by Heather Fawcett
Del Rey, 2023. 317 pages. Science Fiction
In the early 1900s, a curmudgeonly professor journeys to a
small town to study faerie folklore, where she discovers dark Fae magic,
friendship, and love. Cambridge professor Emily Wilde is good at many things:
She is the foremost expert on dryadology, the study of faeries. She is a genius
scholar and a meticulous researcher who is writing the world's first encyclopaedia
of faerie lore. But Emily Wilde is not good at people. She could never make
small talk at a party--much less get invited to one. And she prefers the
company of her books, her dog Shadow, and the Fair Folk to that of friends or
lovers. So, when she arrives in the hardscrabble village of Hransvik, Emily has
no intention of befriending the gruff townsfolk. Nor does she care to spend
time with another new arrival: the dashing and insufferably handsome Wendell
Bambleby, who manages to charm the townsfolk, get in the middle of her
research, and utterly confound and frustrate Emily. But as Emily gets closer
and closer to uncovering the secrets of the Hidden Ones--the most elusive of
all faeries--lurking in the shadowy forest outside the town, she also finds
herself on the trail of another mystery: Who is Wendell Bambleby, and what does
he really want? To find the answer, she'll have to unlock the greatest mystery
of all--her own heart.
This was a delightful and sometimes eerily scary read. Faeries are not to be messed with unless you
know what you are doing. And such a person is Emily Wilde. The story is in
first person with footnotes just like those in any field study; they are
little gems of information that will help the reader understand the
import of the study. I can’t help but switch into “Emily speak” in describing
this book. She has such a strong voice and is incurably flawed and clueless
while being exceptionally intelligent. The world building is compelling. The
faeries and locales are lushly described and begin to feel almost lyrical, like
the Fae magic is taking over the story. It is so much fun!
If you like Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries, you might also like:
by Marie Brennan
Tor, 2013. 334 pages. Science Fiction
Isabella, Lady Trent, known as the world's preeminent dragon
naturalist, writes her memoir detailing how she sought true love and happiness
despite her lamentable eccentricities; and of her thrilling expedition to the
perilous mountains of Vystrana, where she made the first of many historic
dragon discoveries that would change the world forever.
by Deborah Harkness
Viking, 2011. 579 pages. Science Fiction
Witch and Yale historian Diana Bishop discovers an enchanted
manuscript, attracting the attention of 1,500-year-old vampire Matthew
Clairmont. The orphaned daughter of two powerful witches, Bishop prefers
intellect, but relies on magic when her discovery of a palimpsest documenting
the origin of supernatural species releases an assortment of undead who
threaten, stalk, and harass her.
by Erin Morgenstern
Doubleday, 2019. 498 pages. Science Fiction
Zachary Ezra Rawlins is a graduate student in Vermont when
he discovers a rare book hidden in the stacks. As he turns the pages, entranced
by tales of lovelorn prisoners, key collectors, and nameless acolytes, he reads
something strange: a story from his own childhood. Bewildered by this
inexplicable book and desperate to make sense of how his own life came to be
recorded, Zachary uncovers a series of clues--a bee, a key, and a sword--that
lead him to a masquerade party in New York, to a secret club, and through a
doorway to a subterranean library, hidden far below the surface of the earth
... Together with Mirabel, a fierce, pink-haired protector of the place, and
Dorian, a beautiful barefoot man with shifting alliances, Zachary travels the
twisting tunnels, darkened stairwells, crowded ballrooms, and sweetly-soaked
shores of this magical world, discovering his purpose--in both the rare book
and in his own life.
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