Bones of Faerie

Janni Lee Simner (author)

Random House, US: Australian release December 2010; 247pp

ISBN: 9781742750651

Genres: adventure, dystopian, fantasy, speculative fiction

Issues: family, gifted, relationships, trust

When she was born, Liza's sister 'had eyes silver as moonlight off the river at night. From the hour of her birth she was long-limbed and graceful, faerie-pale hair clear as glass from Before, so pale you could almost see through to the soft skin beneath.' But Liza's father, leader of their village, knows that all traces of magic must be destroyed, even in his own child. So the baby is left out on the hillside to die. And that night Liza's mother disappears.

Liza has been raised to believe that all magic is evil. The great war between Human and Faerie devastated both sides but it is Liza's world that is left impoverished and infertile. Crops resist the harvest; the mildest weeds have dangerous thorns; trees attack people; the land itself rebels. Liza believes what she has been taught: that only by rejecting all magic can humanity survive. So when she discovers in herself the Faerie ability to see into the past – and the future – she knows she must flee or be killed. It is only when she passes the boundaries of her village that Liza begins to realise the extent to which her knowledge of many things has been warped by her father's prejudices. Can Liza, with her new gifts, find the key to healing both worlds – Human and Faerie?

Janni Lee Simner is an experienced writer and in Bones of Faerie she has created a dark, compelling tale. Her characters are
complex, as are the relationships between them. Liza, as with so many confident teenagers, finds herself in circumstances where she is confronted by her own ignorance and prejudices and challenged by the resulting shift in perspective. As she gains experience and knowledge, her sense of identity alters, as does her relationship with others and the world around her.

Simner has crafted a story that is both familiar and original. The clash between Faerie and Human echoes both the class wars of human history and the apocalyptic visions of Science Fiction, embedded with more modern environmental concerns. Absorbing, interesting and innovative, this is a novel that will appeal to gifted readers.