Midwinter Fae

A Procession of Faeries #2

by Jamie Ferguson, Kristine Kathryn Rusch, Eric Kent Edstrom

On the day of the shortened sun
A battle between two kings has begun.
The old year dies, and the Oak King rules
We celebrate with logs of Yule!
But the Holly King is defeated, not dead
To Caer Arianrhod he heads.
Until Midsummer, when they battle again
And the Holly King will once again reign…

This collection includes nineteen tales of faeries and magic at Midwinter.

The Madness of Survival by DAYLE A. DERMATIS
Summerland's Paladin by DIANA BENEDICT
The Ice Skating Fairy by LEAH CUTTER
Treasure by LESLIE CLAIRE WALKER
Winternight by ERIC KENT EDSTROM
First Rays of New Sun by RON COLLINS
At the Heart of Trickery by REI ROSENQUIST
A Squalor of Chickens by KAREN L. ABRAHAMSON
By Winter's Forbidden Rite by DEANNA KNIPPLING
Passage by ANTHEA SHARP
Midwinter Run by MARCELLE DUBÉ
Faery Unpredictable by DEB LOGAN
The Stars of Neverwhere by T. THORN COYLE
The Kiss of the Horned God by JAMIE FERGUSON
Destiny by KRISTINE KATHRYN RUSCH
Holly vs Oak by REBECCA M. SENESE
A Last Meal for the Holly King by STEFON MEARS
Bride Thief by BRIGID COLLINS
The Giving Year by ALEXANDRA BRANDT

Genres: Anthologies, Fantasy

591 pages, Kindle Edition

Published December 20, 2017

About the author

I love to get into the minds and hearts of my characters, whether I'm writing about a saloon girl in the old west, a man who discovers the barista he's in love with is a naiad, or a ghost who haunts the house she was killed in—even though that house no longer exists. I want them to agonize over their choices, and I want what they choose - or don't choose—to matter. I want the reader to feel joy when a character succeeds, and to cry when they don't—just like I do when I'm writing the story.

I live in Colorado, and spend my free time in a futile quest to wear out my two border collies since I haven’t given in and gotten them their own herd of sheep. Yet...

Reviews

[Quinn · Rating 3 out of 5]

So that was an interesting array of stories - I like that there were a mixture of old school fantasy and urban. While the writing was overall fairly decent, with stories of varying degrees of interestingness, I kind of wish the writing were a bit more equal - a couple were fairly weak in comparison.

Favourites were Destiny (definitely going to be picking up the series sometime) and Holly vs Oak.

[Alexandra Brandt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some really shining stories, and a few that did nothing for me.