Different Fairy Worlds Are Enchanting

Instead of reviewing (since I'm reading HEARTS AT STAKE & THE SEVEN RAYS), I thought I'd spend a little time on a subject matter I've read quite a lot of lately. Since December I've read Cyn Balog's FAIRY TALE, Lisa Mantchev's EYES LIKE STARS, Julie Karawa's THE IRON KING and I'm halfway through Lesley Livingstone's Darklight. Since last spring I've read Janni Lee Simner's BONES OF FAERIE, Nancy Werlin's IMPOSSIBLE, Aprilynne Pike's WINGS (I recently received the next book SPELLS) and Maggie Stiefvator's LAMENT: THE FAIRIE QUEEN'S DECEPTION (BALLAD is also on my TBR pile). The one common character they share are fairies, but they are all so diverse and very entertaining.

A few titles share some similarities, of course, and most describe the fey as having long, pointy ears. Both WONDROUS STRANGE and EYES LIKE STARS are set in theaters with a strong nod to the characters in Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream." There are fey courts (Unseelie), King Auberon, Queen Titania, Puck, and fairy attendents. But each author spins their own unique story from this foundation. Mantchev creates a play-within-a-play centered around the feisty orphan Beatrice. All of the characters, with the exception of Beatrice, cannot leave the building and they're controlled by a magical book (which nature elf Ariel wants to get a hold on). Livingstone moves her world from the confines of the stage to Central Park, a gateway to fey land. In the park Kelley encounters a kelpie, sirens, hellhounds and a cute Janus Guard, all before a Hunt takes place with flying horses. Sound interesting? Very. And I enjoyed both.

I was never a fan of fairy stories before. When I heard the word "fairy" immediately I thought of Tinkerbell. Little wings, cute, buzzing around like a bird. Not anymore. The fey of contemporary YA novels can be evil, murder, steal, lie, all while still looking beautiful. Kurawa's Nevernever is split into Summer and Winter courts. Meghan discovers she's the daughter of the Summer King, Oberon, but doesn't visit with dad for long--she's on a mission to save her brother, Ethan. The boy is being kept in a secretive place, the Iron Court where Machina is King. This world is dark, dangerous (full of iron which weakens normal fey) and humans are looked upon with disdain.

Another dark place is the postapocalyptic world of Simner's BONES OF FAERIE. The humans and fey went to war against each other and the story takes place 20 years after the earth was almost destroyed. Magic is feared by humans and when Liza's mom gives birth to a baby with light hair (an obvious sign of a magic user), she watches her dad take the baby outside and leave it to die. Powerful and disturbing, her world does not allow magic users to live among others in peace. When Liza begins to experience her own moments of magic, her strange visions, she knows she has to leave. Her trip will take her to the ravaged land of fey in search of her mother and answers.

Coming Up Next: The Enchantment Continues, Part II