Nettle & Bone
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4.4 • 273 Ratings
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- $12.99
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- $12.99
Publisher Description
Winner of the Hugo Award for Best Novel
An Instant USA Today & Indie Bestseller
An Oprah Daily Top 25 Fantasy Book of 2022
A Vulture Best Fantasy Novel of 2022
An NPR Best Sci Fi, Fantasy, & Speculative Fiction Book of 2022
A Goodreads Best Fantasy Choice Award Nominee
From Hugo, Nebula, and Locus award-winning author T. Kingfisher comes an original and subversive fantasy adventure.
*The very special hardcover edition features a gold foil stamp on the casing and custom endpapers illustrated by the author.*
This isn't the kind of fairy tale where the princess marries a prince.
It's the one where she kills him.
Marra — a shy, convent-raised, third-born daughter — is relieved not to be married off for the sake of her parents’ throne. Her older sister wasn’t so fortunate though, and her royal husband is as abusive as he is powerful. From the safety of the convent, Marra wonders who will come to her sister’s rescue and put a stop to this. But after years of watching their families and kingdoms pretend all is well, Marra realizes if any hero is coming, it will have to be Marra herself.
If Marra can complete three impossible tasks, a witch will grant her the tools she needs. But, as is the way in stories of princes and the impossible, these tasks are only the beginning of Marra’s strange and enchanting journey to save her sister and topple a throne.
“Wholly entertaining."—Buzzfeed
“A modern classic.”—Seanan McGuire, New York Times bestselling author of Every Heart A Doorway
“Pure delight. T. Kingfisher uses the bones of fairy tale to create something entirely her own.”—Emily Tesh, award-winning author of Silver in the Wood
Also by T. Kingfisher
Thornhedge
A Sorceress Comes to Call
What Moves the Dead
What Feasts at Night
A House with Good Bones
At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
This deeply satisfying and darkly funny feminist fairy tale from Hugo Award winner Kingfisher (What Moves the Dead) finds its unlikely heroine in Marra, youngest princess of the Harbor Kingdom. Marra is better at knitting than politicking, and is relieved to be sent to a convent while her older sisters make political marriages to nobles from the Northern Kingdom. However, when Marra learns that the wicked Prince Vorling has murdered her older sister and seems likely to murder his abused second wife, Marra's middle sister, as well, Marra takes action. She assembles a rag-tag team bent on overthrowing Vorling—including Bonedog, a resurrected dog skeleton; a dust-wife (a kind of necromancer) with a demonically possessed chicken for a familiar; a suicidally honorable and surprisingly diplomatic knight rescued from a Christina Rosetti-esque goblin market; and a frazzled fairy godmother who can only grant gifts of good health. The plot snaps along as quickly as a good joke, and beneath the whimsy, there's an underlying sympathy and sincerity that enables Kingfisher to handle tricky issues like domestic violence with great compassion and care. At its heart a story of good people doing their best to make the unjust world a fairer place, this marvelous romp will delight Kingfisher's fans and fairy tale lovers alike.
Customer Reviews
Classic and entirely new
T. Kingfisher always writes exactly what I want to read, and “Nettle & Bone” is no exception. A fairy tale for grown-ups (especially those who’ve had life take an unexpected turn, or took a bit of time finding their way). Absolutely recommend.
Loved it
A lot of fun to read
Would like to read again
I had a great time following along this not-nun, her mission, and her exploration of life. The lines read well, with not a hint of pretension but a whole lot of heart. I’d love to read this again for the first time- but I’m not sure that I’ll forget it well enough to, and that’s my only complaint and highest compliment. How good to be adjacent to the Lady of Grackles.