Strange Devices of the Sun and Moon
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- $10.99
Publisher Description
"[Lisa Goldstein's] magnificent book functions as both an eerie fantasy and an evocative period piece, overlaid with all the thrills of a convoluted conspiracy novel . . . The reader is plunged into a fantasy milieu reminiscent of some of Yeats's Faerie poems, illustrated perhaps by Arthur Rackham." —Paul Di Filippo (Washington Post)
London in the time of Queen Elizabeth I is a bustling place, its streets crowded with vendors selling goods from all over the world. In the courtyard of St. Paul's Cathedral, Alice Wood competes with other booksellers, hawking pamphlets, plays, and the latest poetry from the continent. It is a lonely life for a hardworking young widow, and she will soon put it aside. When a black-clad stranger visits, speaking in riddles and asking questions about her long-vanished son, Alice will be drawn into an adventure straight out of one of her faerie stories.
The Elizabethan court has been infiltrated by the Fair Folk, a race of magical beings whose intentions are shadowy and dangerous. With the help of Christopher Marlowe, the city's most dashing playwright, Alice must untangle the faerie conspiracy to save her son—and the crown.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In the London of 1590, a band of Faeries wages war amidst the intrigues of Queen Elizabeth's court and in the streets and courtyards among the unseeing populace. Widowed bookseller Alice Wood has no business with the Fair Folk until they come looking for her son Arthur, who claims to be king of England. Christopher Marlowe, playwright and private investigator, has no patience for belief in either God or Faeries, but his search for Arthur leads him to events he cannot explain. Culminating in a magnificent battle between good and evil fought in the heart of London, this lyrically written fantasy by the author of The Red Magician works on every level of intellect and emotion. Goldstein renders London with powerfully historical accuracy, her characters are rich and full, and her Fair Folk deliver both a sense of wonder and a shiver down the spine. A thoroughly satisfying work, worth savoring more than once.
