Contemporary Authors

• The Five Daughters of the Moon - 2017 Tor.com, New York, NY
• The Sisters of the Crescent Empress - 2017 Tor.com, New York

• Leena Likitalo - http://leenalikitalo.tumblr.com/aboutMe

  I’m a writer from Finland, the land of thousands of lakes and at least as many untold tales. I break computer games for living and play polocrosse for fun. I enjoy embarking on new adventures, be it galloping across moonlit pampas or getting lost on my way back from a volcano and having to hitchhike home aboard a garbage truck.

• Helsinki Times - http://www.helsinkitimes.fi/culture/culture/culture3/10273-local-writer-wins-feted-literature-prize.html

  Local writer wins feted literature prize
  CREATED: 17 APRIL 2014
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  Leena Likitalo’s tales are filled with adventure, intrigue, a dash of romance and some memorable characters.Winner of worldwide writing contest sees the future in science fiction.

  INSPIRATION can strike in many places, but for Helsinki author Leena Likitalo it comes in the most unlikely of situations: playing underwater rubgy. Whether during warm up diving practice or actual gameplay, various thoughts come swimming into view with regularity, as she negotiates her way through various limbs under the surface. Her ideas are not limited to the pool, however, and an idea for her next story may also come whilst astride a horse.

  Recently bestowed with winning the Writers of the Future awards and having attended the 30th Annual L. Ron Hubbard Achievement Awards in Los Angeles, opportunity now beckons for readers to enjoy her tales filled with adventure, intrigue, a dash of romance and memorable characters.

  How did you start writing stories and science fiction? Why?

  I've always loved telling stories, but for a long time, I lacked the necessary patience to actually write them down...

  Many, many years ago, when I was sixteen, I struggled to learn foreign languages. My father, an avid science fiction and fantasy reader, came up with a cunning plan to help me. He picked up a fantasy novel from his bookcase – The Eye of The World by Robert Jordan – and lured me into reading it.

  No matter that my vocabulary was next to non-existent and my sense of grammar sketchy at best, I got hooked on the story. I spent the next summer reading through my father's impressive collection, and, let me tell you, it was as if I were walking down an aisle and seeing an endless array of doors open before me, each one of them promising to lead me into a whole new world.

  I decided that I would one day write a fantasy novel of my own – and preferably do so in English. However, it took me a decade to pick up enough vocabulary and grammar to really start pursuing my dream.

  I know this is a difficult question to answer, but which one of your stories is your "favourite"?

  It's hard to pick favorites. The more I write, the better — I think – my stories become. Hence, my current work in progress always tends to become my favorite.

  At the moment, I love the most the short story that won me the Writers of the Future award. It was inspired by my yearning to travel somewhere far, far away, and just watch vast distances unfold before my eyes. Once I made the decision to travel to Patagonia, the first sentence came to me in a very pure and clean form. After that, the story just told itself. And then, it demanded to be expanded into a full-length novel.

  Which one was the hardest one to write? Why?

  The story I'm working on is always the hardest one. I get inspired a dozen times a day and probably outline closer to five stories a week. However, it takes a great deal of patience to expand interesting ideas into short stories, let alone novels. Often, a story might have to brew for months before all the pieces click together. And even when the plot is ready, polishing every sentence to perfection demands time and effort. I think I've read every one of my stories about a hundred times.

  How do you describe your writing?

  I am fortunate, for stories come to me and demand to be told. Sometimes, they come as feelings, with the character's voice clear in my head, ready to tell the whole story. At other times, I get a glimpse of a scene; witness a mystery about to unravel.

  These days, I outline all my stories as I've noticed that that saves both time and effort. However, I leave deliberate holes in the stories and wait for the details to arrive. It's almost like colouring pictures. Sometimes all it takes to finish the story is one layer of emotion, but often I end up doing a dozen or so passes on one chapter, concentrating on one aspect of the story, plot, setting, or character at the time.

  How do you feel about winning the Writers of the Future contest?

  Winning the contest feels great!

  Writing is often lonely business. I've been writing every day for the past four years. I've finished two novels in English and probably closer to 50 short stories. To date, four of my short stories have found a home. On the way, I've garnered hundreds of rejection letters, too many to keep track of the exact count. So, winning – it feels so, so sweet!

  Are you working on something at the moment?

  At the moment, I'm giving finishing touches to a novel written around the short story that won me the Writers of the Future award. It's a steampunk-spiced love story inspired by my travels to Patagonia.

  I'm also searching for an agent for my dark YA fantasy novel Silverwing. It's about an innocently self-centered lady who after an unraveled engagement is ready to do anything to regain her place in society. Lots of catfights ensue.

  I always have a plethora of short stories in progress as well. My aim is to write one short story a month, but sometimes, like in this March, I ended up outlining 12 short stories, rather than actually finishing any of them...

  So, there's a lot to keep me busy.

  PILAR DÍAZ
  HELSINKI TIMES
  Image: Tuomas Suvanto

• Sarena Ulibarri - http://www.sarenaulibarri.com/blog/interview-with-leena-likitalo-author-of-the-five-daughters-of-the-moon

  Interview with Leena Likitalo, author of The Five Daughters of the Moon
  7/25/2017 0 Comments

  Picture
  Leena Likitalo is one of the fantastic authors I was lucky enough to get to know at the Clarion Fantasy and Science Fiction Writers' Workshop, which we both attended in the summer of 2014. Though many of our cohort have published a good deal of short fiction since that summer (some of it very well received), and a few have landed small press book deals, Leena is the first of our group to be published with a "Big Five" publisher like Tor. THE FIVE DAUGHTERS OF THE MOON by Leena Likitalo is out today, July 25, 2017, and the sequel, THE SISTERS OF THE CRESCENT EMPRESS will be available in November 2017.

  I'm thrilled that more people will finally have the chance to experience the wondrous worlds that flow from Leena Likitalo's fingertips.
  Inspired by the 1917 Russian revolution and the last months of the Romanov sisters, The Five Daughters of the Moon by Leena Likitalo is a beautifully crafted historical fantasy with elements of technology fueled by evil magic.
  Picture
  Clarion 2014 (not the whole class). Leena is in the green hoodie.
  Sarena Ulibarri: In a nutshell, what was the path from manuscript to publication for THE FIVE DAUGHTERS OF THE MOON?

  Leena Likitalo: The Five Daughters of the Moon came to me, demanding to be told right at that moment, and perhaps that's why everything happened so very fast.

  The story came to me first in November 2014. I had just started in a new job and resolved not to work on any novels for the time being. This story didn't care about that! It was so insistent that I had no other option but to scribble it down as a short story.

  The good thing about insistent stories is that they pretty much write themselves. The next summer, when I had some time off from work, I jotted down a synopsis for the duology — by then I'd realized the story was too big and complex for one book. It took me around three months to complete the first draft of the novel, and in November 2015, I had a book in my hands.

  I'd been in touch with Claire Eddy—my editor-to-be—before about a different project. While she said no to that one, her kind feedback encouraged me to approach her with my new project in February 2016.

  Fast-forward to June of the same year, and there I was with a two-book deal from Tor.com, represented by the wonderful Cameron McClure of Donald Maass Literary Agency.

  SU: What advice do you have for young writers who are struggling through the first draft of a fantasy novel?

  LL: You can do it. You can. Just keep on writing. Word after word. Sentence after sentence. See, put them after each other like that. There's your first page, chapter, and the rest will follow. It's fine if you don't know how the story is going to end. Eventually you'll get there if you just keep on going.

  Keep on writing. Write every day, even if it's just a word, even if that word is wrong, or perhaps it's the right one. One sentence a day is a lot. A whole page? You're on the right track.

  Finish what you're writing. Cherish it. Toss it away in shame. Both are fine. As long as you feel something toward what you wrote, you're doing it right. If it's bad, you know you should probably try a different thing next time around. If it's good, then great!

  Google. Google your favorite author and how they got where they are now. Read forums on how to become a writer. Learn the trade. Blog post after another, websites, too. Standard manuscript format, synopsis, query, publishing deal anatomy, foreign rights. You want to know all about them. Just in case one day…

  So you have a novel in your hands? I'm so happy for you! Is it ready go or do you want to work on it still? It's ready? Then it's time for the next step on your journey.

  Query agents. Get rejected. Cry. Get over it. Submit again. Rinse and repeat. This is writer's life.

  Put the first novel into a drawer. Start a new one. Rinse and repeat until success follows. It might take only one iteration. Or then nine. But eventually, one day, maybe one day your writerly dreams will come true.

  SU: What books, authors, or films most influenced you when writing THE FIVE DAUGHTERS OF THE MOON?

  LL: I've always loved Russian literature. When I was fourteen, we read Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky in school. I was the only kid in my class that cheered on the assignment. But darn, that language, the impeding melancholy… that's my cup of tea. And if you want to read a novel with the most fabulous cast of characters ever brought to life, try War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy.

  Around the time The Five Daughters of the Moon came to me, I wanted to brush up my Swedish. Maria Turtschaninoff had just won the prestigious Finlandia Junior prize for her novel Maresi, and so I decided to try that one.

  Maresi is a quiet and dark story that builds up slowly and stays with you months and months after reading the last page. The women in the story are strong, each in their own unique way. This novel inspired me to seek new dimensions in the stories I had to tell -- I realized that it was possible to write tales where women are in control of their own fates even if the world is set against them.

  Now movies, you ask? Gimme historical dramas. I like the aesthetics of Downtown Abbey – the dresses, the country houses, ridiculous dedication to etiquette. Another favorite of mine are the Hercule Poirot movies. The best one is of course Murder on the Orient Express.

  SU: What’s your favorite memory from the Clarion Workshop?

  LL: Ah, Sarena, you should know that there are too many to name just one!

  I think the utmost best thing about Clarion was making connections that last for years and years to come. We're still in touch with my group, and it's been immeasurably valuable to me! No one understands writer's pain and anxiety like another writer… And to see my fellow classmates selling stories and becoming editors – it's a fabulous thing to witness!

  SU: How many stories did you write at Clarion, and what became of them?

  LL: I had decided that I would write six stories in Clarion, and while I did stay true to my decision, I think I might have been better off with just four or five.

  My Week 1 story was not good at all, and I knew it even when writing it. The sole purpose of that story was to remove the writerly blocks lingering in my blood and get going with the actual business of telling tales.

  My Week 2 story, Operating Santa's Machine, was a hit amongst my Clarion classmates — but let's just say that there's not much market for naughty Santa stories.

  My Week 3 story, Give Your All to the Cause, started as a silly car-ride conversation about buying political favors with organ donations. It took me half a year to finish this story, but once it was done, I was very happy with it. This one found home at Galaxy's Edge magazine and I think it's one of my best scifi stories to date.

  My Week 4 story, The Village At the Shadow of a Sleeping Cyclop, crushed me. It spiraled out of control, and I couldn't finish it in the way I wanted. I'm still thinking of fixing it, because I like the imagery and concept. But there's so many stories I really want to tell, that this one might need to wait a few more years still.

  After Week 4, I was sure I couldn't piece another story together. And then this epic poem came to me pretty much out of nowhere, and so Ocelia, Ocelia was born. Jeff VanderMeer bought it for weirdfictionreview.com, and there's a Finnish translation available, too, coming out hopefully this year still.

  And then there was Week 6 — rather than letting an idea come to me, I decided to go with an idea I'd been toying with for some time already. The end result was crafted rather than organic. Not my finest piece.

  SU: Do you have any readings or signings coming up? Where can readers find you?

  LL: Worldcon 75 will be organized in Helsinki — my very hometown. I'll be participating in a panel there, and hanging out in countless others.

  You can find more about me and these events in www.leenalikitalo.com.
  Picture
  Leena Likitalo hails from Finland, the land of endless summer days and long, dark winter nights. She lives with her husband on an island at the outskirts of Helsinki, the capital. But regardless of her remote location, stories find their way to her and demand to be told.

  While growing up, Leena struggled to learn foreign languages. At sixteen, her father urged her to start reading in English, and thus she spent the next summer wading through his collection of fantasy and science fiction novels. She has fond memories of her "teachers": J.R.R. Tolkien, Robert Jordan, Roger Zelazny, and Vernor Vinge.

  Leena breaks computer games for a living. When she's not working, she writes obsessively. And when she's not writing, she can be found at the stables riding horses and playing polocrosse.

  You can visit her online at www.leenalikitalo.com.

• Jeff VanderMeer - http://www.jeffvandermeer.com/2017/07/25/five-daughters-moon-interview-leena-likitalo/

  Five Daughters of the Moon: An Interview with Leena Likitalo
  A guest post by Jeff VanderMeer
  July 25, 2017

  I first met Leena Likitalo in Finland several years ago. I was impressed by her talent and her clear vision about her career. Fast-forward to today, and Likitalo has her first book out in English: The Five Daughters of the Moon. It’s a lush and luminous debut, energetic and sure-footed. You can find more information here. The book has already made Barnes & Noble’s best-of-the-month list, among other accolades.

  Below find an exclusive interview with the author–about Finland, her writing, underwater rugby, shooting stuff with arrows, and much more. – Jeff

  ***

  Leena Likitalo hails from Finland, the land of thousands of lakes and at least as many untold tales. She’s the author of the Waning Moon Duology, including The Five Daughters of the Moon and The Sisters of the Crescent Empress (Tor.com Publishing). A Writers of the Future winner and Clarion San Diego graduate, her short fiction has appeared in Clarkesworld, Galaxy’s Edge, and Weird Tales.

  How does your Finnish background influence your writing and what did you grow up reading?

  My Finnish background has definitely affected the way my prose flows. Finnish words are fiercely independent and extremely phonetic by nature. Each word knows who’s doing what, when, and in which manner. This is achieved by suffixing bits and pieces at the end of each word. When I write in English, I know how the finished story should sound, but I may have to spend hours and hours with a dictionary, looking for the words that make the sentences sing. This sometimes leads to rather odd compositions that may not be entirely grammatically correct, but somehow still make sense. At least to me.

  I grew up reading fairy tales, lots and lots of them, and that probably twisted something permanently in my brain. Have a look at the works of Zachris Topelius and Hans Christian Andersen for some really stunning stories! During my early teens, I veered toward darker paths and read pretty much everything that Stephen King had ever written. Thanks to various school projects, I got introduced to Dostoyevsky and Tolstoy – and much to everyone’s surprise found them very much to my liking. My father lured me into sampling science fiction and fantasy when I was sixteen – I learned English by reading the works of Tolkien, Robert Jordan, and Vernor Vinge!

  When did you first know you wanted to be a writer and when did you first feel like a writer, so to speak?

  I’ve wanted to be a writer for as long as I can remember. I wrote my first stories before I learned to read. Naturally complications arose from that because not so surprisingly, no one else understood my brilliant system…I remember sitting before a typewriter at the tender age of nine, very determined to write a novel about wild horses. Unfortunately, I couldn’t figure out how to use the darn thing (who knew that centering a title could be so very challenging), and that was it for time being.

  When did I feel like a writer? That day came when I sold my first short story, Watcher, to Ann VanderMeer, the editor of Weird Tales at the time.

  You, to me, seem driven in the best possible way. You’ve succeeded through talent and very hard work. What do you feel has been essential to persevering and your success?

  In Finland, we have this word sisu which is so integral to our very existence that it’s engraved deep into our minds and bodies. Sisu means persistence through impossible odds with the firm belief in mind that, if you keep on trying hard enough, regardless of how many times you fail on the way, in the end you just might succeed. Just might.

  I was brought up to believe that through practice and persistence I could achieve anything I wanted in my life. And so I knew that if I just kept on writing, day after day, story after story, gradually I was bound to master my craft. I saw the hundreds of rejections that both my short and longer fiction garnered as a validation of my progress toward my goals.

  And one by one, I have indeed achieved my writerly dreams: winning in Writers of the Future, participating in Clarion San Diego, selling a short story to Clarkesworld, and eventually signing a two-book deal with Tor.com Publishing.

  You ride horses and shoot arrows at targets. You’re competitive at underwater rugby. How did you get into sports and do you find it helps in the writing? In what ways?

  My underwater rugby team is called Najadit—the water spirits—and I love playing this rather intensive sport with my friends. Alas, I haven’t been to the pools of late due to old injuries re-surfacing. But one day, when I’m fit again, I shall make my return with a splash!

  Now then, exercise, believe it or not, it’s actually an important part of my super-optimized writing process. I tend to write in 30 minute bursts, putting words after one another so fast that I start hearing voices and seeing visions, then disappear from this world altogether. Such intensity takes its toll, though, and after each session, I need to do something entirely different – mainly, clean the house or do sports. Yes, the latter is definitely more fun than laundry, which explains why I spend quite a lot of time exercising.

  Hiking, bicycling, riding horses out in the nature, they all have a very meditative effect on me. Often, when there’s a particular plot point I need to solve or a description I want to nail before my next burst, it comes to me during these outings. And when it comes to extreme sports, I’m a bit of a junkie for new experiences. Give me a horse and a bow and an arrow, and I shall do my very best to hit the target or at least fail spectacularly while trying!

  What do you want readers to take away from your books?

  I like to describe my writing as a gateway drug for people who may not have read any fantasy before; it’s easy to approach, but leaves you craving for more. My books are for cloudy days, to be read while wrapped in a fluffy blanket, with a hot cup of cocoa by one’s side and a cat purring at one’s feet. I want to take my readers out for an adventure and truly make them laugh and cry with my characters. With my Waning Moon Duology, I wish to leave my readers with a haunting feeling of days past that will linger with them for weeks afterwards.

  What are you working on now?

  I’ve recently finished the edits of The Sisters of the Crescent Empress, the second book of my Waning Moon Duology. It’s due to come out this November already! While I do intend to write more stories set in the Waning Moon world, at the moment I’m working on side project. In my deeply feministic, philosophical piece, a child god shelters a group of pregnant women who—to return the favor—attempt to teach the god the difference between right and wrong. What could possibly go wrong there?

3/4/2018 General OneFile - Saved Articles
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Print Marked Items
The Sisters of the Crescent Empress
Publishers Weekly.
264.40 (Oct. 2, 2017): p121+.
COPYRIGHT 2017 PWxyz, LLC
http://www.publishersweekly.com/
Full Text:
The Sisters of the Crescent Empress
Leena Likitalo.Tor.com, $17.99 trade paper
(320p) ISBN 978-0-7653-9545-0
In Likitalo's lovely sequel to The Five Daughters of the Moon, based on the last days of the Romanovs, the
lyrical prose takes full advantage of the richness of Russian mythology and perfectly captures the enduring
chill that surrounds the girls. After the Crescent Empress is murdered, her five daughters are exiled to a
desolate house in the wilds of the frigid north. Meanwhile, Gagargi Prataslav leads the revolution against
the Crescent Empire, turning the sisters' allies against them and feeding souls to his Great Thinking
Machine to appease the masses. Ghosts haunt the house, and they have secrets to tell, but the sisters' time is
short, and they must escape before it runs out. The sisters take turns narrating the story, and Likitalo
succeeds beautifully in showcasing their realistically distinct personalities. The personal and societal
consequences of revolution, including the toll it takes and the hope it offers, are explored. Likitalo's
emotional and lyrical dark fairy tale will give readers plenty to think about. Agent: Cameron McClure,
Donald Maass Literary. (Nov.)
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
"The Sisters of the Crescent Empress." Publishers Weekly, 2 Oct. 2017, p. 121+. General OneFile,
http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A509728442/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=8663643e.
Accessed 4 Mar. 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A509728442
3/4/2018 General OneFile - Saved Articles
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The Five Daughters of the Moon
Publishers Weekly.
264.23 (June 5, 2017): p35.
COPYRIGHT 2017 PWxyz, LLC
http://www.publishersweekly.com/
Full Text:
The Five Daughters of the Moon
Leena Likitalo.Tor.com, $4.99 e-book (256p)
ISBN 978-0-7653-9543-6
Likitalo's lush debut, the first in a duology inspired by the Russian revolution and the story of the Romanov
sisters, combines court intrigue, unnerving magic, and brewing revolution in a world powered by the souls
of animals. When Gagargi Prataslav demonstrates the Great Thinking Machine, which "can answer every
question" and "find an answer to questions that no one has even thought to ask yet," to the Crescent
Empress, she deems the cost of running it too high, as it runs on human souls. Determined, he turns to the
restless masses, promising that the machine can save them from hardship and help them overthrow the
empress. Her eldest daughter, Celestia, becomes an unwitting pawn in Prataslav's diabolical plan, and when
he strikes a deal with the empress, Celestia vows to protect her younger sisters. Sixteen-year-old Elise
already knows of the brewing revolution from her beloved, Captain Janlav. Eleven-year-old Merile mostly
cares about her animal companions, and 15-year-old Sibilia has no interest in political maneuvering. Only
five-year-old Alina is haunted by the shadows of the animals who have sacrificed their souls for the
Crescent Empire, and she has learned to trust her instinct for impending danger. Exiled, the sisters must
plan their next moves in the conflict to come. A fantasy landscape both familiar and otherworldly comes to
life in this absorbing, imaginative tale. Agent: Cameron McClure, Donald Maass Literary. (July)
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
"The Five Daughters of the Moon." Publishers Weekly, 5 June 2017, p. 35. General OneFile,
http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A495538331/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=512c797c.
Accessed 4 Mar. 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A495538331

• RT Book Reviews
  https://www.rtbookreviews.com/book-review/sisters-crescent-empress
  Word count: 411

  RT Rating:

  Genre:
  Fantasy
  Published:
  November 7 2017
  Publisher:
  Tor.com
  BUY NOW!
  Amazon:
  Buy Now
  Barnes & Noble: Buy Now
  *This post contains affiliate links. If you click an affiliate link and purchase an item from the vendor, we receive a percentage of the profit (even if you don't buy the item we've linked to). Thank you for supporting RT Book Reviews!

  BOOK REVIEWS
  All Genres
  Top Picks!
  Contemporary Romance
  Historical Romance
  Historical Fiction
  Romantic Suspense
  Mystery/Suspense/Thriller
  Paranormal
  Fantasy
  Urban Fantasy
  Young Adult
  Inspirational
  Mainstream
  Science Fiction
  Series
  Erotica
  RT Review Source
  RT RATINGS GUIDE
  5 GOLD: Phenomenal. In a class by itself.
  4 1/2: TOP PICK. Fantastic. A keeper.
  4: Compelling. A page-turner.
  3: Enjoyable. A pleasant read.
  2: Problematic. May struggle to finish.
  1: Severely Flawed. Pass on this one.
  THE SISTERS OF THE CRESCENT EMPRESS
  Author(s): Leena Likitalo
  After the excellent beginning of this duology, readers might find themselves slightly disappointed in the second narrative. Part of this may be due to the nature of the story itself, taking place as it must in the prison that the sisters find themselves encased within; however, when the action of a story must be limited due to scene, the author must rise to the occasion by making the characters more compelling, more engaging and more empathetic than before. Likitalo’s reliance on wordplay devices to give each character personality became grating rather than endearing by the end of the second novella, and certain characters’ perspective chapters became difficult to endure because of it. The story is still a worthy one, and the author still skilled — despite the obstacles in this novella, future additions to this fantasy world would be worth investing in.

  The five daughters of the moon, trapped in the harsh, abandoned winter home where their aunts were also banished to many years ago, must race the seasons to find a way to escape the plotting of the evil Gagargi. Celestia, the future Empress, is designated as his bride, and the remainder of her sisters are doomed to die as spares if they cannot come up with a plan to thwart the Gagargi and reunite their rebellion torn country. (TOR.COM, Nov., 336 pp., $14.99)

  Reviewed by:
  Victoria Frerichs

• RT Book Reviews
  https://www.rtbookreviews.com/book-review/five-daughters-moon
  Word count: 380

  Image of The Five Daughters of the Moon (The Waning Moon Duology)
  RT Rating:

  Genre:
  Fantasy, General Fantasy
  Published:
  July 25 2017
  Publisher:
  Tor.com
  BUY NOW!
  Amazon:
  Buy Now
  Barnes & Noble: Buy Now
  *This post contains affiliate links. If you click an affiliate link and purchase an item from the vendor, we receive a percentage of the profit (even if you don't buy the item we've linked to). Thank you for supporting RT Book Reviews!

  BOOK REVIEWS
  All Genres
  Top Picks!
  Contemporary Romance
  Historical Romance
  Historical Fiction
  Romantic Suspense
  Mystery/Suspense/Thriller
  Paranormal
  Fantasy
  Urban Fantasy
  Young Adult
  Inspirational
  Mainstream
  Science Fiction
  Series
  Erotica
  RT Review Source
  RT RATINGS GUIDE
  5 GOLD: Phenomenal. In a class by itself.
  4 1/2: TOP PICK. Fantastic. A keeper.
  4: Compelling. A page-turner.
  3: Enjoyable. A pleasant read.
  2: Problematic. May struggle to finish.
  1: Severely Flawed. Pass on this one.
  THE FIVE DAUGHTERS OF THE MOON
  Author(s): Leena Likitalo
  A duology that revolves around five young women, one of whom is still firmly in childhood, and the hardships and travails that descend upon them when rebellious forces try to realign their entire culture. Likitalo has crafted each character very distinctly and with a deft hand. Though the length is short and the action often happens to the characters rather than because of the characters, the suspense of the story keeps the reader engaged to the point of reading it all in one go. Readers will be unable to disconnect the parallels between the Russian Empire and the Crescent Empire. The villain is very Rasputin-like in his villainy, and the sacrifices made by the children and their mother are heartbreaking.

  The Crescent Empire, its Empress and her five Daughters are largely separated from day-to-day life in their lands. Because of this, the stirrings of rebellion have been allowed to flourish until it is almost too late. Will the magic light of their father, the Moon, be enough to save the girls, and the empire? (TOR.COM, Jul., 224 pp., $17.99)

  Reviewed by:
  Victoria Frerichs

• Locus Magazine
  https://locusmag.com/2018/02/liz-bourke-reviews-the-sisters-of-the-crescent-empress-by-leena-likitalo/
  Word count: 1142

  Liz Bourke Reviews The Sisters of the Crescent Empress by Leena Likitalo
  February 4, 2018 Liz Bourke
  The Sisters of the Crescent Empress, Leena Likitalo (Tor.com Publishing 978-0-7653-9545-0, $17.99, 322pp, tp). November 2017. Cover by Anna & Elena Balbusso.

  The Sisters of the Crescent Empress is the second volume in Leena Likitalo’s Waning Moon duology, after this summer’s The Five Daughters of the Moon. The first book was full of promise, told in the five individual voic­es of five different sisters, daughters of the em­press and in some fashion also daughters both of her human lovers and of the empress’s mysti­cal god-husband, the Moon. The two eldest sis­ters, Celestia and Elise, were each in different ways conspiring against their mother: Elise is a radical, while Celestia, under the magical in­fluence of Gagargi Prataslav, is merely making terrible decisions. The gagargi wants to feed human souls to his great calculating machine, and use its calculations to move people and re­sources more efficiently, to eliminate want at an incredible human cost. The gagargi will, of course, be in charge – the more so now in The Sisters of the Crescent Empress, since he has overthrown the former Crescent Empress and sent her daughters into internal exile.

  The Sisters of the Crescent Empress, un­fortunately, does not consummate its promise in any truly interesting way. Finnish author Likitalo is clearly very influenced by the over­throw of the Russian Tsar, the fate of the Ro­manov family, and the Russian Revolution. Where the first book seemed to offer many possibilities for how this variant on the story of family and revolution might go, in The Sis­ters of the Crescent Empress, the story closes down in a way that recalls the gothic (except there are five women, really, and none of them are all that fascinated by the house in which they find themselves): the sisters are enclosed first in a train, guarded by soldiers, then in a house at the limits of the empire. There, in ad­dition to the handful of soldiers that they’ve grown accustomed to, and who they believe will be reluctant to hurt them, they find that their guard also includes a captain who may well enjoy hurting people.

  The house is in the far north. In winter, the weather is too brutal to permit escape. In sum­mer, the nights are very short, which means their mystical Moon-father can’t see what hap­pens to them, or lend them any sort of mystical strength or support. The house is also haunted by the ghosts of the late Empress’s sisters, who were exiled there for plotting against the throne in their day. Of all the sisters, Celestia is the only one who remembers them, but the young­est sister, Alina, can see and talk to them.

  While Likitalo’s prose remains smooth, and the voices and characterisation of the charac­ters are still individual and distinct, it’s hard to escape feeling that this volume lacks direction. The sisters’ increasing sense of helplessness in their confinement, and the ever-growing sense of claustrophobic closeness which infuses the narrative is atmospheric, yes: but what’s the atmosphere in service of?

  The sisters hold dance practices, distrust each other’s motives, learn about each other’s betrayals, converse with the ghosts of their murdered aunts, and hide the fact that they’re conversing with ghosts from some of their oth­er sisters. The two youngest see a witch at the bottom of the garden and believe that she has promised to help them; they see a magpie that returns to peck at the window and believe it is a sign from the witch and/or a messenger from their father indicating encouragement and sup­port. The middle sister discovers that she can do a form of magic using their book of scrip­tures, and comes to terms with never getting to attend the balls she dreamed of, or kiss the boys she wanted to kiss. The second eldest sis­ter, radical Elise, befriends their guards, learns their routines, and has arguments with the eldest sister, Celestia, about the right course of action for their country and their fate. Ce­lestia plots and schemes for escape, to protect her younger sisters and keep them safe, and to thwart the gagargi whose power seems over­whelming. But none of these plans for escape amount to anything, and as the book goes on, it becomes impossible to avoid the realisation that we’re all marking time before the gallows or the firing squad.

  With the help of her sisters and her ghost aunts, Celestia mystically marries her Moon-father-husband. This changes very little, though, as it leads up to a conclusion that re­solves exactly nothing. At the end of The Sisters of the Crescent Empress, we’re left with nearly as many questions as we had at the beginning. Not least among those questions: what is the book trying to say, with its compli­cated family of sisters, and its world’s conflict between the now-overthrown scions of inher­ited religious and imperial privilege and the now-powerful formerly lowly, which we see only ever sidelong, from the perspective of an empress’s daughters – some of whom are too young to really understand that conflict at all? What argument is the book actually having?

  In many ways, this is a very static novel. It doesn’t give its reader a lot of plot to focus on, and its thematic arc, its thematic argument, is buried underneath its attachment to atmo­sphere over substance. That’s not to say it’s not enjoyable atmosphere, or that the characters aren’t interesting, or that the book itself isn’t entertaining – but ultimately its decision to prioritise style over anything meatier results in the second half of the Waning Moon duol­ogy being something of a let-down, when com­pared to the promise of its opening volume.

  Liz Bourke is a cranky queer person who reads books. She holds a Ph.D in Classics from Trinity College, Dublin. Her first book, Sleeping With Monsters, a collection of reviews and criticism, is out now from Aqueduct Press. Find her at her blog, her Patreon, or Twitter. She supports the work of the Irish Refugee Council and the Abortion Rights Campaign.

  This review and more like it in the December 2017 issue of Locus.

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• New York Journal of Books
  https://www.nyjournalofbooks.com/book-review/five-daughters
  Word count: 782

  The Five Daughters of the Moon (The Waning Moon Duology)
  Image of The Five Daughters of the Moon (The Waning Moon Duology)
  Author(s):
  Leena Likitalo
  Release Date:
  July 24, 2017
  Publisher/Imprint:
  Tor.com
  Pages:
  288
  Buy on Amazon

  Reviewed by:
  Samantha Holloway
  Book one of the Waning Moon Duology introduces us to five sister-princesses who discover that their lavish life in the palace is not everything they think it is.

  Alina, the youngest, sees shadows of things from another world and everyone thinks she's insane; Merile loves her dogs more than people; Sibilia dreams of being allowed to fall in love; Elise is already in love; and Celestia will be the next empress, but has been led astray. They live in luxury while their people freeze and starve in a mystical and fantastic version of Czarist Russia boiling with revolution and built on a technology that uses souls for power. It can't last.

  The Five Daughters of the Moon is the start of how it falls apart.

  Told from the points of views of all five sisters, it's a fractured story of a fracturing kingdom—none of the people involved tell anyone else everything they need to know and everyone holds secrets.

  Despite that, there's a lot of love, and when things get strange and then dangerous, the sisters pull together for safety and do what they can to save themselves and each other. Since this is only the first of two books, and so really half a story, it's unsure how their efforts will pay off, but they face the choices they need to make bravely and it's engaging and interesting to read.

  The language is interesting, too. Each daughter has her own distinct voice, and their ages—between six and twenty-two—means they have different understandings of what they see and what it means, and so we, as readers, get a multilayered view of the world and what matters in it.

  There are creepy priests, the gagargis, who take souls to power thinking machines. There's endless snow and cold. There are beautiful dresses and fancy balls. There are sweets and tea and birds everywhere. There's a religion built around the moon as their literal father and the empress as his agent on Earth, conceiving daughters to carry on the rule and to expand the empire. There's unrest caused by the danger and abuse the empire lays on its people, but also kicked up by nefarious forces and personal greed. We learn of all of it as the daughters do, and process it with them.

  What's most interesting is that despite being a story about the fall of a massive empire, it's told through the eyes of these five girls that make it personal; the warring is implied and its aftermath is shown, but it's not a war story. It's one part creepy palace intrigue, and one part multifaceted coming of age, one part magical realism and one part adapted historical drama. Punches aren't pulled, but they're buffered by the insulating world the girls lived in, so the horror around them can be seen and felt, but the mood doesn't get oppressively depressing or distract from the individual or shared stories the girls are telling.

  Also of note: Despite being a story of a desperate fleeing from a collapsing monarchy, the story takes its time. It's mostly quiet and calm; things simmer beneath the surface and sudden change is bookended by thoughtful contemplation and trying to figure things out. That's unexpected, and it works well with the characters we're given.

  A reader can't help feeling bad for these girls who spend the whole book learning that everything they know is wrong and that they're pawns in everyone else's plans, but since they don't fall into acting like victims, even when they're prisoners, they don't seem weak or irritating. They're strong and brave and doing the best they can with a bad situation and incomplete information.

  It's an odd one, but a beautiful one, too, and set in a world we don't see often in fantasy novels. The second half, The Sisters of the Crescent Empress, comes out in November this year to close the story.

  Samantha Holloway is a freelance writer, editor, and novelist. Her epic fantasy novels Wisewoman's Daughter and Sister to the Sun are now available at Amazon, with Goddess's Hand coming in September 2015. Her academic work has appeared in the Essential Science Fiction Television Reader as well as at various conferences.