Unwept

May 5, 2014
This slow-paced start to a historical fantasy trilogy introduces Ellis Harkington, an amnesiac desperate to access knowledge that will change everything about the town of Gamin, Maine. The Hickmans (Bronze Canticles) take a long time to introduce the speculative elements, leaving Ellis to wander a well-detailed account of an upscale, early-20th-century New England society. While hints are dropped that something fantastical is going on—a Victrola appearing on command, the lack of concern over a shipwreck, and the blending of Ellis’s dreams with reality—the overall impression is of a period romance, not a fantasy. When the magical elements finally appear, they show up at breakneck speed, slamming the reader against some abrupt revelations about Gamin, Ellis, and her friends in the eclectic Nightbirds society. The novel is not one of the authors’ strongest efforts, but that won’t stop their fans from investing in this series.

June 15, 2014

Ellis Harkington awakens on a train headed to the remote Maine town of Gamin, with no memories. Upon her arrival, she is reassured by various locals that she will be fine once she has had a chance to recuperate, but they refuse to explain what they know of her history. Ellis stays with her cousin Jenny, who reintroduces her to the important people in town, including Merrick, a man with considerable influence over those around him. Dreams that hint at another truth about the townspeople and her own past leave Ellis not knowing whom she can trust. VERDICT A gothic, unsettling, and eerie beginning to the new trilogy from the Hickmans (Ravenloft). Creepy imagery and the withholding of information from both Ellis and the reader keep the pages turning, even if it is not always clear what's going on within the plot.

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