In this fairytale, which is like Beauty and the Beast, only with a war, Celia is the sister of young knight Argent, and their father is Veris the Fox. The family has survived the later years of THE SUMMER WAR, and a fragile peace has fallen. Roric, the less handsome middle brother, isn’t wanted by anyone. This isn’t a great recommendation for young Celia, who narrates. The trio each has a different mother, and all their mothers are deceased. Their father is far too busy being a general and duke of the realm to care for children. I enjoy Naomi Novik’s writing. The war is between the realm of King Sherdan, who caused the original insult, and his descendants, and the nearby realm of the Summerlings, the fae folk who live in a land of eternal summer and venture out to progress the Summer War. Their immortal prince Elythion has accepted a truce and is biding his time, seemingly not happy. Unusually, we get a lengthy backstory of Veris the Fox and the war, like a history lesson. The complex sibling dynamics are the heart of this tale. Celia adores Argent, but when he goes away to learn soldiering and returns a strong knight, he comes out as gay to the duke. And he departs with barely a wave to his little sister, aged twelve. She’s so cross that she wishes he wouldn’t find happiness with anyone, but unknown to any, her sorcery skills take that moment to arrive. Argent is now the unwanted one, and Celia has to learn to get along with Roric. An arranged marriage for her is on the horizon, but not yet. Celia is annoying to me due to contradictions; she’s got powerful sorcery, but we never see it. There hasn’t been a sorcerer in a long time, and she could well have been feared and imprisoned, but she thinks she should be a good match for a wealthy man. She’s never been to the king’s court or known a mother’s wisdom, but she’s worldly wise and a good domestic manager, aged twelve. The nature of warfare for power, glory and land is remarked upon, and the king’s balancing his dukes against one another to stop them from overthrowing him feels petty but realistic. A young teenager being married off and viewing gay fae couples seems inappropriate, and women don’t have any job other than reproduction. This short novella, THE SUMMER WAR, has a high body count. I much preferred Naomi Novik’s Spinning Silver, which was expanded from a short fantasy, based on Rapunzel. Fans will be keen to read her latest work and find their way into the Summer Lands.
In this poignant, heartfelt novella from the New York Times bestselling author of Spinning Silver and the Scholomance trilogy, a young witch who has inadvertently cursed her brother to live a life without love must find a way to undo her spell.
Celia discovered her talent for magic on the day her beloved oldest brother, Argent, left home. Furious at him for abandoning her in a war-torn land, she lashed out, not realizing her childish, angry words would become imbued with the power of prophecy, dooming him to a life without love.
While Argent wanders the world, forced to seek only fame and glory instead of the love and belonging he truly desires, Celia attempts to undo the curse she placed on him. Yet even as she grows from a girl to a woman, she cannot find the solution—until she learns the truth about the centuries-old war between her own people and the summerlings, immortal beings who hold a relentless grudge against their mortal neighbors.
Now, with the aid of her unwanted middle brother, Celia may be able to both undo her eldest brother's curse and heal the lands so long torn apart by the Summer War.
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