CANR
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WEBSITE: http://www.blackholly.com/
CITY: Amherst
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COUNTRY: United States
NATIONALITY: American
LAST VOLUME: SATA 368
http://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/holly-black/the-coldest-girl-in-coldtown/9780316213103/ http://thebooksmugglers.com/2013/09/book-review-the-coldest-girl-in-coldtown-by-holly-black.html http://dearauthor.com/book-reviews/overall-b-reviews/b-reviews/review-the-coldest-girl-in-coldtown-by-holly-black/
RESEARCHER NOTES:
PERSONAL
Born November 10, 1971, in NJ; daughter of Donald and Judy Riggenbach; married Theodor Black (a painter), 1999; children: one son.
EDUCATION:Attended Temple University, 1990-92; College of New Jersey, B.A., 1995; graduate study at Rutgers University, 2001-03.
ADDRESS
CAREER
Writer. Worked as a production editor on medical journals and for d8 magazine, New York, NY.
AVOCATIONS:Reading, fairy tales, urban fantasy, gothic decorating, collecting ball- jointed dolls (dollfies), reading teen/young-adult fiction.
AWARDS:Popular Paperbacks for Young Adults selection, America Library Association (ALA), Best Books for Young Adults selection, ALA, and Books for the Teen Age selection, New York Public Library (NYPL), all for Tithe; International Reading Association/ Children’s Book Council Children’s Choice selection, for The Field Guide; Quick Picks for Reluctant Readers selection, ALA, Best Books for Young Adults selection, ALA, Books for the Teen Age selection, NYPL, and Andre Norton Award, Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, 2006, all for Valiant; Newberry Honor Book designation, and Mythopoeic Fantasy Award for Children’s Literature, both 2014, both for Doll Bones; Romantic Times Choice Award for middle-grade protagonist, 2014, for The Iron Trial; Silver Inky Award, 2019, for The Cruel Prince; Best Fantasy Novel (Including Paranormal) prize, Dragon Awards, 2022, for Book of Night.
WRITINGS
Contributor to anthologies, including The Faery Reel: Tales from a Twilight Realm, edited by Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling, Penguin, 2004; Young Warriors: Stories of Strength, edited Tamora Pierce and Josepha Sherman, Random House, 2005; The Coyote Road: Trickster Tales, edited by Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling, Firebird, 2007; The Restless Dead: Ten Original Stories of the Supernatural, edited by Deborah Noyes, Candlewick Press, 2007; So Fey: Queer Fairy Fiction, edited by Steve Berman, Haworth Positronic Press, 2007; 21 Proms, edited by David Levithan and Daniel Ehrenhaft, Scholastic, 2007; Magic in the Mirrorstone, edited by Steve Berman, Wizards of the Coast, 2008; Troll’s Eye View: A Book of Villainous Tales, edited by Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling, Viking, 2009; The Eternal Kiss: 13 Vampire Tales of Blood and Desire, edited by Trisha Telep, Running Press Kids, 2009; Half-Minute Horrors, edited by Susan Rich, Harper, 2009; Full Moon City, edited by Darrell Schweitzer and Martin H. Greenberg, Gallery Books, 2010; Wings of Fire, edited by Jonathan Strahan and Marianne S. Jablon, Night Shade, 2010; Naked City: Tales of Urban Fantasy, edited by Ellen Datlow, St. Martin’s Griffin, 2011; Bloody Fabulous, edited by Ekaterina Sedia, Prime Books, 2012; Under My Hat: Tales from the Cauldron, edited by Jonathan Strahan, Bluefire, 2013; Rags & Bones: New Twists on Timeless Tales, edited by Melissa Marr and Tim Pratt, Headline, 2014; Dark Duets: All-New Tales of Horror and Dark Fantasy, edited by Christopher Golden, Harper Voyager, 2014; Monstrous Affections: An Anthology of Beastly Tales, edited by Kelly Link and Gavin J. Grant, Candlewick Press, 2014; Press Start to Play, edited by Daniel H. Wilson and John Joseph Adams, Vintage Books, 2015.
Contributor of articles and poems, under name Holly Riggenbach, to d8 magazine. Contributor to A Flight of Angels, DC Comics (New York, NY), 2011.
The “Spiderwick Chronicles” series was adapted for film as The Spiderwick Chronicles, Paramount Pictures, 2008. The original screenplay was also adapted for novelizations. The “Curse Workers” series has been optioned for film by Vertigo Pictures.
SIDELIGHTS
Fantasy writer Holly Black is the author of the best-selling “Spiderwick Chronicles” novel series, about three youngsters who discover a magical world of faerie-folk, including goblins, boggarts, and sprites. Black has also written a number of titles for older readers, including Tithe, and has coedited the humorous anthology Geektastic: Stories from the Nerd Herd. “I think that I have an interest in faeries because more than any other supernatural creature, they seem to have escaped the confines of morality,” Black stated on her home page. “They embody contradiction; their very nature is conflicted.” She added that “faerie ballads are terrifying.”
Black recalled on her home page that she developed an early interest in the supernatural. Her mother, a painter and dollmaker, read her books about ghosts and faeries, which led Black and her sister to concoct their own witches’ brews while they cared for their pet rats. Black was interested in Dungeons and Dragons role-playing as an adolescent, as well as listening to punk rock, reading, and writing poetry. She attended college in Philadelphia, where she married Theodor Black, a painter. They later moved to New Jersey, where she worked for the gaming magazine d8. During this time, she met illustrator Tony DiTerlizzi, who provides the artwork for her “Spiderwick Chronicles” series for young adults.
In an interview on the Seven Impossible Things before Breakfast website, Black noted: “I have loved faerie folklore since I was a kid and my mom brought home Brian Froud and Alan Lee’s Faeries. That was the book that made me realize that faeries were dangerous.” She added that her work has also been influenced by folklorists Dermot MacManus, Katharine Brigg, and Robert Kirk, as well as by contemporary urban fantasy authors, such as de Lint, Terri Windling, and Ellen Kushner. “What I want most of all, in my own writing,” Black stated, “is to evoke the sense of the numinous that both their writing and the folklore inspire.”
The protagonist in Black’s first novel, Tithe, is sixteen-year-old Kaye Fierch, a high-school dropout who spends much of her time shoplifting and caring for her mother, a would-be rock star who performs in third-rate clubs. When her mother’s boyfriend becomes violent, Kaye and her mother retreat to Kaye’s grandmother’s house on the Jersey shore, where Kaye reunites with childhood friend Janet and Janet’s homosexual brother, Corny.
After an encounter in an abandoned building with Janet’s boyfriend, Kaye stumbles upon Roiben at the forest’s edge, and she rescues this beautiful, wounded knight with silver hair. Kaye, who has always been seen as a bit different by the other girls, soon comes to understand why faeries have been a part of her life since childhood. In fact, she is a changeling pixie, and her childhood faerie playmates return and entreat her to pretend she is human so that they can use her as an offering to release them from the power of the dark Unseelie queen. Complicating matters, however, is Kaye’s attraction to Roiben, one of the dark faeries and part of the Unseelie world from which Kaye’s otherworldly friends wish to be free.
Reviewing Tithe for School Library Journal, Beth Wright commented that “the greatest strength of the story lies in the settings, particularly the descriptions of the debased Unseelie Court.” Writing in Booklist, Gillian Engberg called the book “dark, edgy [and] … compulsively readable.” Locus reviewer Carolyn Cushman described Tithe as “an unusually powerful YA contemporary fantasy,” and a Kirkus Reviews contributor called it a “stunning debut,” continuing that “a labyrinthine plot with Goth sensibility makes this a luscious treat for fans of urban fantasy and romantic horror.”
Black returns to her faerie world in Valiant, “a story weaving adolescent subculture, the dark side of the city, and those glimpses of the shadow side that most of us miss,” according to Kliatt reviewer Michele Winship. The novel concerns seventeen-year-old Valerie Russell, who runs away to New York City after finding her boyfriend in the arms of her mother. Valerie falls in with a group of teenagers who inhabit the tunnels of the subway system, a place where the faerie world and reality coexist. She also finds herself bound to Ravus, a troll who may be involved in a plot to kill faeries. In Valiant, “Black puts enough twists and turns into [her plot] to keep even a jaded reader from figuring out where it’s going next,” commented the noted fantasy author Charles de Lint in a review in the Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction. “And the freshness of her work,” de Lint continued, “lies more in the harsh realities that fill the lives of her characters.”
Discussing her inspiration for Valiant, Black told an interviewer on the Simon & Schuster website: “In my life, I’ve had several friends and acquaintances who have, at one point or another, lived on the street. I’ve found the experience of homelessness to be either romanticized or demonized in much fantasy fiction. I wanted to write something that was more true to my own experiences. I attempted to portray the range of circumstances that might bring a person to live on the street—other than abuse at home—and write about some of the people I’ve known.”
In Ironside, a sequel to Tithe, warring factions led by Roiben, Kaye’s boyfriend, and Silarial threaten both the ethereal realm of the faeries, as well as New York City, known as “Ironside” to the faeries.
The author “has a vigorous writing style, great dialogue, and a cast of genuinely likable characters that you can’t abandon once you’ve started reading a book of hers,” de Lint stated. According to Eva Mitnick, reviewing the work in School Library Journal, Ironside “will appeal to readers who like their magic served with a layer of urban grit.”
Black’s “Spiderwick Chronicles” series begins with The Field Guide and The Seeing Stone. In the first title, readers follow the adventures of Grace siblings Mallory, Jared, and Simon as they move with their mother to the eerie, ramshackle Victorian house owned by their great-aunt Lucinda. After hearing strange noises in the walls, Jared begins to poke around the house, eventually finding Arthur Spiderwick’s Field Guide to the Fantastical World around You, a guide for navigating the sometimes dangerous fairy world. The second volume in the series, The Seeing Stone, finds Simon kidnapped, with Mallory and Jared compelled to rescue their brother.
Calling the initial volume “snappy,” a Publishers Weekly critic found The Field Guide to be “an inviting package,” containing “appealing characters” and “well-measured suspense.” Although she considered the characters a bit weakly drawn in The Field Guide and The Seeing Stone, School Library Journal critic Beth L. Meister concluded that “the fast, movie-like pace will grab young readers.”
In Time magazine, Heather Won Tesoriero predicted that the “Spiderwick Chronicles” series, with its “dusty Olde Worlde charm,” might attract readers too young for J.K. Rowling’s “Harry Potter” books or Lemony Snicket’s “A Series of Unfortunate Events” adventures. New York Times Book Review contributor Scott Veale offered praise for the series, citing Black’s narrative as well as DiTerlizzi’s artwork: “With their evocative gothic-style pencil drawings and color illustrations, rhyming riddles, supernatural lore and well- drawn characters,” Veale wrote, “these books read like old- fashioned ripping yarns.”
The third title in the “Spiderwick Chronicles,” Lucinda’s Secret, follows the children as they discover an old map leading them to a secret forest, despite an ominous warning from their great- aunt Lucinda. DiTerlizzi’s “black-and-white Arthur Rackhamesque illustrations add a satisfyingly eerie note to this mock-gothic tale,” observed School Library Journal contributor Elaine E. Knight.
Black continues the story of the Grace children in The Ironwood Tree. Here, after Mallory disappears, Jared and Simon learn that she has been taken by evil dwarves who want to construct a world made of metal and install their sister as its ruler. In the opinion of de Lint, “Black does her usual first-rate job of keeping things moving at a good pace, leavening the proceedings with equal parts whimsy and darkness.”
The series continues in The Wrath of Mulgarath, as Mallory, Jared, and Simon must save their mother from the clutches of an evil goblin king named Mulgarath. Readers “looking for spirited YA adventure that moves along at a happy clip and plays with all the fairy elements brought up in the previous books” will be satisfied, de Lint stated.
Asked to describe the success of the “Spiderwick Chronicles” series, Black noted in an interview on the Simon & Schuster website that “Jared, Simon, and Mallory are just regular kids in a magical world—their only powers are cleverness, compassion, and bravery. I think that kids respond to the idea of there being magic in their own backyards. I think we all like to believe that the world around us is a fantastical place, even if the magic is hidden from us most of the time.”
Black and DiTerlizzi have also produced a number of companion volumes to the “Spiderwick Chronicles” books, including Arthur Spiderwick’s Field Guide to the Fantastical World around You. The work, purported to be a reproduction of the guide discovered by the Grace children, contains descriptions and drawings of household brownies, fire salamanders, and griffins, among other creatures. “Fantasy readers will love immersing themselves in the lore of the hidden,” noted Walter Minkel in School Library Journal.
Black launched a spin-off series, “Beyond the Spiderwick Chronicles,” with the publication of The Nixie’s Song. In the story, three children help a water nixie find her missing sisters and battle a terrifying dirt giant. According to Booklist critic Suzanne Harold, the new work contains “the same sly humor and old-fashioned design that marked the original series.” Black’s Florida-based “Beyond the Spiderwick Chronicles” series continues with A Giant Problem and concludes with The Wyrm King.
Working with illustrator Ted Naifeh, Black initiated a new series, “The Good Neighbors,” with the graphic novel Kin. In a statement on the Scholastic website, Black expounded on some of the reasons she turned to the graphic novel format: “I’ve always loved comics and in college I actually hung around with a bunch of comic artists. I was still trying to learn how to create a coherent plot, so although I tried to write some comic pages back then, they were very bad. Then, when I started writing novels, I felt like I’d headed off in another direction.” However, after coming up with the basic idea for “The Good Neighbors,” it was suggested to her that the tale might do well an extended comic or a graphic novel. As she further remarked on the Scholastic website: “It was a challenge to try and write for a different medium, but it was a good challenge. I think it really let me stretch and was also a lot of fun.”
Kin introduces Rue Silver, a sixteen-year-old who begins seeing strange things around her sleepy town, including people with the wings and faces of animals. When her mother disappears, Rue’s world is sundered, and now her visions take on a surreal tinge. She fears she is going insane. Then, when her professor father is arrested for allegedly killing one of his students, Rue finds herself in serious trouble. Her father is also the prime suspect in her mother’s disappearance, but now Rue learns the truth about her background: her mother was actually of faerie blood. This explains Rue’s visions and her newfound abilities, such as becoming invisible or conversing with ivy plants. All of this is related to Rue by her grandfather, Aubrey, who is also of the faerie realm. When Rue finds herself torn between her human life and life in the faerie realm, she also turns investigator to find her missing mother and prove her father innocent of murder.
Kliatt reviewer George Galuschak had praise for Kin , noting that “Rue is a likable protagonist, a strong yet vulnerable woman who is in the process of self-discovery.” School Library Journal contributor Lisa Goldstein was also impressed with the graphic novel, remarking that it would appeal to “fans of intelligent, otherworldly stories.” Similarly, a Kirkus Reviews contributor predicted that, “with a healthy smattering of angst, romance and faerie lore, fans of the genre should enjoy this volume.” Horn Book reviewer Deirdre F. Baker also had a high assessment of Kin, commenting that “Black demonstrates yet again that fairy-tale imagery can be a potent metaphor for the struggles of the adolescent psyche,” while Booklist contributor Tina Coleman commended the author for doing “a wonderful job of weaving an alien faerie world through Rue’s urban landscape.” ComicMix.com reviewer Andrew Wheeler called Black “a major writer for young people,” and went on to note that Kin is “similar in plot and setting to Black’s teen novels, but … less dark-themed and dangerous.” Wheeler concluded that the “Good Neighbors” books will be enjoyed by “the hordes of young readers who love stories of dangerous, seductive figures sneaking into lives very much like their own.”
The “Good Neighbors” series continues with Kith, in which Rue must make difficult decisions that many “normal” young adult readers also confront. Here she has to decide what to do in the event that someone close to her acts in an unethical manner. Specifically, Rue discovers the plan of her not-so-nice faerie grandfather Aubrey to wall off her city from the rest of the world with a magical barrier. With the city’s buildings covered in vines and exotic creatures in place, the inhabitants will be compelled to change their lives to live according to the new system of New Avalon or perish. Other subplots include love potions and numerous characters cheating on their partners. A Publishers Weekly contributor praised the fact that Black “presents [her] strong theme deftly.” Horn Book reviewer Baker felt that, as with the first tale in the series, Black “uses faery horror as metaphor for adolescent angst and fury.” School Library Journal writer Andrea Lipinski was less impressed with this sequel, however, observing that “ Kith does not live up to the promise of Kin. ” On the other hand, John Hogan, writing for TeenReads.com, had a much higher assessment of this second book and of the author’s talents in general: “Black is adept at writing intelligent books aimed at teens and keeping the suspense elevated without letting up.” The series concluded with the 2010, Kind.
Black inaugurates another young adult fantasy series, the “Curse Workers,” with her 2010 novel, The White Cat, “a dark coming-of-age tale with a likable hero,” according to School Library Journal contributor Leah J. Sparks. From a family of curse workers, seventeen-year-old Cassel is seemingly the only one without this malevolent magical ability. While others in his family perform death curses or put emotional spells on people, Cassel is stuck with more conventional ways to make his way through life. He uses certain conman skills, as well as his intelligence, to keep a normal profile at his private school. There are lapses, however, such as dreams of a white cat that resembles his murdered friend, Lila—Cassel believes that he actually killed Lila. There are also bouts of sleepwalking and of nightmares regarding his family’s connection to the mob. Ultimately, Cassel’s independence from his family’s powers is threatened by a plot that might bring him into the world of curse workers after all.
Booklist reviewer Ilene Cooper felt that The White Cat initiates Black’s new series “with spine-tingling terror.” In a similar vein, a Publishers Weekly contributor termed the novel a “beautifully realized dark fantasy.” Boche, writing for TeenReads.com, also offered a positive assessment of The White Cat, noting that the author “has worked her magic once again with this exciting new series.” Boche added: “Cassel is an extremely relatable teenager who is struggling to figure out where he fits into his family and in life.”
Black continues her “Curse Workers” series with Red Glove, in which seventeen- year-old Cassel Sharpe once again has to use his gift of the con to do battle with his family of curse workers and with the mob to get to the bottom of his brother’s murder. Having been reunited with his great love Lila at the end of the first novel in the series, Cassel realizes that he may never really be with her, as she hates him still for having unwittingly transformed her into the white cat. Yet he has been cursed by his mother to lover Lila forever. Now FBI agents come to Cassel and tell him that Lila’s father, crime boss Zacharov, is responsible for his brother Philip’s death. Zacharov, confronted, denies this and instead offers Cassel a position in his crime syndicate. At the same time, Cassel’s brother Barron sets him up to work with a rival gang. Now Cassel must use all his conning powers to save himself and his brother. He manages to track down the real killer of Philip, and get his brother and himself into a witness protection program. In the process, he realizes he has lost Lila forever, as she now accepts fully her father’s way of life.
Booklist reviewer Heather Booth felt that this second installment of the “Curse Workers” trilogy “continues to offer a sleek and stylish blend of urban fantasy and crime noir.” Similarly, Lucy Schall, writing in Voice of Youth Advocates, felt that the novel’s “complicated plot produces nonstop action and unanticipated twists.” A Kirkus Reviews critic also had high praise for Red Glove, noting: “Dark, disturbing fare, crafted by a master; readers of the trilogy’s first will be supremely satisfied.” Likewise, a Publishers Weekly contributor commented: “This powerful, edgy dark fantasy won’t disappoint Black’s fans.” School Library Journal writer Philip S. Miller also offered a positive assessment of Red Glove, stating that it “will appeal to teens looking for a thrilling read.”
The trilogy concludes with Black Heart, in which Cassel now uses his powers of transformation working with the feds at the Licensed Minority Division against the mob. Now Cassel’s mother goes missing, and a governor is getting out of control and it seems that feds want Cassel to use his special powers to solve that problem. Then a jewel heist brings him back into the sphere of Lila, now a rising star in her crime family. Cassel must save his mother, determine how he will use is transformational powers, and also try to resurrect Lila’s love for him before it is too late.
A Kirkus Reviews critic felt that this “conclusion to Black’s brilliant and unusual “Curse Workers” trilogy lives up to its predecessors.” Similarly, Brenna Shanks, writing in Voice of Youth Advocates, commented: “Fast-paced action, multifaceted characters, and an interesting paranormal world will keep readers hooked.”
Black next teamed with Cassandra Clare to write the middle-grade “Magisterium” a magic-themed saga that is comparable to the esteemed “Harry Potter” novels. The first installment, The Iron Trial, introduces readers to twelve-year-old Callum Hunt. Callum’s father is a former mage who believes that the magic academy (the Magisterium) is corrupt. Callum has taken his father’s advice to heart, and he tries to fail his Magisterium entrance exams on purpose. Unfortunately, his magical abilities are too great, and when Callum arrives at magic school, he begins to question his father’s judgment. He befriends Tamara and Aaron, and the trio enters into a series of magical adventures. By the book’s end, Callum has learned that he is the magical reincarnation of Constantine Madden, the most evil mage who ever lived.
“The end offers a few intriguing twists and perspectives that hint at what’s to come in the next installments,” Maggie Reagan observed in Booklist. Indeed, a Kirkus Reviews critic found that The Iron Trial offers “a promising beginning to a complex exploration of good and evil, as well as friendship’s loyalty.” Offering further applause on the Portrait Ezine website, a reviewer stated that “the last fifty pages of this novel were amazing, and so action packed. The characters have depth to them, without being cliché, and so the friendships forged throughout this novel are realistic. The ending tied things up nicely.”
Callum’s adventures continue in The Copper Gauntlet, and the poor boy is worried that he may turn evil. Callum’s friends and family are as scared of him as he is of himself, and when Callum learns that his father is plotting against the Magisterium, he is forced to choose sides. In the meantime Aaron (a chaos mage) is in danger; someone has stolen an artifact that can split chaos mages apart. Callum, Aaron, and Tamara decide to find the thief before the thief can find them, and as Elisabeth Gattullo Marrocolla put it in School Library Journal, “fans of the previous volume will relish the continuing adventures of Call and his friends.” Reagan, writing again in Booklist, was also impressed, and she advised that “Shades of ‘Harry Potter’ still linger, but this has a personality of its own.” In the words of a Kirkus Reviews contributor, Black and Clare “successfully probe the themes of good and evil even as they craft an entertainingly fast- paced read.”
Black presents her first story collection with the 2010 The Poison Eaters and Other Stories. The grouping of twelve tales “is sure to satisfy readers who crave something magical,” according to School Library Journal contributor Shawna Sherman. The supernatural world is the territory of these stories; Black writes of unicorns, vampires, fairies, and elves. One tale tells of a the temptation of one young boy to transform himself into a werewolf by eating a magical flower; another relates the story of a young girl who uses alcohol to combat her urge to become a vampire; and yet another finds a girl taking on the devil in an eating competition. Using magic correctly is, in these tales, a step toward learning to understand one’s true self.
Despite the edgy characters and often dark themes, these tales still “inspire hope, are touching and delightful,” according to Sherman. Further praise for this debut collection came from a Kirkus Reviews contributor, who felt that this book “assures [Black’s] place as a modern fantasy master.” The reviewer further felt that these “fresh and haunting … stories deserve reading again and again.” Similarly, Horn Book reviewer Lauren Adams commented: “With its wide range of subject and style, this collection of supernatural stories shows off Black’s fertile imagination.” Likewise, a Publishers Weekly contributor noted that the dozen tales in The Poison Eaters and Other Stories “often feature the edgy sexuality and angst that have become [Black’s] trademarks.” Writing for Bookslut website, Melissa A. Barton also commended this collection, noting: “Black has a talent for creating believable settings and characters that seem deep and fully realized even in the few pages of a short story.”
Black has also shown her skills as an editor with the 2009 collection Geektastic. Here she worked with Cecil Castellucci to “create a rousing collection of all things geek,” as TeenReads.com contributor Benjamin Boche commented. “Each story is a realistic look at the lives of teenagers who welcome their inner geek and deal with the consequences of what that all entails.” Among the authors anthologized here are Libba Bray, Cassandra Clare, John Green, Hope Larson, David Levithan, Kelly Link, and Lisa Yee. Black and coeditor Castellucci also contribute a story to the collection, dealing with the love between a boy who is a Star Wars fan and a girl who is all about Star Trek.
“Geeks, old and new school, will appreciate this collection written by their own,” observed Booklist reviewer Courtney Jones. Writing for Horn Book, Claire E. Gross also had praise for Geektastic, noting that it “explores universal themes in original settings, and its talented authors bring transparent, infectious enthusiasm to what is obviously a cherished topic.” Similarly, a Publishers Weekly contributor felt that the tales in this collection “often hit at the insecurities, camaraderie and passions at the heart of geekdom.”
Black’s middle-grade novel, Doll Bones, once again takes readers into the realm of dark fantasy. Zach, Poppy, and Alice, have been friends for years, playing make- believe games that have evolved into a sort of epic quest adventure of pirates and mermaids. Now that they are twelve, such make-believe is no longer so easy. Zach’s father insists he stop playing these games, and while Zach is at school one day, his father throws out all his action figures. This enrages the young boy, but he informs his friends he is now out of the game. Poppy, however, pleads with him and Alice to have one more adventure together. They must go traveling to find the ghost who has possessed her porcelain doll. As they begin their journey, however, the ghost seems to take over their adventure.
A Kirkus Reviews contributor found Doll Bones “spooky, melancholy, elegiac and ultimately hopeful; a small gem.” Similar praise was offered by Booklist reviewer Daniel Kraus, who noted: “The tightly focused, realistic tale—bladed with a hint of fairy- tale darkness—feels cut from the very soul of youth.” Likewise, School Library Journal contributor Mandy Laferriere called this a “chilling ghost story, a gripping adventure, and a heartwarming look at the often-painful pull of adulthood.” New York Times Book Review critic Lauren Oliver also had high praise for Doll Bones, terming it a “deep, strange and compelling book, at times lovely, at other times heartbreaking and deliciously weird.”
Black ventures into vampire fiction with The Coldest Girl in Coldtown. Here the author posits a world in which Coldtowns exist, quarantined cities where vampires and those infected go to live. Tana is a seventeen-year-old high school student who awakens one morning after a party to discover that her friends are dead, bled out by vampires. Tana knows about such attacks, for when she was six, her mother was transformed into a vampire and attacked her own daughter. She discovers that her ex-boyfriend, Aidan, is still alive, but is infected. She also finds Gavriel, a handsome, red-eyed vampire who saves Tana from Aidan’s first bite. Tana escapes this scene of horror and in order to save them all, she must first break into and then out of Coldtown.
Booklist reviewer Candice Mack praised The Coldest Girl in Coldtown, writing: “Black returns with another dark, fast-paced thriller starring a sharp- witted, brave girl who does all the right things when faced with monsters.” Similarly, a Kirkus Reviews critic noted: “You may be ready to put a stake in vampire lit, but read this first: It’s dark and dangerous, bloody and brilliant.” School Library Journal contributor Jennifer Furuyama also felt that “teens with a yen for dark, futuristic novels, and maybe even a few Anne Rice readers, will find this a refreshing take on vampire lit.” And a Publishers Weekly reviewer concluded: “This superior, dread-soaked tale will satisfy vampire addicts of all ages.”
In an interview with Publishers Weekly Online contributor Michael Levy, Black responded to his query about the rationale for writing a vampire novel after the Twilight books and so many imitators: “I think that’s a great question. I’ve loved vampires for a very long time. In eighth grade, I guess, my research paper was on vampires. I’ve read countless vampire books and in all the time that I have loved vampires they’ve either been so over that you’d be crazy to write a vampire book, or so popular that writing one would be a waste of time because there were too many of them. Eventually I said to myself, there’s never going to be a time when it makes sense to write a vampire book, so just write one.”
With the book The Darkest Part of the Forest, Black offers a young adult novel with a fairy-tale theme. The people of Fairfold have forged a delicate truce with the magical Folk, and siblings Hazel and Ben may be responsible for breaking it. The siblings know that an enchanted prince is encased in a glass coffin in the forest, and if the coffin is broken, the prince will wake and rekindle the war between the Folk and the Fairfolds. During the most recent war, Hazel hunted down the Folk and killed them, but when she met the king of the forest, she agreed to help him capture the sleeping prince in exchange for peace. When the coffin is broken, Hazel’s secret will come to light.
The Darkest Part of the Forest largely fared well with critics, and a Smart Bitches, Trashy Books website correspondent announced that “the important things about the story are responsibility, bravery, loyalty, and honesty, not romantic love. Everyone has a secret, and ultimately it’s the airing of secrets that saves the day.” The correspondent added: “The conclusion of this book was very satisfying and overall I enjoyed it. Better yet, I’m still picking over it in my head even though about two weeks have passed since I read it—I love it when a book sticks in my brain like that. Read it for the horror and the fantasy.” Kimberly Giarratano, writing in BookPage, was equally laudatory, asserting that “Black’s stories are like the faerie world she creates—deeply dark, yet achingly beautiful. She turns stereotypes on their heads.”
Black opens her young adult series, “Folk of the Air,” with The Cruel Prince. Set at the High Court of Faerie, the novel follows the adventures of Jude, who was stolen away with her two sisters when she was seven. With her parents murdered, she has lived for ten years at the High Court of Faerie and now wants badly to belong. Many of the fey, however, hate the humans, and this includes the youngest son of the king, Prince Cardan. But if Jude wishes to find a place at court, she must deal with palace intrigues and finally face the most difficult test of all, risking her life as civil war threatens the Faerie and her sisters.
Booklist reviewer Maggie Reagan had praise for The Cruel Prince, commenting: “Whatever a reader is looking for—heart-in-throat action, deadly romance, double-crossing, moral complexity—this is one heck of a ride.” Similarly, a Publishers Weekly contributor noted: “Breathtaking set pieces, fully developed supporting characters, and a beguiling, tough-as-nails heroine enhance an intricate, intelligent plot that crescendos to a jaw-dropping third-act twist.” Likewise, Voice of Youth Advocates writer Sean Rapacki concluded: “Black, quite rightly, is the acknowledged queen of faerie lit, and her latest shows her to be at the top of her game, unveiling twists and secrets and bringing her characters vividly to life. Jude is a brave and cunning protagonist, quite worthy of playing this game of thrones, faerie edition.”
The “Folk of the Air” series continues with The Wicked King. It is seven months after Jude staged a coup and now is in secret control of the Faerie kingdom and Cardan. Jude is beginning to feel the pressure of this secret coup, and is also somewhat disgusted with her untempered ambition. She would like to make the world better and perhaps even act on the growing and surprising infatuation with Cardan, yet there are challenges to deal with, including attempts by the Queen of the Undersea to take over Faerie, as well as machinations by her Faerie father and her twin, Taryn.
“Black’s writing is both contemporary and classic; her world is, at this point, intensely well-realized, so that some plot twists seem almost inevitable,” noted a Kirkus Reviews critic of this second installment. The critic added: “A rare second volume that surpasses the first, with, happily, more intrigue and passion still to come.” Horn Book reviewer Jonathan Hunt was also impressed with The Wicked King, noting: “The plot itself twists, turns, and dovetails perfectly with the assured character development; in this way, Black proves herself a master storyteller writing in the tradition of Megan Whalen Turner.” BookPage reviewer Kimberly Giarratano had similar praise, observing: “Black ratchets up the action with even more sinister settings, wicked villains, surprising plot twists and her haunting, melodic prose. … The Wicked King is intense and entertaining storytelling at its finest.”
The third and final installment of “Folk of the Air” series, The Queen of Nothing, finds Jude now exiled into the human world. She released Cardan from her control and he betrayed her. Jude is now the exiled and all too mortal Queen of Faerie. She no longer knows how to negotiate the human world and awaits her chance to regain power in the land of Faerie. Ultimately, she is summoned back to the kingdom by her twin sister, Taryn, who is in danger. Jude makes her way to the Faerie Court, but war is coming and she quickly is caught up in the politics of the land, and when a curse is unleashed, Jude has to choose between her immense drive to recover power and her own sense of humanity.
A Kirkus Reviews critic lauded this third installment, commenting, “Jude might be traumatized and emotionally unhealthy, but she’s an antihero worth cheering on.” The critic further observed: “There are few physical descriptions of humans and some queer representation. Whether you came for the lore or the love, perfection.”
[open new]Book of Night is Black’s first novel written specifically for adults. In an alternate-world Pioneer Valley, Massachusetts, people’s shadows have magic potential, and gloamists are those with the ability to manipulate their own shadows—and sometimes wreak havoc with them. Charlie Hall has tried to settle down as a twenty-eight-year-old bartender, but her youthful work stealing magical documents for gloamists catches up with her when she happens upon a dead man in an alley. His shadow was torn to pieces, spurring Charlie to investigate, and soon the revelation of a book that could open up the shadow world like Pandora’s box has Charlie racing to intervene.
In a Paste review, Lacy Baugher Milas remarked, “Book of Night may be Black’s first adult fantasy novel, but it contains many of the hallmarks that have made her writing so popular for years. There’s a prickly heroine, a twisty plot, and a central relationship that is something other than what it initially appears to be. But something about the contemporary, urban setting seems to free something in Black’s writing, allowing her to really dig into a story that is, at its heart, about trauma.” A Publishers Weekly writer noted that the author’s established adult fans as well as teens reading up will be “thrilled” with the “atmospheric” novel. The reviewer said that “the many mysteries keep the suspense sizzling as Charlie guides readers through this slippery world.” A Kirkus Reviews writer observed that the “mystery elements are well executed, as is Charlie’s characterization, and the big twist at the end packs a satisfying punch.” The Kirkus Reviews writer praised Book of Night as “well plotted and suspenseful” and affirmed it “hits the marks for spooky thrills and mysterious chills.”[close new]
BIOCRIT
PERIODICALS
Booklist, February 15, 2003, Gillian Engberg, review of Tithe, p. 1064; July, 2005, Jennifer Mattson, review of Valiant, p. 1915; February 1, 2006, Carolyn Phelan, review of Arthur Spiderwick’s Field Guide to the Fantastical World around You, p. 47; October 15, 2007, Suzanne Harold, review of The Nixie’s Song, p. 49; September 15, 2008, Tina Coleman, review of Kin, p. 47; September 1, 2009, Courtney Jones, review of Geektastic: Stories from the Nerd Herd, p. 81; April 1, 2010, Ilene Cooper, review of The White Cat, p. 36; March 15, 2011, Shauna Yusko, review of Welcome to Bordertown: New Stories and Poems of the Borderlands, p. 60; April 1, 2011, Heather Booth, review of Red Glove, p. 70; December 15, 2011, Tina Coleman, review of A Flight of Angels, p. 41; February 15, 2012, Cindy Dobrez, review of Black Heart, p. 53; March 1, 2013, Daniel Kraus, review of Doll Bones, p. 58; August 1, 2013, Candice Mack, review of The Coldest Girl in Coldtown, p. 72; August 1, 2014, Maggie Reagan, review of The Iron Trial; September 1, 2015, Maggie Reagan, review of The Copper Gauntlet; October 15, 2017, review of The Cruel Prince, p. 50.
BookPage, January, 2015, Kimberly Giarratano, review of The Darkest Part of the Forest; January, 2019, Kimberly Giarratano, review of The Wicked King, p. 29.
Brooklyn Rail, June, 2022, Yvonne C. Garrett, review of Book of Night, p. 98.
Children’s Bookwatch, December, 2008, review of Kin.
Horn Book, January-February, 2009, Deirdre F. Baker, review of Kin; September-October, 2009, Claire E. Gross, review of Geektastic; January- February, 2010, Deirdre F. Baker, review of Kith; May-June, 2010, Lauren Adams, review of The Poison Eaters and Other Stories; July-August, 2013, Cynthia K. Ritter, review of Doll Bones, p. 122; January-February, 2019, Jonathan Hunt, review of The Wicked King, p. 86.
Kirkus Reviews, September 1, 2002, review of Tithe, p. 1303; June 1, 2005, review of Valiant, p. 633; November 15, 2006, review of Care and Feeding of Sprites, p. 1171; September 1, 2008, review of Kin; June 15, 2009, review of Geektastic; February 15, 2010, review of The Poison Eaters and Other Stories; March 1, 2011, review of Red Glove; April 15, 2011, review of Welcome to Bordertown; February 1, 2012, review of Black Heart; March 15, 2013, review of Doll Bones; July 15, 2013, review of The Coldest Girl in Coldtown; August 1, 2014, review of The Iron Trial; July 15, 2015, review of The Copper Gauntlet; October 15, 2018, review of The Wicked King; September 15, 2019, review of The Queen of Nothing; March 1, 2022, review of Book of Night.
Kliatt, July, 2004, Annette Wells, review of Tithe, p. 26; July, 2005, Michele Winship, review of Valiant, p. 7; November, 2008, George Galuschak, review of Kin, p. 32.
Locus, September, 2002, Carolyn Cushman, review of Tithe, p. 35.
Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, March, 2004, Charles de Lint, review of Lucinda’s Secret, p. 33; August, 2004, Charles de Lint, review of The Ironwood Tree, p. 32; March, 2005, Charles de Lint, review of The Wrath of Mulgarath, p. 27; January, 2006, Charles de Lint, review of Valiant, p. 35; October-November, 2007, Charles de Lint, review of Ironside, p. 30.
New York Times Book Review, June 22, 2003, Scott Veale, review of The Field Guide, p. 23; March 25, 2013, review of Doll Bones, p. 70; May 12, 2013, Lauren Oliver, review of Doll Bones; p. 24.
Publishers Weekly, October 28, 2002, review of Tithe, p. 74; April 14, 2003, review of The Field Guide, p. 70; July 16, 2007, review of The Nixie’s Song, p. 165; July 13, 2009, “The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year,” p. 39; August 3, 2009, review of Geektastic, p. 45; November 2, 2009, review of Kith, p. 55; February 1, 2010, review of The Poison Eaters and Other Stories, p. 51; April 12, 2010, review of The White Cat, p. 53; February 14, 2011, review of Red Glove, p. 59; July 1, 2013, review of The Coldest Girl in Coldtown, p. 91. November, 2018, review of The Cruel Prince, p. 64; January 17, 2022, review of Book of Night, p. 50.
School Library Journal, October, 2002, Beth Wright, review of Tithe, p. 158; July, 2003, Beth L. Meister, reviews of The Field Guide and The Seeing Stone, p. 95; November, 2003, Elaine E. Knight, review of Lucinda’s Secret, p. 88; June, 2004, Krista Tokarz, review of The Ironwood Tree, p. 96; June, 2005, Tasha Saecker, review of Valiant, p. 148; March, 2006, Walter Minkel, review of Arthur Spiderwick’s Field Guide to the Fantastical World around You, p. 186; July, 2007, Eva Mitnick, review of Ironside, p. 96; November, 2008, Lisa Goldstein, review of Kin, p. 150; August, 2009, Heather M. Campbell, review of Geektastic, p. 98; January, 2010, Andrea Lipinski, review of Kith, p. 127; February, 2010, Shawna Sherman, review of The Poison Eaters and Other Stories, p. 104; June, 2010, Leah J. Sparks, review of The White Cat, p. 94; May, 2011, Heather M. Campbell, review of Red Glove, p. 106; April, 2012, Maggie Knapp, review of Black Heart, p. 155; June, 2013, Mandy Laferriere, review of Doll Bones, p. 112; August, 2013, Jennifer Furuyama, review of The Coldest Girl in Coldtown, p. 109; October, 2015, Elisabeth Gattullo Marrocolla, review of The Copper Gauntlet.
Time, June 9, 2003, Heather Won Tesoriero, “Horror, in Pint Sizes: The ‘Spiderwick Chronicles’ May Have Just Enough Spookiness to Catch on with the Pre-Harry P. Set,” p. 78.
USA Today, November 9, 2004, Jacqueline Blais, “‘Spiderwick’ Wraps the Scary in a ‘Cozy’ Package,” p. D8.
Voice of Youth Advocates, June, 2011, Lucy Schall, review of Red Glove, p. 156; June, 2012, Brenna Shanks, review of Black Heart, p. 170; December, 2014, Sean Rapacki, review of The Darkest Part of the Forest; February, 2018, Sean Rapacki, review of The Cruel Prince, p. 65.
ONLINE
Bookslut, http://www.bookslut.com/ (December 30, 2013), Melissa A. Barton, review of The Poison Eaters and Other Stories.
Book Smugglers, http://thebooksmugglers.com/ (September 9, 2013), Ana On, review of The Coldest Girl in Coldtown.
ComicMix, http://www.comicmix.com/ (June 19, 2009), Andrew Wheeler, review of Kin.
Cynsations, http://cynthialeitichsmith.blogspot.com/ (June 19, 2009), Cynthia Leitich Smith, author interview.
Dear Author, http://dearauthor.com/ (May 20, 2010), review of The White Cat; (September 5, 2013), review of The Coldest Girl in Coldtown.
Enchanted Living, https:// enchantedlivingmagazine.com/ (October 18, 2019), author interview.
Fantasy Book Review, http:// www.fantasybookreview.co.uk/ (June 1, 2010), author interview.
Holly Black website, http://www.blackholly.com (December 16, 2022).
Internet Movie Database, http://www.imdb.com/ (October 31, 2013), author profile.
Lost Entwife, http://thelostentwife.net/ (October 26, 2013), review of Doll Bones.
Nerd Daily, https://thenerddaily.com/ (April 26, 2022), Mimi Koehler, review of Book of Night.
Paste, https://www.pastemagazine.com/ (May 3, 2022), Lacy Baugher Milas, review of Book of Night.
Portrait Ezine, https://www.theportraitezine.com/ (September 2, 2016), review of The Iron Trial.
Publishers Weekly Online, http://www.publishersweekly.com/ (September 5, 2013), Michael Levy, “Q&A with Holly Black.”
Scholastic website, http://www2.scholastic.com/ (June 19, 2009), author profile.
Seven Impossible Things before Breakfast, http:// blaine.org/ (June 19, 2009), “Holly Black: Faeries, Proms, and D&D.”
Simon & Schuster website, http://www.simonsays.com/ (June 19, 2009), “A Conversation with Holly Black and Tony DiTerlizzi, Creators of The Spiderwick Chronicles.”
Smart Bitches, Trashy Books, http:// smartbitchestrashybooks.com/ (September 2, 2016), review of The Darkest Part of the Forest.
Spiderwick Chronicles, http://www.spiderwick.com (June 19, 2009).
TeenReads, http://www.teenreads.com/ (June 19, 2009), John Hogan, review of Kin; (July 14, 2010), John Hogan, author interview, review of Kith; Benjamin Boche, review of The White Cat and Geektastic.
Biography
The short version:
Holly Black is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of fantasy novels, including the Novels of Elfhame, THE COLDEST GIRL IN COLDTOWN, the Spiderwick Chronicles, and her adult debut, BOOK OF NIGHT. She has been a finalist for an Eisner Award and the Lodestar Award, and the recipient of the Mythopoeic Award, a Nebula, and a Newbery Honor. Her books have been translated into 32 languages worldwide and adapted for film. She currently lives in New England with her husband and son in a house with a secret library.
Holly Black
The long version:
Holly Black is a bestselling author of contemporary fantasy novels. She grew up in New Jersey and loved reading and writing from an early age. Her first book, Tithe: A Modern Faerie Tale, was published in 2002. Tithe was called “dark, edgy, beautifully written and compulsively readable” by Booklist and was included in the American Library Association’s Best Books for Young Adults. She published a companion book, Valiant (2005), which was the recipient of a Nebula Award (formerly the Andre Norton Award), and a sequel, Ironside (2007), which spent five weeks on the New York Times bestseller list.
Holly collaborated with her long-time friend, Caldecott-award-winning artist, Tony DiTerlizzi, to create the bestselling Spiderwick Chronicles. The first two books, The Field Guide and The Seeing Stone were released together in 2003, with the next three, Lucinda’s Secret (2003), The Ironwood Tree (2004) and The Wrath of Mulgarath (2004), following in rapid succession. The Wrath of Mulgarath climbed to #1 on the New York Times bestseller list. The five-book serial has been called “vintage Victorian fantasy” by the New York Post and Time Magazine reported that “the books wallow in their dusty Olde Worlde charm.” The lavishly illustrated Arthur Spiderwick’s Field Guide to The Fantastical World Around You (2005), The Notebook for Fantastical Observations (2005), and Care and Feeding of Sprites (2006) expanded the Spiderwick universe. To date, the books have been translated into 32 languages. There are three additional chapter books in the Beyond the Spiderwick Chronicles series, The Nixie’s Song(2007), A Giant Problem (2008) and The Wyrm King (2009). The Spiderwick Chronicles were adapted into a film by Paramount Pictures in conjunction with Nickelodeon Films. Released in February 2008, the film stars Freddie Highmore and Sarah Bolger, with Mark Waters as the director.
Holly has also been a frequent contributor to anthologies, and has co-edited three of them: Geektastic (with Cecil Castellucci, 2009), Zombies vs. Unicorns (with Justine Larbalestier, 2010), and Welcome to Bordertown (with Ellen Kushner, 2011). Her first collection of short fiction, Poison Eaters and Other Stories, came out in 2010 from Small Beer Press.
She has also done some comics work. She wrote an Eisner-nominated graphic novel series, The Good Neighbors (Kith in 2008, Kin in 2009 and Kind in 2010) and a year of Lucifer comics for DC Comics in 2015.
She returned to novels with The Curse Workers series, a trilogy set in a world of capers, curse magic, and organized crime. The three books in the series were The White Cat (2010), The Red Glove (2011), and The Black Heart (2012).
2013 saw the release of two stand-alone novels. Doll Bones, a Newbery honor recipient and Mythopoeic award winner which marked a return to middle grade fiction, tells the story of three friends who go on a road trip to bury a haunted doll. In the words of BCCB, “This novel is a chilling ghost story, a gripping adventure, and a heartwarming look at the often-painful pull of adulthood.”
The Coldest Girl in Coldtown follows Tana, who lives in a world where walled cities called Coldtowns exist. In them, quarantined monsters and humans mingle in a decadently bloody mix of predator and prey. “You may be ready to put a stake in vampire lit, but read this first: It’s dark and dangerous, bloody and brilliant,” said Kirkus Reviews. It was a finalist for the Norton and the Locus awards.
During this period, she also collaborated on a five-book middle grade fantasy series, Magisterium, with friend and fellow author Cassandra Clare. The series includes The Iron Trial (2014), The Copper Gauntlet (2015), The Bronze Key (2016), The Silver Mask (2017), and The Golden Tower (2018).
The Darkest Part of the Forest (2015), a stand-alone novel, marked her return to faerie fiction. She followed that up with her Folk of the Air series. The first book, The Cruel Prince (2018), debuted on The New York Times bestseller list and remained on the list for four weeks. The novel was a finalist for the Lodestar Award and has received such critical acclaim as starred reviews from Publishers Weekly (“…a beguiling, tough-as-nails heroine enhance an intricate, intelligent plot that crescendos to a jaw-dropping third-act twist.”) and School Library Journal (“Another fantastic, deeply engaging, and all-consuming work from Black that belongs on all YA shelves.”). The second book, The Wicked King (2019), debuted at #1 on the New York Times bestseller list. The third book, The Queen of Nothing (2019) finished out the series. In a starred review, Kirkus wrote, “Whether you came for the lore or the love, perfection.”
In 2019, she also published a middle grade novel featuring Disney’s Maleficent, entitled The Heart of the Moors.
Holly lives in New England with her husband, son, and cats, in a house with a secret library.
FAQ
Q: Do you have any advice for writers?
I have a section of this website devoted to advice for writers.
ELFHAME
Q: Will there be any more Folk of the Air books?
I’m currently writing a duology focused around Oak Greenbriar that takes place many years after the events of The Queen of Nothing. The first one is called The Stolen Heir.
BOOK OF NIGHT
Q: Will there be more Book of Night?
Book of Night was always meant to be the first book in a duology. After that, I may decide to explore the world of shadow magic further, but currently don’t have specific plans.
SPIDERWICK
Q: Are you ever going to write more Spiderwick books?
Tony DiTerlizzi and I have no plans at this point, but maybe someday in the future we will do another project together. We’re still great friends, and I’d love to work with him again.
Q: Is there going to be an adaptation of the Spiderwick Chronicles?
There already was one in 2008!
And there’s a television show coming from Disney + next year!
Q: Do you really know the Grace children? Can I have their address?
Tony and I know three kids on whom the Grace kids were based, but their names were changed in the books. Unfortunately, I can’t give out their address as they wish to protect their anonymity.
MORE BOOKS!
Q: Will there be any more Magisterium books?
Cassie and I had a wonderful time writing that series, but currently have no plans to write any more.
Q: Will there be a sequel to the Coldest Girl in Coldtown?
Coldest Girl in Coldtown was written as a stand-alone, but I know what happens next and I’ve been thinking more and more that a sequel could be in my future.
Q: Are you ever going to write more Modern Faerie Tale books?
The Modern Faerie Tales, Darkest Part of the Forest, and the Folk of the Air books are all set in the same world. We do get to see some of the characters from Tithe have a role in the events of the Folk of the Air series.
Q: Are you ever going to write more Curse Worker books?
I hope someday I get to come back and write one or two more books in that series, but for now I’m happy with where I left everyone.
Q: Will there be a sequel to Doll Bones?
Although I love the characters, I don’t think I’d ever want to write about what happens next. I think it’s important that there not be a sequel, so that you get to decide both what you think happened in the book and what you think will happen next to the characters.
Q: What happens after the end of Doll Bones? And was there really a ghost?
Doll Bones is meant to be open ended. Not all the questions are answered, so readers can use their imagination if they want to. Feel free to speculate yourself— what do you think will happen? Was the ghost laid to rest? Was there ever a ghost at all? Will Poppy, Zach, and Alice stay friends? Will they keep playing some form of the game, and if so, as they grow up, how will the game change?
ADAPTATIONS
Q: Is there going to be a movie/TV series about [insert project] ?
I want to take a step back and explain a little about the process of getting something made. Oftentimes when people ask this question, they ask “Are you going to make a movie of [insert project]?” Movies and TV require many millions of dollars, a lot of technical know-how, and the ability to secure distribution – I can’t do any of those things on my own. For one of my books to become a film or TV series, the following would have to happen:
1. The project would have to be optioned by a production company or studio. This is the first step and very exciting when it happens, because it means that someone has paid money to be allowed to “develop” the project for a limited period of time (usually a year or two). You may have heard that some of your favorite books have been optioned before. You will recall that some of them became films/shows and some of them did not.
2. During the time when the project is “under option,” the producers will try and get it ready to be turned into a film or TV show. This means securing financing, paying for a script to be written, and attaching directors or actors or showrunners to the project. For TV, a pilot might even get shot. Depending on how well that goes and how much buzz the project attracts, it might go on to be:
3. Greenlit! This is the point when the movie is almost definitely getting made and the TV show is almost definitely going on the air. This is when people begin talking about shoot schedules and release dates, scouting locations and making props. Once a movie/show gets to the point, you are likely to see talk about it on film sites. It’s also the point that the author of the source material would start making a lot of announcements.
I’ve simplified this quite a bit, but you can still see that it’s a convoluted process, and one that the author has very little control over. Even once this process is set in motion, it can take years and years to get to the point that the studio is ready to greenlight. It may sound daunting, but the Spiderwick Chronicles movie got made, and something else could get made too someday. Fingers crossed!
FAERIES
Q: Are faeries real?
I don’t know. I’ve never seen one, although I have met lots of kids and adults who have seen them. I want to believe faeries are real, but I also want proof. I hope someday I will see a faerie myself so that I can know for sure.
Q: How can I find out if I have faeries living in my house/yard?
Strange lights, things going missing or being rearranged, an abundance of clover among the grass, and/or seeing things moving out of the corner of your eyes.
ABOUT HOLLY
Q: Do you have any pets?
My family has three cats: Miel, a fluffy gray street cat from a small town in the French countryside; Bast, a sleek black cat from New England; and Quasit, a hairless Sphynx. We also have a lot of spiders.
Q: Is it true you have a secret door in your house?
I do! And you can too! https://hiddendoorstore.com
COLLABORATIONS
Q: Both the Spiderwick Chronicles and the Magisterium series are collaborations. How do you go about collaborating with other authors?
Collaborations, in my experience, work differently every time. When Tony and I first sat down to collaborate on Spiderwick, we did a lot of brainstorming and sending bits of writing and art back and forth. Then I went off to write, he went off to draw and we continued to comment on each other’s work. He might send me the picture of a creature he thought might be in the book. I might tell him a scene I thought he should draw. If you look at the artwork in Spiderwick, it tells parts of the story that the text doesn’t — which was very deliberate.
With the Magisterium series, Cassandra Clare and I actually sit in the same room and hand the computer back and forth after we’ve written a few hundred words (between 200 and 500, on average), often when we get stuck. We have a pretty strict outline — something she’s really excellent at creating — but when we need to figure out something new, we can go off together and brainstorm.
Every collaboration of mine has been a unique process. When I worked on the graphic novels Good Neighbors with Ted Naifeh, I had completed the manuscript before he saw it — however, we were still able to talk about what happened after that — he’s the one who pushed me to let the villains take over the town, so that he could draw it. When Rebecca Guay first approached me about working with her on A Flight of Angels, I was just going to write one of the stories, but I wound up having the opportunity to write a story that wove between all the other tales — something I had no thoughts about doing when I first began.
If you are thinking about collaborating, I think the most important thing is that you really love the other person’s work, and that they really love yours. It’s also useful to know them pretty well, so you don’t have to be too polite.
Holly Black
USA flag (b.1971)
Holly Black is the author of bestselling contemporary fantasy books for kids and teens. Some of her titles include The Spiderwick Chronicles (with Tony DiTerlizzi), The Modern Faerie Tale series, the Curse Workers series, Doll Bones, The Coldest Girl in Coldtown, the Magisterium series (with Cassandra Clare) and The Darkest Part of the Forest. She has been a a finalist for an Eisner Award, and the recipient of the Andre Norton Award, the Mythopoeic Award and a Newbery Honor. She currently lives in New England with her husband and son in a house with a secret door.
Genres: Young Adult Fantasy, Children's Fiction, Science Fiction, Urban Fantasy
New Books
November 2022
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The Magisterium: Books 1-5
(Magisterium)January 2023
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The Stolen Heir
(Stolen Heir, book 1)
Series
Modern Tale of Faerie
1. Tithe (2002)
2. Valiant (2005)
3. Ironside (2007)
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Spiderwick Chronicles (with Tony DiTerlizzi)
1. The Field Guide (2003)
2. The Seeing Stone (2003)
3. Lucinda's Secret (2003)
4. The Ironwood Tree (2004)
5. The Wrath of Mulgarath (2004)
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Spiderwick Chronicles Omnibus (with Tony DiTerlizzi)
The Field Guide / The Seeing Stone (2003)
The Spiderwick Chronicles (2004)
Lucinda's Secret / Ironwood Tree (2005)
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Spiderwick Chronicles - Companion Books (with Tony DiTerlizzi)
Notebook for Fantastical Observations (2005)
Spiderwick's Guide to Observing and Documenting Faerie Phenomenon (2005)
Arthur Spiderwick's Field Guide to the Fantastical World Around You (2005)
Care and Feeding of Sprites (2006)
The Chronicles of Spiderwick (2007)
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Beyond the Spiderwick Chronicles (with Tony DiTerlizzi)
1. The Nixie's Song (2007)
2. A Giant Problem (2008)
3. The Wyrm King (2009)
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Spiderwick Chronicles Special Edition of the Seeing Stone (with Tony DiTerlizzi)
1. Goblins Attack (2007)
2. Troll Trouble (2007)
3. Great Escape (2007)
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Good Neighbors
1. Kin (2008)
2. Kith (2009)
3. Kind (2010)
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Curse Workers
1. White Cat (2010)
2. Red Glove (2011)
3. Black Heart (2012)
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Magisterium (with Cassandra Clare)
1. The Iron Trial (2014)
2. The Copper Gauntlet (2015)
3. The Bronze Key (2016)
4. The Silver Mask (2017)
5. The Golden Tower (2018)
aka The Enemy of Death
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Folk of the Air
1. The Cruel Prince (2018)
1.5. The Lost Sisters (2018)
2. The Wicked King (2019)
3. The Queen of Nothing (2019)
3.5. How the King of Elfhame Learned to Hate Stories (2020)
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Stolen Heir
1. The Stolen Heir (2023)
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Novels
Doll Bones (2013) (with Eliza Wheeler)
The Coldest Girl in Coldtown (2013)
The Darkest Part of the Forest (2015)
Heart of the Moors (2019)
Book of Night (2022)
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Collections
Full-Blooded Fantasy (2005) (with Jodi Lynn Anderson, Hilari Bell, Will Davis, Tony DiTerlizzi, Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni, Nancy Farmer, D J MacHale, Kai Meyer and J T Petty)
The Poison Eaters (2010)
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Graphic Novels
Sorry, we're not listing graphic novels by this author
Series contributed to
Doctor Who (with Malorie Blackman, Eoin Colfer, Neil Gaiman, Charlie Higson, Derek Landy, Richelle Mead, Patrick Ness, Philip Reeve, Michael Scott Rohan, Alex Scarrow, Michael Scott and Marcus Sedgwick)
12 Doctors 12 Stories (2014)
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Doctor Who : Twelfth Doctor
Lights Out (2014)
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Anthologies edited
Geektastic (2009) (with Cecil Castellucci)
Zombies vs. Unicorns (2010) (with Justine Larbalestier)
Welcome to Bordertown (2011) (with Ellen Kushner)
Holly Black is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of fantasy novels, including the Novels of Elfhame, The Coldest Girl in Coldtown, the Spiderwick Chronicles, and her adult debut, Book of Night. She has been a finalist for an Eisner Award and the Lodestar Award, and the recipient of the Mythopoeic Award, a Nebula, and a Newbery Honor. Her books have been translated into 32 languages worldwide and adapted for film. She currently lives in New England with her husband and son in a house with a secret library.
Holly Black
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Holly Black
Black in 2020
Black in 2020
Born November 10, 1971 (age 51)
West Long Branch, New Jersey, U.S.
Occupation
Writereditorproducer
Citizenship U.S.
Education The College of New Jersey
Rutgers University
Period c. 2000–present
Genre Children's, young adult literature, short stories, fantasy, horror
Website
blackholly.com
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Holly Black (née Riggenbach;[1] born November 10, 1971) is an American writer and editor best known for her children's and young adult fiction. Her most recent work is the New York Times bestselling young adult Folk of the Air series. She is also well known for The Spiderwick Chronicles, a series of children's fantasy books she created with writer and illustrator Tony DiTerlizzi, and her debut trilogy of young adult novels officially called the Modern Faerie Tales.[2] Black has won an Eisner Award, a Lodestar Award, a Award, a Nebula Award, and a Newbery honor.
Contents
1 Early life and education
2 Literary career
3 Bibliography
3.1 Adult novels
3.2 Young adult novels
3.3 Middle grade novels
3.4 Graphic novels and comics
3.5 Short fiction
3.6 Anthologies edited
3.7 Poetry
4 Awards
5 References
6 External links
Early life and education
Black was born in West Long Branch, New Jersey[1] in 1971, and during her early years her family lived in a "decrepit Victorian house."[3] Black graduated with a B.A. in English from The College of New Jersey in 1994. She worked as a production editor on medical journals including The Journal of Pain while studying at Rutgers University. She considered becoming a librarian as a backup career, but writing drew her away. She edited and contributed to the role-playing culture magazine d8 in 1996.[citation needed]
In 1999 she married her high school sweetheart, Theo Black, an illustrator and web designer.[1] In 2008 she was described as residing in Amherst, Massachusetts.[4]
Literary career
Black at the National Book Festival in 2022
Modern Faerie Tales
Black's first novel, Tithe: A Modern Faerie Tale, was published by Simon & Schuster in 2002. There have been two sequels set in the same universe featuring different casts. The first, Valiant (2005), won the inaugural Andre Norton Award for Young Adult Science Fiction and Fantasy. By vote of Locus readers for the Locus Awards, Valiant and Ironside (2007) ranked fourth and sixth among the year's young-adult books.[5]
The Spiderwick Chronicles
In 2003, Black published the first two books of The Spiderwick Chronicles, a collaboration with artist Tony DiTerlizzi. The fifth and last book in the series reached the top of the New York Times Bestseller list in 2004.[citation needed] A film adaptation of the series was released in 2008,[6] of which Black was co-executive producer.[citation needed]
The Curse Workers
White Cat, the first in her Curse Workers Series, was published in 2010. White Cat was followed by Red Glove (2011) and the trilogy concluded with Black Heart in 2012. In 2011, Black stated that the Curse Workers books had been optioned by Vertigo Pictures and producer Mark Morgan.[7]
Magisterium
In 2012, Scholastic acquired a five-book series written by Black and Cassandra Clare to be called Magisterium. Its first volume, The Iron Trial, was published on September 9, 2014.[8] The final book in the series, The Golden Tower, was published in 2018.
The Folk of the Air
The Cruel Prince published in 2017. The first book of The Folk of the Air was critically acclaimed and nominated for the Locus Award[9] and the Lodestar Award.[10] The sequel, The Wicked King (2018) debuted at the #1 position of the New York Times Bestseller List.[11] The Wicked King was also nominated for the Lodestar Award.[12] The Queen of Nothing released in November 2019. With that release the series debuted at #3 on the New York Times Bestseller List. [13]
Standalones
A standalone novel, The Coldest Girl in Coldtown, was released by Little, Brown in September 2013.[14] Black published a short story of the same name in the vampire anthology The Eternal Kiss: 13 Vampire Tales of Blood and Desire. The Coldest Girl in Coldtown was a Nebula Finalist in 2013.[15]
Doll Bones was published in May 2013, and was awarded a Newbery Honor[16][17] and a Mythopoeic Fantasy Award.[18]
The Darkest Part of the Forest was published in 2015.
Her first adult fiction novel Book of Night was released in May 2022 by Tor Books.[19]
Black has also written dozens of short works and co-edited at least three anthologies of speculative fiction.[citation needed]
Bibliography
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Adult novels
Book of Night (2022)
Young adult novels
Modern Faerie Tales
Tithe: A Modern Faerie Tale (2002)
Valiant: A Modern Tale of Faerie (2005)
Ironside: A Modern Faery's Tale (2007)
The Curse Workers
White Cat (2010)
Red Glove (2011)
Black Heart (2012)
The Folk of the Air
The Cruel Prince (2018)
The Lost Sisters (2018, companion novella)
The Wicked King[20] (2019)
Queen of Nothing[21] (2019)
How the King of Elfhame Learned to Hate Stories (2020, companion novella)
Books of Elfhame
The Stolen Heir (forthcoming 2023)
Standalone
The Coldest Girl in Coldtown (2013)
The Darkest Part of the Forest (2015)[22]
Middle grade novels
Spiderwick, Black and Tony DiTerlizzi
The Spiderwick Chronicles
The Field Guide (2003)
The Seeing Stone (2003)
Lucinda's Secret (2003)
The Ironwood Tree (2004)
The Wrath of Mulgarath (2004)
Beyond the Spiderwick Chronicles
The Nixie's Song (2007)
A Giant Problem (2008)
The Wyrm King (2009)
Accompanying books
Arthur Spiderwick's Notebook of Fantastical Observations (2005)
Arthur Spiderwick's Field Guide to the Fantastical World Around You (2005)
The Spiderwick Chronicles: Care and Feeding of Sprites (2006)
Magisterium, Black and Cassandra Clare, illustrator Scott Fischer
The Iron Trial (2014)
The Copper Gauntlet (2015)
The Bronze Key (2016)
The Silver Mask (2017)
The Golden Tower (2018)
Standalone
Doll Bones (2013, Newbery Medal honor book), illus. Eliza Wheeler
Heart of the Moors: An Original Maleficent: Mistress of Evil Novel (2019)
Graphic novels and comics
The Good Neighbors, illus. Ted Naifeh
The Good Neighbors: Kin (2008)
The Good Neighbors: Kith (2009)
The Good Neighbors: Kind (2010)
Lucifer
Lucifer vol. 1: Cold Heaven (2016, trade paperback)
Lucifer vol. 2: Father Lucifer (2017, trade paperback)
Lucifer vol. 3: Blood in the Streets (2017, trade paperback)
Short fiction
Collections
The Poison Eaters and Other Stories (2010), illus. Theo Black
Short stories
"Hades and Persephone" (1997) in Prisoners of the Night
"The Night Market" (2004) in The Faery Reel: Tales from a Twilight Realm
"Heartless" (2005) in Young Warriors: Stories of Strength
"Going Ironside" (2007) in Endicott Journal of Mythic Arts
"In Vodka Veritas" (2007) in 21 Proms
"Reversal of Fortune" (2007) in The Coyote Road: Trickster Tales
"The Poison Eaters" (2007), The Restless Dead: Ten Original Stories of the Supernatural, ed. Deborah Noyes
"Paper Cuts Scissors" (October 2007) in Realms of Fantasy
"The Coat of Stars" (2007) in So Fey
"Virgin" (2008) in Magic in the Mirrorstone
"The Boy Who Cried Wolf" (2009) in Troll's Eye View: A Book of Villainous Tales
"The Coldest Girl in Coldtown" (2009) in The Eternal Kiss: 13 Vampire Tales of Blood and Desire
"A Very Short Story" (2009) in Half-Minute Horrors
"The Dog King" (2010) in The Poison Eaters and Other Stories
"The Land of Heart's Desire" (2010) in The Poison Eaters and Other Stories
"The Arn Thompson Classification Review" (2010) in Full Moon City
"Sobek" (2010) in Wings of Fire
"Lot 558: Shadow of My Nephew by Wells, Charlotte" (2011) in The Thackery T. Lambshead Cabinet of Curiosities.
"Everything Amiable and Obliging" (2011) in Steampunk!
"The Perfect Dinner Party" (with Cassandra Clare, 2011) in Teeth
"The Rowan Gentleman" (with Cassandra Clare, 2011) in Welcome to Bordertown
"Noble Rot" (2011) in Naked City: New Tales of Urban Fantasy
"Coat of Stars" (2012) in Bloody Fabulous
"Little Gods" (2012) in Under My Hat: Tales from the Cauldron
"Millcara" (2013) in Rags & Bones: New Twists on Timeless Tales
"Sisters Before Misters" (2014) (with Sarah Rees Brennan and Cassandra Clare) in Dark Duets: All-New Tales of Horror and Dark Fantasy
"Ten Rules for Being an Intergalactic Smuggler (the Successful Kind)" (2014) in Monstrous Affections: An Anthology of Beastly Tales
"1UP" (2015) in Press Start to Play
Anthologies edited
Geektastic: Stories from the Nerd Herd (2009), eds. Black and Cecil Castellucci
Zombies vs. Unicorns (2010), eds. Black and Justine Larbalestier
Welcome to Bordertown (2011), eds. Black and Ellen Kushner
Poetry
"The Third Third: Israfel's Tale" (1996) in d8 Magazine
"Bone Mother" (Autumn 2004) in Endicott Journal of Mythic Arts
Awards
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2006: Andre Norton Award for Young Adult Science Fiction and Fantasy, Valiant: A Modern Tale of Faerie [23]
2014: Mythopoeic Fantasy Award in Children's Literature, Doll Bones[18]
2014: Newbery Medal Honor Book, Doll Bones[24]
2015: Indies Choice Book Award—Young Adult Book of the Year, The Darkest Part of the Forest[25]
Holly Black
Holly Black is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of over thirty fantasy novels for kids, teens, and adults. She has been a finalist for an Eisner and a Lodestar Award, and the recipient of the Mythopoeic Award, a Nebula, and a Newbery Honor. Her books have been translated into 32 languages worldwide and adapted for film. She currently lives in New England with her husband and son in a house with a secret library.
Joanna Volpe
Book of Night
Holly Black. Tor, $27.99 (320p) ISBN 978-1-250-81219-3
Bestselling YA author Black (The Cruel Prince) conjures a dark world filled with crime, betrayal, and power in her atmcvsphetic adult fantasy debut. Shadows are a valuable commodity to be manipulated, altered, traded, and experimented on--and there are many dangerous players looking to harvest them. Growing up in this treacherous world, Charlie Hall learned the arts of conning and thievery from a young age, and there's no denying her skill. At 28, however, Charlie's determined to stay on the straight and narrow, using a bartending job to distract herself from the thrill of her old lifestyle. But when she reluctantly agrees to an odd job, a horrifying encounter reveals the return of a sinister individual from her past, plunging her into the dark underworld of shadow trading. Investigating its secrets leads her to discover a magic even darker than the shadows themselves. As the narrative shifts between past and present and the skeletons in Charlie's closet come to light, she must reckon with her dysfunctional childhood--and with just how powerful shadows can be. The many mysteries keep the suspense sizzling as Charlie guides readers through this slippery world. Black's adult fans and readers looking for dark urban fantasy will be thrilled. (May)
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2022 PWxyz, LLC
http://www.publishersweekly.com/
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Source Citation
MLA 9th Edition APA 7th Edition Chicago 17th Edition Harvard
"Book of Night." Publishers Weekly, vol. 269, no. 3, 17 Jan. 2022, pp. 50+. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A691684638/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=69d610da. Accessed 10 Dec. 2022.
Black, Holly BOOK OF NIGHT Tor (Fiction None) $19.59 5, 3 ISBN: 978-1-250-81219-3
A former thief who specialized in stealing magical documents is forced back into her old habits in Black's adult debut.
Charlie Hall used to work as a thief, stealing for and from magicians--or rather, "gloamists." In this world, gloamists are people with magical shadows that are alive, gaining strength from the gloamists' own blood. A gloamist can learn to manipulate the magic of their shadow, doing everything from changing how it looks to using it to steal, possess a person, or even murder. Gloamists hire nonmagical people like Charlie to steal precious and rare magical documents written by their kind throughout history and detailing their research and experiments in shadow magic. Gloamists can use onyx to keep each other from sending shadows to steal these treasures, but onyx won't stop regular humans from old-fashioned breaking and entering. After Charlie's talent for crime gets her into too much trouble, she swears off her old career and tries to settle down with her sensible boyfriend, Vince--but when she finds a dead man in an alley and notices that even his shadow has been ripped to pieces, she can't help trying to figure out who he was and why he met such a gruesome end. Before she knows it, Charlie is forced back into a life of lies and danger, using her skills as a thief to find a book that could unleash the full and terrifying power of the shadow world. Black is a veteran fantasy writer, which shows in the opening pages as she neatly and easily guides the reader through the engrossing world of gloamists, magical shadows, and Charlie's brand of criminality. There's a lot of flipping back and forth between the past and the present, and though both timelines are well plotted and suspenseful, the story leans a touch too hard on the flashbacks. Still, the mystery elements are well executed, as is Charlie's characterization, and the big twist at the end packs a satisfying punch.
Hits the marks for spooky thrills and mysterious chills.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2022 Kirkus Media LLC
http://www.kirkusreviews.com/
Source Citation
Source Citation
MLA 9th Edition APA 7th Edition Chicago 17th Edition Harvard
"Black, Holly: BOOK OF NIGHT." Kirkus Reviews, 1 Mar. 2022, p. NA. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A695027197/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=2751c5ec. Accessed 10 Dec. 2022.
Book of Night
Holly Black
Tor Books, 2022
The Path of Thorns
A.G. Slatter
Titan, 2022
I grew up reading a lot of fantasy and sci-fi where I'd often pretend I was the hero, somehow transcending (or denying) my own gender in order to center myself in the story. There were few if any inclusive voices back then, but I could imagine myself in Mordor or Earthsea, the Courts of Chaos, or riding dragons in Pern. As I grew older, I veered away from most fantasy into "literary" fiction, horror, and graphic novels, but when a friend gave me a collection of Angela Carter's stories, I was thrilled to find not only great writing but girls and women at the center of their own stories. I wish I'd had Holly Black and A.G. (Angela) Slatter's books to read when I was growing up. As it is, I've recently devoured nearly everything they've written. I'd finished my latest reread of Patricia McKillip's work a while ago and stumbled across A.G. Slatter's All the Murmuring Bones. It was brilliant-well written with compelling characters and a world that incorporated just enough of known mythologies and darker fairy tales to keep me reading. I went on to read everything Slatter has published, including the rollicking good fun "supernatural crime" novels featuring Verity Fassbinder, a hero(ine) solving mysteries and fighting crime. Slatter's short story collections are set in a world that is both familiar and not, where women and girls suffer under oppressive patriarchal systems that are not too different from our own past (and future?) horrors. The women in Sourdough and Other Stories and Slatter's other collections are the keepers of arcane knowledge, witches and healers, and women doing whatever it takes to survive if not necessarily thrive. In her new novel, The Path of Thorns, there are no heroes, there are only survivors. As Slatter has said herself, the novel pulls themes from Jane Eyre and Frankenstein while pushing back against the idea that men are the center of stories and that women's narratives must always end with marriage and/ or suffering. Certainly, there is suffering in great quantities for the women in The Path of Thorns, as is common in Slatter's work: women suffer at the hands of other women, men, or because their world does not value them, their bodies, or their knowledge.
The novel begins as a young woman, Asher Todd, travels alone to take the position of governess to the three Morwood children. Their father, Luther, is an abusive drunk. Their mother, Jessamine, cowering and fragile. Once a force to be reckoned with, the matriarch Leonora Morwood is losing her eyesight and confined to her rooms in the Morwood mansion. When Asher arrives--in the midst of a classically gothic thunderstorm and pursued by an unknown beast--the family is in dire need of her direction. Asher soon begins teaching the children, and when she learns of Leonora's condition, promises a cure. As the novel shifts between past and present, we learn that Asher is a young woman set on revenge and delivering a terrible promise she made to her dying mother Heloise.
Asher gradually reveals her secrets to us while she pries into the Morwood family history. We learn Asher's mother Heloise was Luther's sister and rightful heir to the Morwood estate. But Heloise was sent out into the world pregnant with Asher, banished from her home. Surviving with her wits and beauty, Heloise was often cruel to Asher, blaming her for their frequent poverty. Asher learned as a child that her mother's love was conditional and unpredictable: "Once upon a time, there was a stupid little girl who thought if she could just try hard enough, her mother would be happy. Would be pleased. Would be good." And when Heloise discovers that her daughter has a special gift for magic, Heloise begins to plan her revenge. But Heloise also warns her daughter to hide her gift because "those who are different are burned or drowned." This is a world where women who stand out are punished, a world where past marvels created by women are cause for those same women to be burned by the Church as witches.
As in Slatter's other work, there are fairytales woven throughout the novel, some familiar and some told askew, giving depth to the larger story. The Morwood children tell Asher a tale of "the wicked wolves of the wood" and how a good priest defeated them, saving the villagers. But the groundskeeper, Eli Bligh, suggests a different version saying there's "no point in telling stories that make priests out to be heroes." It's no surprise when we learn that Asher's father is the local priest--a terrible man who meets an equally terrible fate. Eli Bligh is elemental: a man/ beast of the forest linked by blood to the original inhabitants of the estate. He and his cottage become a haven for Asher from the terrors of the Morwood home (a "house that eats secrets") as well as a balance to Luther Morwood's toxic masculinity. Luther is a brutal man and his brutality extends to the villagers--not merely fathering illegitimate children on willing (and unwilling) village girls but also refusing his duties as lord of the manor to provide appropriate care for the villagers. Through word of mouth, Asher quietly begins to treat their various maladies leading to a violent confrontation with Luther. As mystery piles on mystery (What happened to the previous governess? What illness is killing one of the village families?) Asher reminds herself, "Courage, Asher. There is no one else to have it for you."
Asher is able to help Leonora regain her sight and Leonora reasserts her dominion over her son and his family. This seems positive at first, but Leonora's desire to regain her youthful looks leads her to make a terrible demand of Asher. Soon we learn not only what dark magic Asher is capable of but exactly what Heloise demanded Asher do for her. As Asher's past, her lies and promises begin to pile up (along with the bodies), she dreams of escaping her mother and the Morwoods, "Just as I came to break this house, so too I'm breaking ... I must leave before I'm entirely sundered." In a heart-pounding climax, all of the lies and plotting come to the fore, dark secrets are revealed, and Asher's story resolves in a non-traditional firestorm of an ending.
Holly Black states in the afterword to Book of Night that this is her debut adult novel. But Black's previous YA novels are great reads, even for jaded grownups like me. Her stories of strong young women pushing back against oppression--whether from boys/men or the wicked folk of Faery, are compelling and entertaining. Book of Night isn't set in the Faery realm but in a skewed version of the Pioneer Valley in Western Massachusetts. Charlie "Charlatan" Hall claims she's been "crooked, from the day she was born. Never met a bad decision she wasn't willing to double down on. Had fingers made for picking pockets, a tongue for lying, and a shriveled cherry pit for a heart." But Charlie is a highly likable protagonist, and despite her own self-assessment, we learn that she (like Asher) has been shaped by a less-thanideal mother: a woman so self-involved that she allows a shady con man to use a twelve-year old Charlie for his cons. That is, until the day he oversteps at the home of the wealthy and powerful Lionel Salt and comes to a violent end, young Charlie barely escaping with her life.
Charlie's world is both familiar (bar jobs, boyfriends, rent, hangovers) and unfamiliar. In this world, people's shadows are part of "shadow magic" where shadows can be altered to look like wings or cats but also used to intimidate others, to increase one's own power. There is a market for stolen shadows and a powerful "cabal" that rules over shadow magic. Black does an excellent job of explaining this world--without breaking narrative pace with extended exposition--and we learn about power structures and shadow magic as the pace of Charlie's life moves rapidly forward. "Alterationists" comprise one of the four shadow disciplines: they "cosmetically shape shadows, using them to trigger emotions so strong they could be addictive." Work with shadow magic is "gloaming," and the other disciplines include "carapaces focused on their own shadows" who can fly, "puppeteers" who send their shadows to do "the kind of foul shit no one wanted to talk about," and "the masks ... a bunch of creeps and mystics intent on unraveling the secrets of the universe, no matter who it hurt." There are also "Blights"--shadows walking free after their "gloamist" has died.
Charlie's boyfriend Vince has no shadow--he tells her it was stolen (a frequent occurrence in a world where shadows have power). Charlie's younger sister, Posey, is obsessed with activating her own shadow--risking her health and sanity. When an acquaintance, Doreen, asks Charlie to find her missing partner Adam, Charlie starts a search that sets in motion a series of events reaching back to her own childhood trauma and involving all of the shadow magic elite in the Valley. At the bar where Charlie works, a "tweedy man" (Paul Ecco) is thrown out for trying to sell part of a mysterious book, the Liber Noctem, wanted by Lionel Salt. Later, walking home from work, Charlie sees Ecco's body, "cracked open like a walnut" and nearby a man whose hands are "entirely made of shadow." She makes it home, but the man with shadow hands will become a terrifying part of Charlie's life as she begins her search for Adam and the book. Charlie is intrigued by the Liber Noctem, and although she's sworn off her past of stealing and trading in rare books and objects wanted by gloamists, it turns out that Adam may have the book. Charlie is drawn back into her old life because "she might be able to have something she never thought she would--the satisfaction of taking something away from Lionel Salt."
Shifting between past and present, we learn how Charlie became who she is and just what it was Lionel Salt did to her. And we begin to be suspicious of Vince and of everyone else in Charlie's world. Although Charlie has a tattoo that reads "fear less," we feel her fear and recklessness as she dives deeper into the Valley's underground of shadow magic, learns what she believes to be Vince's secret, and discovers that her own shadow is "quickening." Charlie decides "If she couldn't be responsible or careful or good or loved, if she was doomed to be a lit match, then [she] might as well go back to finding stuff to burn." At a rapidly increasing pace, she does just that: setting in motion a complex plan that ultimately leads to a confrontation with the Cabal and Salt at his home and the revelation of many truths: including Vince's identity and the importance of the Liber Noctem. Similar to the ending of The Path of Thorns, dark secrets are revealed and the shadow world implodes thanks to Charlie's lit match.
Yvonne C. Garrett holds an MLIS, an MFA-Fiction, two MAs (NYU), and a Ph.D. with a dissertation focused on women in Punk.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2022 The Brooklyn Rail, Inc.
http://www.brooklynrail.org
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Garrett, Yvonne C. "Book of Night and The Path of Thorns." The Brooklyn Rail, June 2022, pp. 98+. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A707351431/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=8115da8f. Accessed 10 Dec. 2022.
Home Books Book Review
Mimi Koehler·Books·April 26, 2022·4 min read
Review: Book of Night by Holly Black
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RELEASE DATE
May 3, 2022
RATING
7 / 10
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Holly Black’s adult novel debut Book of Night follows Charlie Hall, an allegedly retired con-artist who’s trying to scrape by as a bartender. Living together with her boyfriend Vince and her younger sister Posey, Charlie is trying hard to keep on the straight and narrow. But when things go awry in her world of shadows, Charlie can’t help but want to investigate the weird happenings. In Charlie’s world, shadows can be altered—for entertainment and cosmetic preferences—but more importantly, to increase power and influence. But manipulating shadows has a cost—and once Charlie finds herself sucked into the schemes of others and past figures come to haunt her, she’ll have to do whatever it takes to protect the people she loves.
What a premise, right? And with gorgeous writing, a big mystery at its centre, an underdog protagonist and a race against the clock on a high-stakes heist, Book of Night definitely did not come to play. I can already tell that this will make readers both put it on their “Best of 2022” list and beg Holly Black for a sequel (because that ending. Whew).
What I will say is that Book of Night takes quite a while to pick up its pace. At times, I almost felt like reading two different books: the first half dragged and was boggled down with confusing information about the range of shadows and the alterations one can make as well as the backstory of Vince, Charlie, and Posey but by the time the second half arrived, I was so hooked I couldn’t put Charlie’s story down as it all unravelled magnificently with plot twists that left me shook. So you might have to slog your way through the drawn-out set up, but if you manage that, you’re rewarded with one hell of a ride.
The thing that makes this novel remarkable is of course its protagonist Charlie. What I love about Charlie is that her mess—isn’t just going away. Yeah, she’s initially taking steps to get back on the legal side of things, yeah she’s trying her hardest but I love how Black didn’t shy away from showing that being an adult…is effing hard sometimes, whether you live in a world filled with magic or not. Charlie’s overwhelmed with the responsibilities and the memories of the past that haunt her but she just never gives up. That resilience, paired with her dry wit and heavy sarcasm, made me instantly fall in love with her. Beyond that, she always comes up with another trick, another chance to make things work out for her and the people she loves, which reminded me a lot of Kaz Brekker in Six of Crows—Charlie might not always show it, but she’s pretty damn good at being a thief and trickster with a heart of gold. There’s also something to be said for her tendency to self-destruct: in the choices she makes and in the ones she doesn’t. It’s these types of flawed characters that I can relate so much to that it almost feels like reading is holding up a mirror and that just is writing at its best, honestly.
I can’t really say much about the plot without spoiling stuff (seeing as the action happens later on in the novel and the information you get in the first half is kind of needed to make that…work) but what I can say is that if you’re all about dark atmospheric writing, sinister happenings and protagonists you can’t help but root for because (and not in spite) of their flawed character, then this one needs to be on the top of your TBR.
Black’s adult debut Book of Night combines a world full of danger and magical shadows with an adrenaline-fueled heist and a flawed, memorable underdog of a protagonist that is sure to have readers keeping an eye on their own shadows. Gripping, dark and sinister, this is perfect for fans of Leigh Bardugo’s Ninth House and V.E. Schwab’s Gallant.
Book of Night is available from Amazon, Book Depository, and other good book retailers, like your local bookstore, as of May 3rd 2022.
Book of Night: YA Star Holly Black Levels Up with Her Dark Adult Debut
By Lacy Baugher Milas | May 3, 2022 | 10:15am
BOOKS REVIEWS HOLLY BLACK
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Book of Night: YA Star Holly Black Levels Up with Her Dark Adult Debut
If you’ve read any popular young adult fantasy authors in the last few years, odds are you’ve encountered the work of Holly Black before. A New York Times bestselling writer who is probably best known for her “Folk of the Air” series, Black’s work is richly imagined, lushly written, and usually populated by an assortment of fairy folk with questionable, often sinister intentions. (But generally great cheekbones.) And her books are a blast—creative, propulsive narratives populated by an array of memorable characters you’ll either love immediately or love to hate, and the sort of addictive storytelling that means you’ll “accidentally” tear through one in the course of a day or two.
Book of Night may be Black’s first adult fantasy novel, but it contains many of the hallmarks that have made her writing so popular for years. There’s a prickly heroine, a twisty plot, and a central relationship that is something other than what it initially appears to be. But something about the contemporary, urban setting seems to free something in Black’s writing, allowing her to really dig into a story that is, at its heart, about trauma. From absentee parents and child abuse to toxic living situations and a magical system that involves no small amount of bodily mutilation, this is her messiest, most complicated book yet. (And I mean that in all the best ways.)
Set in a world in which it has only recently been discovered that some people can control and command their own shadows, popular consciousness and culture have become obsessed with so-called shadow magic. This has led to regular folks attempting to alter their shadows to grant new abilities or simply achieve cool cosmetic enhancements like having a shadow in the shape of a cat. (Admittedly? Kind of awesome.) Society’s elites, as is their wont, attempt to claim this power for their own, often offering large sums of money to those who can help replace their non-awakened shadows with those of a more magical or powerful variety.
Heroine Charlie Hall isn’t anyone’s role model—a con woman and a thief who can’t seem to say no to a challenge, she’s no angel, even when she’s at least attempting to be a better person. Having sworn off stealing things for a variety of unsavory gloamists (a fancy name for those who can control shadows and use them for various forms of magic), she’s working as a bartender, trying to convince her sister Posey to go to college, and making the best of things with her very normal if occasionally dull boyfriend Vince.
But when she’s inevitably drawn back into another scheme, her search for a missing object—the infamous Book of Night rumored to be full of the darkest sorts of shadow spells and rituals—will not only take over her life, it will put everything she loves at risk, forcing Charlie to decide who she is, and who she’s willing to become. Because in order to survive, she’ll have to confront every skeleton she was hoping to leave buried in her closet.
Black has spoken before about the ways that shifting to writing an adult novel has allowed her to explore more complex sorts of issues, such as the stagnation of adulthood and the ways we’re less able to adapt and change as we get older than perhaps we once were. And that’s honestly a big part of the reason Charlie feels so relatable as a heroine. Because even though you (probably?) can’t magically control your shadow, well, who among us hasn’t wondered what we were doing with our lives? Or questioned whether we were failing at this whole adulting thing?
The furthest thing from a starry-eyed ingenue, Charlie is a young woman who feels world-weary in the way that only comes with age and repeated disappointment. She’s made mistakes and learned that, more often than not, there are no magical fixes or do-overs, just consequences that run the gamut from the mundane (not being able to afford rent) to the physically painful (a former investigative target holding a potentially violent grudge).
Black is hardly the only successful YA author testing the waters of the adult contemporary fantasy space: Leigh Bardugo’s Ninth House and Sarah J. Maas’ Crescent City are just two of the crossover titles that have hit it big in the past couple of years. But Black’s story is perhaps the one that feels the least like her previous work, which makes her trilogy one of the most interesting series on offer at the moment. It’s just such a departure for her and, as a result, feels like it could go anywhere.
Perhaps that’s why it does take a bit for Book of Night to find its groove—much of the first half of the book is dedicated to general character set-up, the broad strokes of world-building, and an explanation of this universe’s magical system that tends to err very heavily on the “show not tell” side, even when a bit of a primer on the rules and capabilities of shadow magic would be really helpful. Technically, there are several types of gloamists and a distinct hierarchy between them all, but I have to admit I’m still not entirely sure how to explain what they are or how they relate to one another.
Those readers who are looking to Book of Night for the romance of The Cruel Prince will also likely be disappointed. There are certainly surprising relationship developments throughout the story, as well as a couple of bombshell twists, but the sort of enemies to lovers adversarial dynamic that so many loved between Jude and Cardan isn’t present here. (There is some hope for the existence of something vaguely similar in the sequel we all assume is coming, but certainly not guaranteed.) Instead, this is a much more character rather than relationship driven tale—which isn’t a bad thing at all, but given the likely crossover audience from Black’s YA work, feels like something worth mentioning
Still, there’s plenty in Book of Night to hold your attention, and the story builds to an exciting climax that will certainly leave you crossing your fingers for a sequel.