5 New Female-Centric Fantasies

In the Shadow of the Fall

Ogundiran’s thrilling novella (after the collection Jackal, Jackal) draws on Yoruba mythology to set up a cosmic battle. Acolyte Ashâke has watched all of her peers hear the voice of an orisha and move on to being priests, but the otherworldly spirits remain silent to her. Desperate, she secretly builds an effigy to bind an orisha to her—resulting in a terrible fire. She wakes in the care of Ba Fatai, a witch doctor, and must face the wrath of the leading priests, who sentence her to a fortnight of isolation in the cellars. There, Ba Fatai’s bird familiar brings a message that, thanks to Ba Fatai’s undesired gift of prophecy, he knows Ashâke will never advance to priesthood. Ashâke runs away and finds a spot among the griots, nomadic memory keepers who share with her a shocking truth about why the orisha have not spoken to her. Before Ashâke can act on this new knowledge, High Priestess Iyalawo tracks her down, urging her to return to the protective temple grounds, which are warded against a dangerous foe who also seeks Ashâke. Ogundiran keeps the action humming while still managing to probe impressive emotional depths, and a cliffhanger ending sets things up nicely for a sequel. Fans of mythic fantasy drawing from non-Western traditions will want to snap this up. (July)

The Haunting of Hecate Cavendish

A young woman unravels an ancient mystery in this spine-tingling dark fantasy from Brackston (City of Time and Magic). In Victorian England, Hecate Cavendish accepts a position as an assistant librarian at Hereford’s cathedral rather than consign herself to marriage. There, she discovers she has the ability to communicate with spirits. When bodies disappear from the tombs in the cathedral’s crypt, Hecate suspects something more sinister than simple grave robbery, perhaps related to the mysterious deaths that have been plaguing Hereford. With the help of her new ghost friends from the cathedral and her archeologist father, Hecate sets out to stop the evil lurking in Hereford before it’s too late. Brackston seamlessly blends horror, fantasy, and mystery as Hecate investigates who is pulling the strings to raise the dead. The answers, however, will have to wait, as a cliffhanger ending sets the stage for a sequel. This will frustrate some, but readers with a penchant for gothic fantasy won’t want to miss this. (July)

Queen B: The Story of Anne Boleyn, Witch Queen

Secret magic, forbidden love, and courtly intrigue abound in this passionate and richly rendered sapphic historical fantasy, a prequel to Dawson’s HMRC series. The year is 1536 and Queen Anne Boleyn is dead, beheaded by vicious, fickle Henry VIII. From there, the story flashes back to 10 years earlier, when Grace Fairfax, a newly made lady for whom joining the court of Queen Catherine means an escape from her much older husband, arrives at the palace knowing she must at all costs hide the gifts that give her control of the elements. But Grace soon finds there are more women like her than she could have imagined, foremost among them the beguiling Lady Anne, whose coven gathers power in secret at court. As Anne’s influence grows and her circle of ladies’ with it, the splendor and excitement soon sour, and a tangle of unrequited loves and bitter betrayals puts the entire coven at risk. In the palace the walls have ears: witchfinders are abroad, backed by powerful enemies. This taste of the founding lore of Her Majesty’s Royal Coven will delight series fans and stands well enough on its own to draw in newcomers as well. Dawson leaves readers wanting more. Agent: Katelyn Dougherty, Paradigm Talent Agency. (July)

Hera

The gods of Olympus deliver Real Housewives–level drama in this juicy interpretation of Greek myth from bestseller Saint (Ariadne). Hera and Zeus are the most powerful gods among the surviving children of the evil Cronus, whom they defeated along with his fellow Titans. In the aftermath, Zeus unceremoniously assigns realms to his lesser siblings: Poseidon gets the sea and Hades the underworld. His sisters, meanwhile, cleverly maneuver into roles they covet without drawing Zeus’s ire: Hestia chooses to rule the hearth, Demeter the harvest, and Aphrodite love. Knowing Hera is his equal and fearing her competition, Zeus hopes to secure her loyalty by declaring her his queen. She initially refuses him, and the furious Zeus rapes her in an attempt to ensure her compliance. Hera finally agrees to his proposal because she wants “a world under the rule of benevolent goddesses, instead of power-hungry gods,” but she also vows to “use every resource she has at her disposal to bring him down.” As Hera strives to outmaneuver her self-obsessed, rage-filled husband, the unruly pantheon surrounding her engage in Machiavellian power plays, one-upmanship, and petty vendettas. Readers will savor the theatrics. (Aug.)

A Certain Kind of Starlight

Magic and family share the spotlight in this intimate low fantasy from Webber (Midnight at the Blackbird Cafe). When Addie Fullbright returns to her hometown of Starlight, Ala., she thinks she knows what she’s getting into. Her aunt Verbena’s health is failing and Addie is there to help, despite harboring a secret so devastating that she—who is terrible at keeping secrets—was forced to leave town in order to keep it. Addie’s half sister, Tessa Jane, is also in Starlight for a month to help her aunt, but she’s not prepared to face Addie—or her grandfather, who has his own plans for Tessa Jane and her inheritance, a portion of the mysteriously glowing meteor crater that gives the town its name. As secrets come to light and Aunt Verbena continues to struggle with her health, Tessa Jane and Addie must face their past conflict in order to come together to protect the crater and the magic it holds. Throughout, Webber skillfully weaves real magic into the everyday magic of the connections between family and friends. Women’s fiction readers searching for a subtly fantastical story will want to snatch this up. (July)