Ava Reid

From highly acclaimed, bestselling author Ava Reid comes a gothic horror retelling of The Juniper Tree, set in another time and place within the world of The Wolf and the Woodsman, where a young witch seeks to discover her identity and escape the domination of her abusive wizard father, perfect for fans of Shirley Jackson and Catherynne M. Valente. A gruesome curse. A city in upheaval. A monster with unquenchable appetites. Marlinchen and her two sisters live with their wizard father in a city shifting from magic to industry. As Oblya's last true witches, she and her sisters are little more than a tourist trap as they treat their clients with archaic remedies and beguile them with nostalgic charm. Marlinchen spends her days divining secrets in exchange for rubles and trying to placate her tyrannical, xenophobic father, who keeps his daughters sequestered from the outside world. But at night, Marlinchen and her sisters sneak out to enjoy the city's amenities and revel in its thrills, particularly the recently established ballet theater, where Marlinchen meets a dancer who quickly captures her heart. As Marlinchen's late-night trysts grow more fervent and frequent, so does the threat of her father's rage and magic. And while Oblya flourishes with culture and bustles with enterprise, a monster lurks in its midst, borne of intolerance and resentment and suffused with old-world power. Caught between history and progress and blood and desire, Marlinchen must draw upon her own magic to keep her city safe and find her place within it.

THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLERA dark, evocative and unforgettable fantasy debut steeped in Hungarian history and Jewish mythology, perfect for fans of Naomi Novik and Katherine Arden.'Rooted in history and myth, The Wolf and the Woodsman is a stunning debut . . . It will twine like a dark forest around your heart.' Samantha Shannon, Sunday Times bestselling author of The Priory of the Orange Tree______________________________________A spirited outcast. A disgraced prince. A world where monsters roam free. In her forest-veiled pagan village, Évike is the only woman without power. So when soldiers from the Holy Order of Woodsmen arrive to claim a girl for their king's blood sacrifice, the villagers only have one person to offer up. But when they are attacked en-route to the capital, and everyone but Évike and a lone Woodsman are slaughtered, they have no choice but to rely on each other. Except he's no ordinary Woodsman - he's the disgraced prince, Gáspár Bárány, whose father needs pagan magic to consolidate his power. As they travel from the bitter northern tundra to the smog-choked capital, they form a tenuous pact that slowly turns their loathing turns to affection. But trust is easily betrayed, and as Évike discovers her own hidden magic, she and Gaspar must decide where their loyalties really lie . . .______________________________________'Entertaining, appealing, and strikingly imagined' Tor.com'An intricate, gut-wrenching fantasy that will set the bar for dark historical fantasy for years to come.' The Book Report'Gorgeously written and grimly real' Alix Harrow'A grown-up, complicated, angsty, sexy, dark book' Cultured Vulture'Richly imagined, densely textured, and endlessly delightful' Katherine Addison'A powerful feminist story about acceptance, The Wolf and the Woodsman is perfect for fans of The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden' British Fantasy Society

In the vein of Naomi Novik's New York Times bestseller Spinning Silver and Katherine Arden's national bestseller The Bear and the Nightingale, this unforgettable debut-- inspired by Hungarian history and Jewish mythology--follows a young pagan woman with hidden powers and a one-eyed captain of the Woodsmen as they form an unlikely alliance to thwart a tyrant. In her forest-veiled pagan village, vike is the only woman without power, making her an outcast clearly abandoned by the gods. The villagers blame her corrupted bloodline--her father was a Yehuli man, one of the much-loathed servants of the fanatical king. When soldiers arrive from the Holy Order of Woodsmen to claim a pagan girl for the king's blood sacrifice, vike is betrayed by her fellow villagers and surrendered. But when monsters attack the Woodsmen and their captive en route, slaughtering everyone but vike and the cold, one-eyed captain, they have no choice but to rely on each other. Except he's no ordinary Woodsman--he's the disgraced prince, G sp r B r ny, whose father needs pagan magic to consolidate his power. G sp r fears that his cruelly zealous brother plans to seize the throne and instigate a violent reign that would damn the pagans and the Yehuli alike. As the son of a reviled foreign queen, G sp r understands what it's like to be an outcast, and he and vike make a tenuous pact to stop his brother. As their mission takes them from the bitter northern tundra to the smog-choked capital, their mutual loathing slowly turns to affection, bound by a shared history of alienation and oppression. However, trust can easily turn to betrayal, and as vike reconnects with her estranged father and discovers her own hidden magic, she and G sp r need to decide whose side they're on, and what they're willing to give up for a nation that never cared for them at all.

In the vein of Naomi Novik's New York Times bestseller Spinning Silver and Katherine Arden's national bestseller The Bear and the Nightingale, this unforgettable debut-- inspired by Hungarian history and Jewish mythology--follows a young pagan woman with hidden powers and a one-eyed captain of the Woodsmen as they form an unlikely alliance to thwart a tyrant. In her forest-veiled pagan village, vike is the only woman without power, making her an outcast clearly abandoned by the gods. The villagers blame her corrupted bloodline--her father was a Yehuli man, one of the much-loathed servants of the fanatical king. When soldiers arrive from the Holy Order of Woodsmen to claim a pagan girl for the king's blood sacrifice, vike is betrayed by her fellow villagers and surrendered. But when monsters attack the Woodsmen and their captive en route, slaughtering everyone but vike and the cold, one-eyed captain, they have no choice but to rely on each other. Except he's no ordinary Woodsman--he's the disgraced prince, G sp r B r ny, whose father needs pagan magic to consolidate his power. G sp r fears that his cruelly zealous brother plans to seize the throne and instigate a violent reign that would damn the pagans and the Yehuli alike. As the son of a reviled foreign queen, G sp r understands what it's like to be an outcast, and he and vike make a tenuous pact to stop his brother. As their mission takes them from the bitter northern tundra to the smog-choked capital, their mutual loathing slowly turns to affection, bound by a shared history of alienation and oppression. However, trust can easily turn to betrayal, and as vike reconnects with her estranged father and discovers her own hidden magic, she and G sp r need to decide whose side they're on, and what they're willing to give up for a nation that never cared for them at all.