Faerie Winter

Janni Lee Simner (author)

Random House, US: Australian release May 2011; 270pp

ISBN: 9781742750682

Genres: adventure, dystopian, fantasy, speculative fiction

Issues: community, differences, family, friendship, gifted, identity

Liza is a Summoner. When she infuses her voice with magic she can draw life to herself – or drive it away. In the time After the great war between Humans and aerie, a war that almost destroyed both worlds and their peoples, Magic is oth a gift and a curse. It has tainted the environment so that many common plants are now a threat. But it has also touched every child born since the war. The Afters, with their sometimes frightening talents, offer hope of peace and a new way of living.

But life is fading form the once-fierce green world. Is it simply the winter they haven't had for decades? Or are more sinister powers at work? Liza finds herself pushed to her limits when it becomes clear that the Lady, Queen of Faerie, walks the human world again, bent on destroying everything and everyone that Liza holds dear. Loyalties and friendships are tested almost beyond bearing; families are divided; and Liza will need more than magic if she is to survive.

The sequel to Bones of Faerie, this is another beautifully crafted dystopian fantasy that explores the nature of power and its uses and abuses. Simner's characters are complex, shaped by their experiences and changing relationships. As a result the narrative flows from who they are, the choices they make – an unusual and welcome thing in YA fiction.

Although the series focuses particularly on Liza, Simner uses a broad cast of characters ranging from six year old Kyle to the ancient Faerie folk, immersing the reader in a world, culture, and a community with a believable history – and future. While the teenage Liza may be the heroine, Simner avoids the common weakness of YA fiction where, too often, adolescents are disconnected from earlier and later generations.

Absorbing, thought-provoking and entertaining, Faerie Winter will appeal to readers who tire of absolute values and simple resolutions.

Highly recommended.