FALLING TO FAIRYLAND

A human changeling tries to earn his place in Fairyland.

Swapped for a sickly fairy infant and brought back to Fairyland to be raised by his adoptive mother, the Fairy Witch, Cricket is approaching his 13th Change Day. He’s anxious to earn a permanent position in her court by acquiring the missing piece that will complete the cloak the Fairy Witch created to help him hide and suppress his dangerous magic. After a prophecy links Cricket to both the completed cloak and a wounded knight, the Fairy Witch becomes emotionally distant. A desperate Cricket escapes her ivory tower, heading into the capricious world to take matters into his own hands. His subsequent encounters and the obstacles he faces are a good blend of whimsical folklore, malicious threats, and kindness. Fate leads him to the knight, newly fallen from the human realm—an amnesiac teen soldier from the Great War. Prophecy aside, Cricket genuinely likes the soldier, who’s called Isaac, and wants to save him from a deadly curse—one used by the Fairy Witch. The early chapters explore the mystery of Cricket’s powers and Isaac’s past and painful secrets so that the emotional punches of later revelations hit hard. The themes of self-acceptance, love, and loss succeed through being heavily rooted in the characters’ agency and empowerment. The cleverly plotted story structure ends up being pleasingly circular. Cricket, Isaac, and the Fairy Witch are pale-skinned.

Come for the delightful setting; stay for the genuinely moving story.