Throne of Darkness

February 23, 2015
Familiarity breeds contentment in this sure-footed historical fantasy set in 1215 England, the third (following Something Red and The Wicked) featuring the traveling troupe of Mistress Molly, aka the exiled Irish Queen Maeve. Entangled in the war between King John Lackland and his barons, Molly and her granddaughter, Nemain, bargain with a shadowy agent of the pope, who fears the king’s imported Imazighen (Berber) sorcerer and his were-hyenas. Also standing with Molly are her lover, ex-Crusader Jack Brown, a shapeshifter who must struggle against the sorcerer’s affinity with “turnskins”; and Hob, Nemain’s husband and a squire in training, whose lack of magic is offset by his natural good sense. Nicholas solidly grounds his fantasy in medieval life, from high-court dinners to village feasts. At the same time, he unveils the uncanny beneath the surface as Molly and Nemain deal with the elemental powers that reside in field and forest to drive out the invaders. Series newcomers will quickly feel right at home, and returning readers will enjoy learning more about their favorite characters. Short, helpful glossaries of Irish and archaic English are included. Agent: George Hiltzik, N.S. Bienstock.

March 15, 2015

Their reputation as slayers of supernatural monsters has followed Irish queen-in-exile Maeve's band of warriors. Known in England as Molly, the monarch would never have imagined that the Catholic Church would come to her for help. A legate from the Pope wants to hire Molly and her granddaughter, Nemain, along with their hulking companion Jack and Nemain's young husband, Hob, to destroy a pack of shape-shifting hyena-men who have been brought from North Africa to serve King John in his campaigns against the northern barons who oppose him. VERDICT The meticulous detailing of the early 13th-century setting is only one of the pleasures of this series (after Something Red and The Wicked) that mixes historical fiction and horror. Mostly told from the point of view of Hob, the narrative gives readers the added pleasure of his continuing evolution from gangly young man to husband and now knighted warrior.

Copyright 2015 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

March 1, 2015
The homogeneous Northern Europeanstyle settings of fantasy tales can quickly become a bore for avid readers, which is why Nicholas is happily among the authors who draw from the medieval Western world as a whole. His new novel brings together a metropolitan collaboration of fascinating historical fantasy. Molly, Jack, Hob, and Nemaina troupe of British Isles mutts and displaced Celtic royalty adventuring in 1215 Englandare contracted by a clandestine agent of the pope to investigate the English King John's collusions with a cabal of Arab sorcerers and their army of hyena-men. After a somewhat rushed opening eager to sink into the meat of thirteenth-century politics, the story settles into an affectionate portrait of its main characters navigating a realistic medieval world made ever more complex with its liberal dose of magic and mysticism. The episodic cadence of the book's brief chapters keeps up a thriving pace even while Nicholas pours vividly detailed action scenes (with well-researched medieval weaponry) and backstories into the mix. This is a solid read for those wanting to see the magical world, realized with caring nuance, in which medieval Europeans believed they lived.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)