Archives de catégorie : Fantasy

THE TWELVE de Liz Hyder

From the award-winning author of Bearmouth, comes this hauntingly magical new novel, hailed by readers as a modern classic.

THE TWELVE
by Liz Hyder
Pushkin Children’s Books, October 2024

WINNER OF THE NERO PRIZE FOR CHILDREN’S FICTION

One midwinter’s night, and by the light of a full moon, Kit and her young sister set out for the mysterious white clock tower. There, as legend has it, if you look into the pool below at the stroke of midnight you will see the future. Kit is more than sceptical but can’t discourage Libby so decides to accompany her. But when the clock begins to strike, time suddenly changes in this sleepy village on the Welsh coast – contemporary events and ancient magical history collide with terrible results.

Kit’s sister has totally disappeared, as if through a tear in the fabric of time, and not even her mother seems to remember her existence. There are strange sightings of wolf-like animals on the beach and untimely comets shoot through the sky, harbingers of disaster. But they should never be there! What has happened and is Kit the only one who knows she had a sister, has a sister?

When Kit meets Story, a young boy who has slipped through society’s net and is living alone, learning to survive communing with nature and the stars, she finds a kindred spirit and they begin to try and make sense of the mystery that is unfolding. They explore the stone circles and uncover ancient myths and legends as well as powerful curses which resonate over the millennia and which might possibly bring them closer to finding Libby.

As the unnatural phenomena become more frequent and terrifying and the threat to the natural order of the world becomes more imminent it is clear that time is not on their side…

Channelling the dark menace of classic British fantasy writers such as Susan Cooper and Alan Garner, this is a beguiling tale of ancient magic, good and evil, deeply rooted in the Welsh landscape. Haunting illustrations by Tom de Freston add to the eerie atmosphere.’ The Guardian

The ancient past is rendered vividly in this book that is ideal for tweens and teens who love beachcombing for fossils’ The Times Children’s Book of the Week

Liz Hyder has been making up stories ever since she can remember. She has a BA in drama from the University of Bristol and, in early 2018, won the Bridge Award/Moniack Mhor’s Emerging Writer Award. Her first novel, Bearmouth, won the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize for Older Readers, the Branford Boase Award, and was The Times‘s Children’s Book of The Year.

Tom De Freston is an artist based in Oxford with his wife, Kiran Millwood Hargrave. His practice is dedicated to the construction of multimedia worlds, combining paintings, film and performance into immersive visceral narratives.

THE SUN AND THE STARMAKER de Rachel Griffin

From the New York Times bestselling author of Bring Me Your Midnight, The Nature of Witches and Wild Is the Witch comes a lush romantic fantasy about love, immortality, and the stories we tell ourselves to survive.

THE SUN AND THE STARMAKER
by Rachel Griffin
Sourcebooks, Fall 2025
(via Park, Fine & Brower)

Deep in the mountains of the Lost Range, the small village of Reverie is beyond the reach of the sun. Every morning, the Starmaker—the village’s protector and only sorcerer—trudges across a vast glacier and pulls in sunlight over the peaks, providing Reverie with the light it needs to survive.

Aurora Finch has always loved the stories of the mysterious Starmaker, but on the day of her wedding, a chance encounter with him in the frostbitten woods changes everything. He immediately detects magic inside her, and Aurora is forced to move to his ice-covered castle far up the mountain’s peak.

The Starmaker is cold and reserved, leaving Aurora to wander his enchanted castle with only an immortal rabbit for company. But as Aurora discovers more about the power inside her, she suspects that the Starmaker is hiding something, and as her magic strengthens and her attraction to the Starmaker grows, she must uncover his secrets before they destroy them both.

Rachel Griffin is the New York Times bestselling author of The Nature of Witches, Wild is the Witch, and Bring Me Your Midnight. When she isn’t writing, you can find her wandering the Pacific Northwest, reading by the fire, or drinking copious amounts of coffee and tea. She lives in the Seattle area with her husband, dog, and growing collection of houseplants.

RIVERS OF LONDON de Ben Aaronovitch bientôt adapté en série TV

Les studios de la chaîne de télévision britannique Sky ont rejoint la société de production Pure Fiction dans le projet de développement d’une série TV adaptée du roman de Ben Aaronovitch, RIVERS OF LONDON. L’auteur sera producteur exécutif de la série. Aucune date n’a encore été confirmée. (Pour plus de détails, lire l’article de Deadline.)

Auteur prolifique, Ben Aaronovitch a vendu plus de huit millions de livres à travers le monde, et aussi travaillé en tant que scénariste pour la série culte britannique Doctor Who.

Le livre, publié en 2011 chez Gollancz/Orion, est le premier volume d’une quinzaines de romans et novellas d’urban fantasy dont le protagoniste, Peter Grant, est un jeune officier de la police londonienne. Après avoir travaillé sur une affaire de meurtre avec un témoin qui s’avère être un fantôme, il est engagé dans une unité de la police spécialisée dans la magie et le surnaturel. Il devient alors le premier apprenti sorcier anglais depuis plus de soixante-dix ans, et les affaires dont il s’occupe ensuite le mettent en contact avec des dieux, des déesses et toutes sortes d’activités fantastiques.

THEY WISH ON US A SECOND DEATH de Jiyoung Han

A daughter disappears and returns as a tiger. A mother’s voice compels those who hear it to speak only the truth. A granddaughter can see the dreams of others, revealing their deepest-held memories and desires. These women are all part of the same lineage, a Korean family whose lives are upended under Japanese imperialism, which unfolds on the pages of Jiyoung Han’s powerful and sweeping debut novel.

THEY WISH ON US A SECOND DEATH
by Jiyoung Han
Avid Reader, Spring 2026
(via The Friedrich Agency)

While the novel spans ninety years as one family is displaced across Asia, its beating heart is Young-Ja, who finds herself adrift and struggling to survive after her family is killed by Japanese soldiers. The gift that once brought her comfort and joy—the ability to infuse her cooking with her feelings: love, peace, delight—transforms into something more complex as she encounters the ravages of colonialism and can’t keep the tang of her sorrow from seeping into her confections. When her talent is noticed by a Korean resistance fighter, she’s taken to Manchuria where she becomes enmeshed in a network of spies at a teahouse favored by Japanese officials.

With the intergenerational sweep of Pachinko, the atmospheric magical realism of How Much of These Hills Is Gold?, and the episodic vignettes of Homegoing, THEY WISH ON US A SECOND DEATH uses elements of folklore to explore the ways colonialism forces one family—whose identity it is determined to subsume—to transform, and ultimately survive.

In Jiyoung Han‘s own words: “I am a Korean American woman who only learned as an adult about my grandparents’ experience under Japanese rule. I’ve since committed to studying this history, in part for my BA at UChicago and Master’s at Harvard. My first novel is an attempt to bring this history to life for more readers and to make amends for the ignorance of my youth.”

THE LIBRARY OF FLOWERS de Lily Chu

Featuring poignant family dynamics, the search for love and identity, and interwoven with the narratives of other Fifth Daughters (from the Tang Dynasty, Ming Dynasty, and the last days of the Qing Dynasty), THE LIBRARY OF FLOWERS is an absorbing story about finding your true heart’s desire.

THE LIBRARY OF FLOWERS
by Lily Chu
Sourcebooks Casablanca, March 2026
(via Laura Dail Literary)

Thirty-two-year-old Lucy Hua comes from an ancient, magical line of Chinese perfumers renowned for their secret ability to manipulate emotions through their ‘moli’ perfumes. Throughout history, they served the rich and powerful, from empresses to taipans and their wives to CEOs. But even among the Hua family, Lucy’s talent is rare: she can create scents that attract true love. It’s a gift that only presents itself in the eldest daughter of every fifth generation.

And her family is hoping that gift will save them now. Ever since immigrating to Vancouver after World War II, the Huas’ fortunes haven’t been the same. Eager to regain their former status and riches, they were waiting for Lucy and her powers to mark the end of their decline. Unfortunately, Lucy’s abilities never manifested and, devastated by her failure, she leaves home to open her own, thoroughly non-magical, artisanal parfumerie…until the day her past finally catches up with her again.

Lily Chu loves ordering the second-cheapest wine, wearing perfume all the time, and staying up far too late reading a good book. She writes romantic comedies set in Toronto with strong Asian characters.