I’ve been hooked on Holly Black since I first read her Young Adult fantasy series in 2002. That’s when Tithe: A Modern Faerie Tale was published. She followed that up with Valiant in 2005 and completed the trilogy with Ironside in 2007. If you’ve never read these stories, I suggest you do.
Holly Black and her friend, Cassandra Clare are the Empresses of Urban Fantasy. Clare beta-reads Black’s manuscripts and, I assume, Black returns the favour. How cool is that?
After writing YA and middle grade stories for the past twenty years, Black is now venturing in the realm of adult books. This is her debut Adult fiction. I don’t really know the difference. In Book of Night the sex is not explicit, and there’s minimal profanity and violence only when warranted. It’s certainly nothing that would surprise teens and I’m sure they’ll be all over this book. Perhaps, it’s because her protagonist, Charlie Hall AKA The Charlatan, tends bar at Rapture and seems to be in her early twenties.
Black is a #1 New York Times best-selling author and Book of Night will illustrate why. Her concepts are original, her descriptions electrifying, her characters unique and relatable (even in their weirdness). I inhaled this book as if possessed. Here’s the blurb:
Charlie Hall has never found a lock she couldn’t pick, a book she couldn’t steal, or a bad decision she wouldn’t make.
She’s spent half her life working for gloamists, magicians who manipulate shadows to peer into locked rooms, strangle people in their beds, or worse. Gloamists guard their secrets greedily, creating an underground economy of grimoires. And to rob their fellow magicians, they need Charlie Hall.
Now, she’s trying to distance herself from past mistakes, but getting out isn’t easy. Bartending at a dive, she’s still entirely too close to the corrupt underbelly of the Berkshires. Not to mention that her sister Posey is desperate for magic, and that Charlie’s shadowless, and possibly soulless, boyfriend has been hiding things from her. When a terrible figure from her past returns, Charlie descends into a maelstrom of murder and lies.
Determined to survive, she’s up against a cast of doppelgangers, mercurial billionaires, gloamists, and the people she loves best in the world―all trying to steal a secret that will give them vast and terrible power.
http://blackholly.com
The cover is brilliant! Simple but striking, the font one of my favourites. I actually just used it on my romantic suspense novel Lure. It’s called Cinzel Decorative.
Twisted and gritty with a dash of kink, Book of Night will keep you flipping pages despite burning eyes and sagging lids. Why?
Lyrical language with strokes of hilarity. A to-die-for original premise. Intricate world building. A strong sympathetic protagonist who loses track of her lover, Vince, early on, and must face these dark, deceiving villains on her own. Charlie Hall is intelligent, witty, fearless, and skilled, though flawed by her past.
Black moves between past and present as they are intimately connected; something that really connects the reader with the character. If you can let go of this book, you will want more.
With all the hallmarks of urban fantasy—part-mystery, part-thriller, a dash of delicious fantasy, and a sprinkling of sexy—it’s perfect.
*****
P.S. For the most part I read books for review. When I get a chance to choose my own staycation adventure, I go to my favourite authors. Hence, Holly Black.
I travelled to Orkney with a dear friend in 2009. It’s an incredibly magical place; one I’m sure I’ve lived at least one life before. At least, that’s what one of my guides tells me.
So I was thrilled tonight to join Philip Carr-Gomme’s “Tea with a Druid 146” and find this brilliant Druid leader introducing a new and wonderful book about Orkney. Just hearing Philip talk about the book and closing my eyes to take in the author’s deliciously poetic language during meditation inspired me to buy the book. And I have! A Christmas present to myself!
Skara Brae 3100BCE
The book is called This Old Golden Land: an alternative Orkney guidebook for spiritual seekers, mystics, and pilgrims. It’s Indie-published and comes direct from the authors in Orkney.
If you’ve never been to Orkney—it’s a ferry ride from the northernmost tip of Scotland—I suggest you visit when the circle turns and we are once again traveling through this beautiful planet we call home.
If you’re a fan of Alice Hoffman’s novel, Practical Magic, you’ll like this series. I picked up Book One on a free promotion. I’m not fond of the cover; in fact, I wouldn’t have bought it based on the cover. But I was intrigued by the teaser and it was free, so I gave it a chance.
It turns out that The Witches of Dark Root is one of the few paranormal fantasies I’ve read that offers a great storyline, believable magic, clever writing, and enough light to balance the darkness.
Maggie-Mae Maddock, with wild red hair hanging to her waist, is sarcastic, complex, and funny. Some folks call her a wilder. I warmed to this Welsh witch right away.
In the beginning, Maggie and her boyfriend, Michael, are religious leaders living in Woodhaven Compound in Northern California. She followed him out of Dark Root, Oregon seven years before.
Then her older sister, Merry, calls to say their mother, Sasha Shantay, is quite ill and they need her to come home. (Merry is the Herald.) Michael has become way too friendly with Leah, another woman in the compound, who’s threatening to replace Maggie as star of the religious show and seems to have Michael under her thumb. So Maggie decides to leave Michael and goes home.
This is a family of women. There are four sisters: Ruth Ann, Merry, Maggie, and Eve. They all meet up in Dark Root, except for Ruth Ann who left years ago and hasn’t been heard from since. The sisters all have witchy gifts. Maggie’s is electrokinesis, the ability to manipulate the energy of electrical devices like the radio and cell phone. Eve is an actress who can create potions and spin love spells. Merry is a healer and mother to sweet little June Bug. Their mother, Sasha, once led the coven, but now she’s old, frail, and near comatose. The family have been living in Dark Root for generations since their witchy ancestor, Juliana Benbridge, escaped there with her children. A few men appear as love interests but the romance is second place to the relationships between the women.
This book is contemporary urban fantasy, spliced with flashbacks and dreams where Maggie reveals her memories and family history. There are a few scary moments but the antagonists are quite tame and easily vanquished.
April Aasheim is a clever writer. Music is interwoven through this book’s pages. Chapter titles are all 70s songs so you’ll find yourself singing along. Really, this book has its own built-in soundtrack as some of the characters are performers. I’m a fan of cool chapter titles and this gimmick caught my eye.
Aasheim also has an excellent grasp on Wicca and spices up the brew with gems of magical knowledge:
“all homes were said to be alive and should thus be named” (I like to name my home.)
“There are no coincidences … there are forces in the world at work, whether we see them or not” (Too true.)
“a witch never cuts her hair … the longer her hair, the more powerful the witch” (I didn’t know this Sampson twist.)
“one can never stay down long when there’s music in the house.” (Yes!)
When drawing a pentagram with white powder “the star must be inside the circle, but the two shapes must not touch.” (Always good to know for when you’re drawing pentagrams.)
“the symbol of the cross predates Christianity. It has been used since the dawn of civilization as a means of keeping the dark at bay … Symbolism, like any form of Magick, is reliant on a collective belief system.”
At Halloween “the veil between the worlds was lifted. Spirits moved freely between planes, spells were stronger and a witch’s power was doubled.” (True. It’s the beginning of the witch’s new year.)
“Magic could be found through music and laughter and love and, above all, family. This everyday magic was more powerful than any incantation or spell or working of the craft. This was the magic that lit up the world.” (This, I believe, is the story theme.)
If you’re curious about witchcraft, The Witches of Dark Root is a great place to start. And if you’re knowledgeable, you’ll enjoy the romp. Because it’s a series, when you finish one, there’s another waiting. I might just buy the boxed set. I feel like this is the kind of series that blossoms and grows with each book, filling in holes and letting us sink into the complex characters. And I like this cover!
I’m offering Blue Pencil Readings at this wonderful event! Come shop and talk about your writing with a professional author.
The Times: December 7 & January 11 between 11am-2pm.
The Place: Reflections Bookstore. Bring your ideas and two-three pages of polished writing. Email Wendy at bluehavenpress@gmail.com to book your free twenty-minute spot.
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