Fairy tales, myths and legends

Already the author of vampire tales in the Mina series published by UClan, Amy McCaw embraces further vampiric tropes in this full Dracula retelling.

Full of plot twists, We Three Witches is set in 1930s York and tells the villain origin story of Viola Samphire. Viola is seventeen, part of a coven of four witches, and respected as a practitioner of divination using knucklebones. But her life is turned upside down after a catastrophic fire kills one of the coven members, Edie. The trauma leaves Viola able to see the dead, meaning she can still speak to and touch Edie and all the other Earthbound souls that roam around York.

This reimagined story of the myth of Bluebeard is not for the faint hearted. The House Saphir is not only a ghost story, but a romantic fantasy (romantasy) tale. Every box on the romantasy checklist has been ticked; there is a bestiary, magic, rituals to the gods, and a haunted mansion. On top of that, we have a murder and family secrets to uncover on the way.

The ship’s setting of the third book in the Geomancer series creates the ideal space for camaraderie among the women who crew it. As the author observes; ‘perhaps a shared year aboard a ship was as good as a shared childhood on land’. In The Ship of Strays, more than its predecessors two protagonists have equal presence, and the focus on Ysolda, the trilogy’s heroine is widened to give parity to Eira; the Wolf Queen’s daughter.

While some stories show fairies as magical, nice creatures who grant wishes, Unfairies wants to show you the truth; these fairies are sneaky, selfish and as magical as slugs! When the winter stores of Oakhold turn mouldy, one bored little fairy, Pip, strides forth to try and solve the problem through … bureaucracy? Along the way Pip gathers a strange group of friends – a pet midge, a new recruit to the Treeguard and a pernickety clerk.

Attention fans of Terry Brooks, Raymond E. Feist and Tolkien – prepare to welcome a new fantasy world to the fold. Small Wonder has it all; character development, a story arc packed with thrills, spills and a map!

If you enjoy fairytales, mysteries, and fast-paced adventures, The Big Bad Wolf Murder is the perfect book to read.

This magical adventure follows Evie, Arthur and Cai on their journey to stop the evil Blackheart Man from ripping apart the barrier between the realm of the living and the dead. It is a journey of growth for the characters, highlighted by Evie learning to tap into her newly discovered magical powers along the way in order to try and stop Blackheart Man and save the island of Xaymaca from ruin.

Welcome to the Touchwood Academy of Magical Thinking! This beautifully designed and illustrated book, takes what could have been a straightforward non-fiction book of home experiments and creates a world of magic and scientific spells.

Lara Williams wants to forget her past even if it’s just for a few weeks. It’s a pity she’s boarded the one luxury train that her ex-friend is also working on for the summer and the fact that creepy, supernatural things are happening on board is also not very ideal …