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Introduction
Here we are on 1 September—and absolutely time for a little more magic in Fantasy!
Currently, I’m sharing three books each month where the magic and/or magic systems have spun my reading wheels.
The element today’s books have in common, besides my liking their magical vibe, is that they all draw on myth, fairytale, or folklore to spin their reading spell. Arguably all Fantasy does so, but these are works where that particular aspect really caught my attention.
Consistent with
previous posts, I’ll begin with an older publication and move forward to
something more recent. I *believe* they’re all YA, too, but if not published as
such, they certainly have that ‘feel’ to the storytelling.
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Magic In Fantasy: Drawing On Fairytale, Folklore, and Myth
The Godmother by Elizabeth Ann Scarborough
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In The Godmother, author Elizabeth Ann Scarborough takes a number
of classic fairytales, such as Snow White
(only in this case it’s Seven Vietman Vets on a sweatlodge retreat rather than
seven dwarfs), Cinderella, Hansel and Gretel, and Puss In Boots, and weaves them into one
story, set in contemporary Seattle. The Godmother premise includes a secret
order of fairy godmothers, or godmothers with magical power at least, who
endeavor to undo harms and right wrongs. The godmother on the case in Seattle
is Felicity Fortune, with a magical budget to work within and a great many
dilemmas to set right.
Although it’s been a while since first reading, I remember my fairytale
lover’s delight at recognizing the interwoven fairytales in this book, and also
my admiration for the author’s deftness in stringing them together into a
seamless whole. Like fairytales themselves, The
Godmother has its dark side, but it also has a great deal of humor and a
light touch that I really enjoyed. I found it quite magical, in fact. J
Another two books were published subsequently: The Godmother’s Apprentice, for those of you who like your
fairytales and folklore with an Irish twist, and The Godmother’s Web set in the American Southwest and drawing on
Navajo and Hopi folklore.
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Guardian of the Dead by Karen Healey
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Transitioning from 1994 to 2009, and not only from the Northern
hemisphere to the Southern, or even to New Zealand, but right to my home city
of Christchurch, I come to Karen Healey’s Guardian
of the Dead.
Guardian of the Dead is an intriguing mix of
urban fantasy brought together with Maori* legends of the patupaiarehe
(fairies) and taniwha (think a cross between demons and dragons, that can be
either malign or benign), as well as the myth of Hine-nui-te-Po, the Great
Woman of the Night and goddess of death.
There’s also an
element of Greek myth woven into the story, which makes for a fun read,
magic-wise.
*Maori are New Zealand’s
tangata whenua (literally ‘people of the land’, or first people).
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The Library Of The Dead by T.L. Huchu
The Library Of The Dead is a 2021 publication, set in a dystopian, not-too-distant
future Edinburgh where the heroine, Ropa, is a licensed medium-cum-psychopomp.
Her main work, or “dayjob” is carrying messages from the dead to the living
(for a fee, of course), although she also casts out spirits and learns magic
from her grandmother, who is from Zimbabwe.
Ropa’s power, in dealing with the dead, draws on her grandmother’s
teaching, and she uses the music of the mbira, aka an African thumb piano, to
communicate with the ghosts. Yet the magical beings she must deal with are also
drawn from Scottish folklore, such as “brounies”, as well as an underground
society of magicians, based in the Library of the Dead.
Sounds like fun?—I
thought so, not least for the storytelling’s dynamic blend of magics.
~*~
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Previous Posts In The "Magic In Fantasy" Series:
January 1: Happy New Year – Ushering In A Year of Friends, Fellow Authors, & Magic Systems
January 5: An Interview with AK Wilder – Talking Magic In Her New-Out Crown Of Bones (AMASSIA #1)
February 1: An Interview with T Frohock – Talking Magic In A Song With Teeth & The LOS NEFILIM Series
March 1: An Interview with Courtney Schafer – Talking Magic In The "Shattered Sigil" Series
April 1: An Interview with Kristin Cashore –Talking Magic In Winterkeep & The "Graceling Realm" Series
May 1: An Interview With Lee Murray – Talking Magic, the Supernatural & Horror
June 1: An Interview With Amanda Arista – Talking Magic In the MERCI LANARD & DIARIES OF AN URBAN PANTHER Series
July 1: The Magic of Magic In Fantasy -- & A Solstice Shift
August 1: More Magic In Fantasy: Lighting The Spark
About The Author:
Helen Lowe's first novel, Thornspell (Knopf), was published to critical praise in 2008. The second,The Heir of Night (The Wall Of Night Series, Book One) won the Gemmell Morningstar Award 2012, and the sequel, The Gathering Of The Lost, was shortlisted for the Gemmell Legend Award in 2013. Daughter Of Blood (Book Three), was published in 2016 and Helen is currently completing the final novel in the series. She posts regularly on her “…on Anything, Really” blog, monthly on the Supernatural Underground, and tweets @helenl0we
