HALF-SHELL PROPHECIES

From Reid (Strings, 2014, etc.), an urban fantasy in which a young woman is drawn by prophecy through hidden worlds of magic.

Twenty-three-year-old Katie Lin is part of the Kin, a group of men and women with magical powers. Other groups include the Ever-Dying (humans who don’t have powers) and five other magic-using Peoples of the Earth, some of whom live on different, parallel Earths, collectively called the Mythos. Katie wanted nothing to do with magic, so she ran away from her family to live in New Hampshire, and her life is now settled. But then Bran—the Crow King, grandson of the Raven King, and heir to the throne of Darkness—shows up, expecting her help. According to the prophetess Cassandra, whose soul Bran keeps in a clamshell in his pocket, Katie can guide him to Notte, father of all vampires, who, in turn, can save Bran from being killed by his own grandfather. Very much against her will, and sinking further out of her depth with each faltering step, Katie is dragged into Bran’s unfathomable quest. The Mythos is a complicated place and quite enough to discombobulate the unwary reader. Moreover, Katie’s involvement does seem a bit random at first. But while many fantasy novels are content merely to rehash other works, Reid’s work is singularly original, deeply evocative, and at times quite poignant, as when Katie has an encounter with an old Fey, who, at the end of his life, is turning to stone. And although the plot may seem at first to extemporize, the journey is really the point of the story, which gains pace and focus as it moves toward its destination. The Mythos alone would be enough cause to recommend this book, but, for new-adult readers in particular, Katie’s first-person narration will make it even more appealing. Reid has a distinct, irreverent, and frothy style and imbues Katie with mordant wit and a gutful of millennial girl-power. Together, they bring quest-fantasy insouciantly into a modern era.

A dark fantasy gem with an often sparkling delivery.