The Winter Witch by Paula Brackston

The Winter Witch by Paula Brackston is out from Corsair (£7.99)

“Fledgling witch Morgana must defend her love, her home, and her life ‘Wild places make wild people, but only some have magic blood. There are those with frozen hearts, whose souls know only winter. They would drive me from my home. It will not do. Really, it will not.’

In her small Welsh town, there is no one quite like Morgana. She has not spoken a word out loud since she was a child, and her silence – as well as the magic she can't quite control – makes her an oddity, taunted by rumour and mystery. Concerned for her safety, her mother arranges for Morgana to marry Cai Jenkins, the widower from the far hills who knows nothing of the nasty things folk say about her daughter.

After a swift wedding, Cai takes his new wife to his farm. Initially heartbroken to leave her home, Morgana soon begins to falls in love with the place, and the rugged mountains that surround it – just as Cai slowly begins to win her heart. But it isn't long before her strangeness begins to be remarked upon. A dark force is at work – a person who will stop at nothing to turn the townspeople against Morgana, even at the expense of those closest to her. Forced to defend her home, her lover, and herself from all comers, Morgana must learn to harness her power ... or lose everything.”

Without a Summer by Mary Robinette Kowal

Without a Summer by Mary Robinette Kowal is the third volume in The Glamourist Histories (Corsair £7.99) – out on 16 January 2014.

“Summer, 1816: Glamourists Jane and David Vincent return home to an unseasonably cold Long Parkmeade. Cooped up inside with Jane's fretful sister and father, they soon become restless, so when they receive a commission from a prominent family in London, they decide to go – taking Melody with them. Perhaps the change of scenery will brighten their moods (and Melody's marriage prospects).

The capital is fizzing with talk of crop failures and unemployment riots in the north. Finding it difficult to avoid getting embroiled in the intrigue, it's not long before Jane and David realise they must use their magic to solve a crisis of international proportions ... and get Melody to the church on time.”

The Witch’s Daughter by Paula Brackston

Coming in December: The Witch’s Daughter by Paula Brackston (Corsair £7.99).

“In the spring of 1628, young Bess Hawksmith watches her mother's body swing limp from the Hanging Tree. She knows that only one man can save her from the same fate – Gideon Masters, the Warlock. She knows, too, that his help comes at a steep price.

In present-day England, Elizabeth has built a quiet life for herself. She has spent the centuries in solitude, moving from place to place, surviving plagues, wars and the heartbreak that comes with immortality. Her loneliness comes to an abrupt end when she is befriended by a teenage girl called Tegan. Against her better judgment, Elizabeth opens her heart to Tegan and begins teaching her the ways of the Hedge Witch. But Gideon is still hunting her. He will stop at nothing, determined even after centuries to claim her soul. And now, Bess is not fighting to save herself alone: now, she must protect the girl she has grown to love like a daughter.”

Among Others by Jo Walton. Book review

Among Others by Jo Walton. Corsair/Constable Robinson. £7.99. Also available as an eBook

Reviewed by Jan Edwards

It would be very simple to slot Among Others neatly into the ‘rites of passage’ niche, but it really is so much more. It is an insightful look at a young teenage girl’s fight against her disability, her dysfunctional family and her lack of direction – and much more. 

Mori (Morwenna) Phelps is a runaway, escaping from an insane mother who caused the death of Mori’s twin sister in an apparent magical battle that also left Mori with a crippled leg and a broken heart. The courts place Mori in the care of her estranged father and his rich but very eccentric sisters, in Shropshire, who in turn promptly send her to a posh boarding school. She is miles away from everyone she knows. 

There is nothing manic or swooning about Mori; she takes all that life throws at her with stoic determination, and a wonderfully wry humour. The novel unfolds as a series of diary entries covering a few months over the period 1969/70. It holds her hopes and dreams, but also provides a window into her obsessive reading of fantasy and science fiction, with frequent acerbic judgements on books and their authors, which often had me laughing out loud. The diary entries, generally very short, also feature observations on the humdrum life she leads in a school she hates – with its strange politics concerning buns for tea and its obsession with house points. But these apparent low-key entries offer a fresh picture on who Mori is now and will be.

This novel deals with loss and yet Mori does not dwell on the darkness in her life. She has her fears and doubts, but she handles each as they arise with varying degrees of aplomb – and then moves on. We read of Mori’s casual, and occasionally frustrated, opinions on pain management, and of her logical analyses of emotional and physical turmoil caused by her completely dysfunctional family, especially her insane mother, still in South Wales, and apparently detached father. 

Among Others is also about magic. Mori describes her interaction with beings that she calls fairies; but which could be anything from ghosts to her own imagination. It is very much down to the reader and her boyfriend, whom she met at an SF readers’ group in the local library, to decide what is real and what isn’t. 

This is a compelling narrative, beautifully crafted, drawing you into a world that is often deceptively tranquil, and yet fraught. Among Others deservedly won the Hugo, the Nebula and the British Fantasy awards for Best Novel. Thoroughly recommended!

New books -- round up

The Shape Stealer by Lee Carroll. Bantam £12.99

The Devil’s Looking Glass by Mark Chadbourn. Bantam £7.99

The City by Stella Gemmell. Bantam £18.99 (April)

Wolfhound Century by Peter Higgins. Gollancz £14.99

The String Diaries by Stephen Lloyd Jones. Coming from Headline

Slaine: The Grail War by Pat Mills et al. 2000AD £17.99

Indigo Prime: Anthropocalypse by John Smith et al. 2000AD 14.99

Among Others by Jo Walton. Corsair £7.99