Brittle

For any author magic is a tricky beast as you can easily paint yourself into the corner. You can make the magic too powerful, or you can develop a whole magic system that is unbalanced. Things become even trickier when you add those tricksy Fae. Fairy magic is all about breaking rules on a contract you are unaware you signed, anything can happen in a Fairy world and that can be a problem. In a world in which anything goes, how can the reader trust what is happening? Beth Overmyer has bravely dived into this world in Brittle, book one of the Blade and Bone series, can she make sense of pixies and pucks? 

After her father left the family homestead to go to war, Verve remained behind to provide for her family. One night her father returns in secret only to be murdered. Before he dies, he imparts uncomfortable truths to Verve that a world exists parallel to our own and that the war is not with man, but with the fairy born. Being the last person her father talked to before death paints a target on Verve’s back as the Faries believe she has knowledge of an ancient weapon that can kill magical folk. Verve must travel through an untrustworthy land to discover the truth about her father’s death. 

If you think about the history of the countryside the idea of why pixies and fairies were invented makes sense. Families were large as many children died, one way to teach children to behave is say that the boogeymen live in the woods. A lack of education, understanding and superstition meant that magic felt very real. The fantasy world of Blade and Bone is not unlike our own pre-industrial history, but in this case the Faries are real. 

Verve is the centre of the story, and she is key to grounding events. She is a cynical character who finds it hard to trust. This is an important thing to have if you can no longer believe what is in front of your eyes. The first half of the book is peak fairy magic, both good and bad. You get that sense of majesty and mischief from A Midsummer Night’s Dream, but also the confusion and discombobulation that is unique to fairy magic. If you cannot trust any of the characters, how can you trust the book? 

Verve guides the reader through this, and we make it out of the other side to a different feeling second act that I found improved proceedings by flipping the rules on their head. The character of Verve evolves in the story in a way that means she is no longer battered by the winds of other’s motives but can guide the tale herself. Verve’s inner confidence is given the means to exercise her own strength and I for one loved it. 

I still have, and may always have, misgivings when it comes to fairy magic in stories, but Overmyer handles it better than most. The early part of the book falls into that trap of too much power and pucks, but the story settles down. This chaos is important for the narrative as Verve must feel some of that hopelessness early on to empower herself for later; she has more motivation than most. The book works for any fan of fantasy, but its full embrace of the Faeries means that it would appeal especially to fans of boggarts and sprites.