The Bloodless Queen
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- $16.99
Publisher Description
Part ecological Orpheus and Eurydice myth and part gothic thriller, discover this atmospheric near-future sci-fi novel about fae mysteries deep within strange nature preserves
Perfect for readers of Jeff VanderMeer, Chuck Wendig, and Sunyi Dean • “Richly imagined and beautifully written, with a highly original and very creepy magic system.” —R. F. Kuang (on Johnson's The Forever Sea)
On the autumnal equinox of 1987, after fencing off half of the Earth’s land for huge nature reserves called Harbors, the leaders of the world called on their peoples to celebrate. Then began the horror and the magic.
Everyone who died that day—all 132,329 of them—instead of going cold and still, turned odd and fae. They became mischievous and murderous, before disappearing into their nearest Harbor, never seen again. And each year after that on the autumnal equinox, the same terrible transformations would occur: the wretched dead not dying, but instead riddling and whispering of a faerie queen—bloodless and powerful—while fleeing into the wild confines of the Harbors.
In the present day, Evangeline and Calidore are working as fencers, government-employed protectors whose magical powers come from mysterious tattoos of prime numbers. When they aren’t fixing the fences of the Midwest Harbor that separates the human world from Faerie or patrolling on the equinox, they are parents of an almost-seven-year-old daughter named Winnie.
But as the new year’s autumnal equinox approaches, Evangeline and Calidore find themselves thrust into a vast conspiracy that stretches across governments, religions, and fencers worldwide. As they race to untangle this web of power and intrigue, they will need to confront the questions that have haunted the world since the fences were built:
What lies at the heart of the Harbors? Who waits there?
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Johnson (The Endless Song) builds a robust and bizarre world in this wildly original and wholly transportive fantasy. During the Reagan presidency, a strange mathematical text circulated among world leaders, persuading them to set aside half of all land on Earth for natural "Harbors" to preserve the planet's biodiversity. Upon completion of this massive project, however, it was revealed to have a far more sinister aim: 132,329 died that day only to transform into grotesque faeries. Every year since, anyone who dies on the autumnal equinox similarly transforms, becoming magical, mischievous, and often murderous, and disappearing into the nearest Harbor to join their kind. Meanwhile, "Fencers," humans upon whom prime number tattoos have mysteriously appeared, also develop magical abilities and may be humanity's only defense against the fae. In the present day, two such fencers, couple Calidore and Evangeline, prepare for the equinox at the Midwest Harbor. The process is complicated when their team is assigned to raid the local Sylvan Church, human worshippers of the fae. There, they find evidence that the Sylvans are surveilling the local fencing agency for purposes unknown. Balancing the dizzyingly high-concept worldbuilding are the very human relationships at the story's center. Johnson's writing perfectly fits his unfettered tale, lyrical and lilting at moments and skittering wildly at others. This is magical stuff.
