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SWAN MAIDEN

A pagan priestess and Frankish count overcome mutual distrust and religious strife to form a loving partnership and bring peace to Saxony in Margolis’ historical romance.
In A.D. 794, a 13-year-old girl makes a bold escape from the convent that has been her home for the past two years. Kara, a Saxon, was banished to the convent along with her sister Rapana after their father, Hergar the Giant, refused to obey King Charles, the Frankish ruler of Saxony. One night, her brother Osbern engineers an escape, sending her to the mountains to live with the priestess Bertagard. Three years later, Gerin the Faithful, a Saxon count, is sent by King Charlemagne to Thunar’s Hall in the Harz Mountains region to bring stability to the region and ensure the residents’ conversions to Christianity. Thunar’s Hall was formerly occupied by Herger and his family; Gerin, believing marriage to the daughter of the estate’s former owner will provide the Saxon ally needed to aid the process of conversion, captures Kara and cajoles her into marriage. Despite their differences, they are immediately attracted to each other, forming a passionate, if tenuous, bond that sustains them through famine, tragedy, and endless fighting between the Franks and Saxons. Margolis has created a rich, bold epic buoyed by a strong heroine and vivid setting. Kara, a powerful and compassionate heroine, is dedicated to the preservation of her religion in a time of ongoing religious conflict. Despite her initial misgivings, she finds a strong and supportive partner in Gerin, a man who’s not afraid to challenge his king or church if he feels they are not acting in the best interests of his wife and their family. Religious differences are a central theme of the novel, and Margolis thoroughly explores the conflicts between Christianity and paganism and the attempts of Kara and Gerin to bridge the differences between the religions. A subplot involving Milon the Immunist, a wealthy land owner with questionable intentions, and Guntrada, Gerin’s former concubine, is also skillfully handled.

A lavishly detailed historical epic with well-drawn characters, Margolis’ novel contains an enjoyable balance of action and romance.

Pub Date: May 24, 2012

ISBN: 978-1468564785

Page Count: 480

Publisher: AuthorHouse

Review Posted Online: Dec. 9, 2014

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THE HOUSE IN THE CERULEAN SEA

A breezy and fun contemporary fantasy.

A tightly wound caseworker is pushed out of his comfort zone when he’s sent to observe a remote orphanage for magical children.

Linus Baker loves rules, which makes him perfectly suited for his job as a midlevel bureaucrat working for the Department in Charge of Magical Youth, where he investigates orphanages for children who can do things like make objects float, who have tails or feathers, and even those who are young witches. Linus clings to the notion that his job is about saving children from cruel or dangerous homes, but really he’s a cog in a government machine that treats magical children as second-class citizens. When Extremely Upper Management sends for Linus, he learns that his next assignment is a mission to an island orphanage for especially dangerous kids. He is to stay on the island for a month and write reports for Extremely Upper Management, which warns him to be especially meticulous in his observations. When he reaches the island, he meets extraordinary kids like Talia the gnome, Theodore the wyvern, and Chauncey, an amorphous blob whose parentage is unknown. The proprietor of the orphanage is a strange but charming man named Arthur, who makes it clear to Linus that he will do anything in his power to give his charges a loving home on the island. As Linus spends more time with Arthur and the kids, he starts to question a world that would shun them for being different, and he even develops romantic feelings for Arthur. Lambda Literary Award–winning author Klune (The Art of Breathing, 2019, etc.) has a knack for creating endearing characters, and readers will grow to love Arthur and the orphans alongside Linus. Linus himself is a lovable protagonist despite his prickliness, and Klune aptly handles his evolving feelings and morals. The prose is a touch wooden in places, but fans of quirky fantasy will eat it up.

A breezy and fun contemporary fantasy.

Pub Date: March 17, 2020

ISBN: 978-1-250-21728-8

Page Count: 352

Publisher: Tor

Review Posted Online: Nov. 10, 2019

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2019

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NINTH HOUSE

With an aura of both enchantment and authenticity, Bardugo’s compulsively readable novel leaves a portal ajar for equally...

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  • New York Times Bestseller

Yale’s secret societies hide a supernatural secret in this fantasy/murder mystery/school story.

Most Yale students get admitted through some combination of impressive academics, athletics, extracurriculars, family connections, and donations, or perhaps bribing the right coach. Not Galaxy “Alex” Stern. The protagonist of Bardugo’s (King of Scars, 2019, etc.) first novel for adults, a high school dropout and low-level drug dealer, Alex got in because she can see dead people. A Yale dean who's a member of Lethe, one of the college’s famously mysterious secret societies, offers Alex a free ride if she will use her spook-spotting abilities to help Lethe with its mission: overseeing the other secret societies’ occult rituals. In Bardugo’s universe, the “Ancient Eight” secret societies (Lethe is the eponymous Ninth House) are not just old boys’ breeding grounds for the CIA, CEOs, Supreme Court justices, and so on, as they are in ours; they’re wielders of actual magic. Skull and Bones performs prognostications by borrowing patients from the local hospital, cutting them open, and examining their entrails. St. Elmo’s specializes in weather magic, useful for commodities traders; Aurelian, in unbreakable contracts; Manuscript goes in for glamours, or “illusions and lies,” helpful to politicians and movie stars alike. And all these rituals attract ghosts. It’s Alex’s job to keep the supernatural forces from embarrassing the magical elite by releasing chaos into the community (all while trying desperately to keep her grades up). “Dealing with ghosts was like riding the subway: Do not make eye contact. Do not smile. Do not engage. Otherwise, you never know what might follow you home.” A townie’s murder sets in motion a taut plot full of drug deals, drunken assaults, corruption, and cover-ups. Loyalties stretch and snap. Under it all runs the deep, dark river of ambition and anxiety that at once powers and undermines the Yale experience. Alex may have more reason than most to feel like an imposter, but anyone who’s spent time around the golden children of the Ivy League will likely recognize her self-doubt.

With an aura of both enchantment and authenticity, Bardugo’s compulsively readable novel leaves a portal ajar for equally dazzling sequels.

Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2019

ISBN: 978-1-250-31307-2

Page Count: 448

Publisher: Flatiron Books

Review Posted Online: June 30, 2019

Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2019

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