Stevie Silverwood has worked hard to create a new life for herself. At a young age, she was found wandering in woods with no memories of who she was or where she came from. She's pushed that all behind her now and wants nothing more than to live a quiet life. That is shattered when David, a friend from college, sends her a mysterious painting called Aurata's Promise and a cryptic note proclaiming 'The world needs to see this.' Soon after she learns that David has gone missing and suicide is suspected. She isn't the only one searching for David and his artwork though. Mist, an Aetherial of ancient fey lineage, is also hunting for answers to a painting that shows the destruction of his city that took place in another world thousands of years ago. He and Stevie form an uneasy alliance that takes them from the human world, to the Dusklands, and beyond to the very ends of all worlds. Only by uncovering the secrets of the past can they save the future.

GRAIL OF THE SUMMER STARS is the third installment in the Aetherial Tales by Freda Warrington. This is the first of Warrington's work I've read, so I came into the series with absolutely no knowledge of the world. It was more than a bit overwhelming. While the beginning of the story takes place in the human world, the majority revolves around life and the politics inside The Spiral, an otherworld populated by many different magical races far older than humans. The Spiral is a conscious world that can shift and change based upon the inhabitants moods and wants. I have trouble grasping an ever fluctuating world that isn't ruled by understandable physics. I am too linear of a person.

Warrington's prose is delicate and borderline flowery. She focuses on the heightened emotions and deep turmoil of the characters. There's a spun-glass feel about the characters and world, as if they're too beautiful and complex for an ordinary human world. They're all a little too sensitive and wise for me to make a deep connection with them. The one character I was rooting for was Rufus and he was the self-centered, egotistical, hedonist whose sole ambition was to make trouble for humans. This really comes down to personal style. I prefer grittier realism even in my fantasies, while Warrington writes dream-like fantasy worlds filled with sensitive and aching tenderness. That's not to say that her story doesn't also deal with deeper issues of betrayal, greed, power, and hate. There's a deep underlying theme about the cost of losing your humanity. It flows through all the characters actions and eventually reflects their choice at the climax.

GRAIL OF THE SUMMER STARS wasn't the book for me, but that doesn't mean it won't be right for you. Warrington immerses the reader into a gossamer world filled with the fantastic. Delicate, flowery prose paints a picture of the price that comes from losing your humanity and how hard we must all fight to hold onto it.