have fun reading it and found its style unique and intriguing.

The best way I can think of to describe A Night in the Lonesome October is that a huge amount of it takes place between the lines. This works well for some aspects of the book, and less well for others. Many of the f... Read More