Shadows of Faerie
Faerie serial killers in the New Forest
For centuries countrywomen in England have kept a secret; if you go to the right part of the woods and sing the right song, an Otherkin man will appear and be your lover. Charlie Somes, 24, postgraduate chemistry student at Southampton University, is the product of such a liaison and is touch telepathic; a gift which blights his life as he cannot control it.
When Charlie discovers his gift works on the recently dead he is forced to use it to avoid a murder charge and then when the bodies of women who have taken faerie lovers start turning up, Charlie is the only person who can stop the serial killers.
"Cracking good read! Well characterised, plenty to keep me guessing, and very well paced." - Juliet E McKenna, author of the Green Man series and the Tales of Einarren series.
"Dark and light by turns - full of heart and imagination" - Mike Carey (MR Carey), best-selling author & screenwriter of The Girl With All the Gifts.
"Owton takes the traditional portal fantasy and upends it, throwing British special forces, the police, drug dealers, and a mild-mannered chemistry grad student into the mix. Fun and fast-paced. I thoroughly enjoyed it." - Patrice Sarath, author of The Books of the Gordath and The Tales of Port Saint Frey.
An interview by best-selling author Helen Garraway is here.
Charles Phipps @Booknest.eu:
SHADOWS OF FAERIE by Martin Owton is a modern paranormal mystery story based around the adventures of Charlie Somes. Charlie Somes like Sookie Stackhouse is both a half-fairy as well as a psychic. In his case, he possesses psychometry instead of telepathy. Specifically, he possesses the power to read objects like Jane Doe in the Bright Falls Mysteries or Clive Bruckman in the X-Files. This is wonderful if you want to use him to solve murders and terrible if you want to have a sex life like Charlie does.
After the murder of his roommate, Charlie is dragooned into the service of the British police and must help solve as many murders as his powers will allow him to. The fact that the detective recruiting him is cute doesn't help matters. Unfortunately, it's not too long until poor Charlie runs into a monster from fairyland and he's soon no longer helping with post-mortem investigation. There are many kidnappings happening throughout the British Isles and if humanity were to retaliate, it could be even worse than if they leave it alone. It also doesn't help that the Fair Folk aren't precisely "human" in their thought processes and attempts to negotiate are bound to fail due to their very different way of thinking.
Fairy-based stories are things that can be hit or miss as you must overcome a century of conditioning by the Disney corporation to treat them with the fear and respect that they deserved. On the other hand, it's also easy to turn them into another kind of blood-drinking and while accurate to certain kinds of tales, also misses the full range of possibilities available with them. Martin Owton manages to capture a happy medium where the fairies are both dangerous enough to be threatening but not necessarily something that it shifts over into grimdark territory. When Charlie is ready to meet his father, he's half-ready to meet a god or a monster but ends up just meeting the supernatural equivalent of a himbo after his prime.
I rather like how relatively small-scale the book's stakes are and that actually does more to differentiate the story from many urban fantasy stories like it than anything else. Charles has an extremely useful gift with psychometry and the immediate use of solving murders with it is something that gets brought up immediately. Charlie also wants to help even if it's not exactly a pleasant use of the power for him. I also like that he brings up the sexual downside of having an insight into your partner and their psyche if you don't know them all that well. The last time I saw this brought up was Vibe, which was a Cindy Lauper and Jeff Goldblum movie from the Eighties, and my review is probably the first time it's been mentioned by anyone except for IMDB.
I also like the fact that this takes place in Southhampton and the New Forest rather than London or a larger spot. The series benefits from the fact it's away from the big city and you can believe, albeit with some disbelief, that there's a larger chance oddball occurrences can happen there without anyone noticing. Our protagonist is a university post-graduate and the story doesn't need to expand on his abilities beyond his already incredibly useful investigative one. Really, if I had to choose any single word for the writing style it would be "cozy" and this works extremely well as an afternoon read. Even the romance that develops between Charlie and his co-worker at the police is relatively free of drama and it served as a nice pallet cleanser between darker reads.
In conclusion, I really liked the book and think that readers who enjoy urban fantasy will enjoy it. Easy-reading and reasonable stakes are things I enjoy from Martin Owton's writing. He's very good at creating likable characters and the world is quite believable aside from how fast the police accept he really is a psychic with fairy blood. Trying out this book would be far from a waste of a day's time.
After the murder of his roommate, Charlie is dragooned into the service of the British police and must help solve as many murders as his powers will allow him to. The fact that the detective recruiting him is cute doesn't help matters. Unfortunately, it's not too long until poor Charlie runs into a monster from fairyland and he's soon no longer helping with post-mortem investigation. There are many kidnappings happening throughout the British Isles and if humanity were to retaliate, it could be even worse than if they leave it alone. It also doesn't help that the Fair Folk aren't precisely "human" in their thought processes and attempts to negotiate are bound to fail due to their very different way of thinking.
Fairy-based stories are things that can be hit or miss as you must overcome a century of conditioning by the Disney corporation to treat them with the fear and respect that they deserved. On the other hand, it's also easy to turn them into another kind of blood-drinking and while accurate to certain kinds of tales, also misses the full range of possibilities available with them. Martin Owton manages to capture a happy medium where the fairies are both dangerous enough to be threatening but not necessarily something that it shifts over into grimdark territory. When Charlie is ready to meet his father, he's half-ready to meet a god or a monster but ends up just meeting the supernatural equivalent of a himbo after his prime.
I rather like how relatively small-scale the book's stakes are and that actually does more to differentiate the story from many urban fantasy stories like it than anything else. Charles has an extremely useful gift with psychometry and the immediate use of solving murders with it is something that gets brought up immediately. Charlie also wants to help even if it's not exactly a pleasant use of the power for him. I also like that he brings up the sexual downside of having an insight into your partner and their psyche if you don't know them all that well. The last time I saw this brought up was Vibe, which was a Cindy Lauper and Jeff Goldblum movie from the Eighties, and my review is probably the first time it's been mentioned by anyone except for IMDB.
I also like the fact that this takes place in Southhampton and the New Forest rather than London or a larger spot. The series benefits from the fact it's away from the big city and you can believe, albeit with some disbelief, that there's a larger chance oddball occurrences can happen there without anyone noticing. Our protagonist is a university post-graduate and the story doesn't need to expand on his abilities beyond his already incredibly useful investigative one. Really, if I had to choose any single word for the writing style it would be "cozy" and this works extremely well as an afternoon read. Even the romance that develops between Charlie and his co-worker at the police is relatively free of drama and it served as a nice pallet cleanser between darker reads.
In conclusion, I really liked the book and think that readers who enjoy urban fantasy will enjoy it. Easy-reading and reasonable stakes are things I enjoy from Martin Owton's writing. He's very good at creating likable characters and the world is quite believable aside from how fast the police accept he really is a psychic with fairy blood. Trying out this book would be far from a waste of a day's time.
Mystenamarina:
A wonderful mix of fantasy and crime thriller. Charlie is a mild mannered student just trying to finish up school and start a career. He has known he is part Otherkin and has a special gift that is more a curse of never being able to touch another person without all of their thoughts flooding into his mind. After the murder of a friend, Charlie teams up with DS Sharon Whickens to use his abilities to find killers. One such event leads Charlie, Sharon and friends down the path of battling creatures, raging royalty and Fae folk to stop them from continuing to murder humans.
I feel that this story could have done with more descriptions of the Faerie world and its inhabitants. Possibly a sequel or even a series is in order because this story was so engaging that I would love to read more where we can follow the character development of these individuals, Charlie and Michelle's relationship as well as Charlie's secondary gift that was barely touched upon. Additionally I can't wait to learn all about the history of the Faerie world. It took me one sitting to finish this captivating tale. Even with a slight language barrier this story was very easy to follow and I absolutely would recommend this book.
I feel that this story could have done with more descriptions of the Faerie world and its inhabitants. Possibly a sequel or even a series is in order because this story was so engaging that I would love to read more where we can follow the character development of these individuals, Charlie and Michelle's relationship as well as Charlie's secondary gift that was barely touched upon. Additionally I can't wait to learn all about the history of the Faerie world. It took me one sitting to finish this captivating tale. Even with a slight language barrier this story was very easy to follow and I absolutely would recommend this book.
Caffeinated Necromancer:
Loved the main idea of this story so much. A fae world sprinkling their 'seed' through out our world because they mate with our people. Good plot, and well laid out twists. There was a lot of slang/terms that if seen in the wild I wouldn't have known their meaning but the author did a great job at laying context clues in the surrounding words, so there wasn't a point that I didn't know what a word meant.
Since this book is written in first person, and the main character was going for the Phd or whatever, I was a little disappointed in the low vocabulary level of Charlie. Not sure if this was done for the readers' benefit or not though.
I am still not sure how I feel about the ending twist, a little lackluster I guess. Didn't really need to go that direction, but maybe there is an future point to it. All in all, it was a great story.
Since this book is written in first person, and the main character was going for the Phd or whatever, I was a little disappointed in the low vocabulary level of Charlie. Not sure if this was done for the readers' benefit or not though.
I am still not sure how I feel about the ending twist, a little lackluster I guess. Didn't really need to go that direction, but maybe there is an future point to it. All in all, it was a great story.
Dave De Burgh:
Since reading Martin's previous novels, 'Nandor' and 'Exile', I became a fan of his world building and characters, and the fact that Martin is a really good guy and also supports many writers in the SFF community, plus his writing and story-telling ability, made it so that I know everything he publishes is quality. Shadows of Faerie is no exception.
In this book, Martin introduces the reader to a kind of mash-up world: shades of police procedural, portal fantasy and urban fantasy combine with interesting magic and world building, and these all connect believably and interestingly with our world.
The main character, Charlie Somes, is struggling with his studies, the trauma of a broken familial relationship, and life in general. Despite the problems he faces, he's not an unlikable character - far from it. But Charlie also has an interesting gift - one which adds to his problems. His gift ends up linking him, despite his fear and misgivings, to police investigations: the murders of women, and the dealings of gangsters and drug dealers. Charlie shows different sides throughout the tale and reacts in believable ways. He's a complicated young man trying to deal with everything already on his plate, and offering up information to the police after coming across a murder victim not only adds to his problems, but also draws him into a relationship he might not be ready for.
When the world and the people more intricately linked to his gift begin to intrude, Martin takes us into the positive and negative consequences these changes bring to Charlie's life. He needs to learn how to navigate escalating danger, unexpected relationships, and the consequences these have on his studies.
Once the mythical and magical trickle into the tale, Martin manages to keep everything balanced. I mention this because most writers either remain too fixed in the 'mundane' or focus too much on the fantastic/strange/different, but Martin retains his focus and control of the various plot threads.
This isn't a large-scale epic, but it doesn't need to be. The story is close and personal, and Martin does a great job of setting up the premise, characters and world, before taking the reader on an entertaining ride. I hope to read more about Charlie and his unfolding world, and I'm very glad to be reading Martin's latest novel, which you will all be reading in due time.
All in all, Shadows of Faerie was an entertaining page-turner, and I highly recommend it.
In this book, Martin introduces the reader to a kind of mash-up world: shades of police procedural, portal fantasy and urban fantasy combine with interesting magic and world building, and these all connect believably and interestingly with our world.
The main character, Charlie Somes, is struggling with his studies, the trauma of a broken familial relationship, and life in general. Despite the problems he faces, he's not an unlikable character - far from it. But Charlie also has an interesting gift - one which adds to his problems. His gift ends up linking him, despite his fear and misgivings, to police investigations: the murders of women, and the dealings of gangsters and drug dealers. Charlie shows different sides throughout the tale and reacts in believable ways. He's a complicated young man trying to deal with everything already on his plate, and offering up information to the police after coming across a murder victim not only adds to his problems, but also draws him into a relationship he might not be ready for.
When the world and the people more intricately linked to his gift begin to intrude, Martin takes us into the positive and negative consequences these changes bring to Charlie's life. He needs to learn how to navigate escalating danger, unexpected relationships, and the consequences these have on his studies.
Once the mythical and magical trickle into the tale, Martin manages to keep everything balanced. I mention this because most writers either remain too fixed in the 'mundane' or focus too much on the fantastic/strange/different, but Martin retains his focus and control of the various plot threads.
This isn't a large-scale epic, but it doesn't need to be. The story is close and personal, and Martin does a great job of setting up the premise, characters and world, before taking the reader on an entertaining ride. I hope to read more about Charlie and his unfolding world, and I'm very glad to be reading Martin's latest novel, which you will all be reading in due time.
All in all, Shadows of Faerie was an entertaining page-turner, and I highly recommend it.
Steve Kimmins - Goodreads:
A pleasure to read this light fantasy describing modern, suburban England's exposure to a parallel world, a Faerie land represented in traditional style.
Charlie, the main POV, is the product of a consensual relationship of his mother with a Faerie. This has endowed him with a talent that's a hindrance to social life but proves, as he discovers following a tragic event, to be useful to the Police. So the story explores two initially separate paths; Charlie's assistance to the Police and his attempts to find his father. Eventually these paths merge.
I enjoy occasionally seeking out fiction looking at English folklore and this often seems to include Fae folk, who are not especially well disposed to humanity. I though this book did the job well, contrasting mundane suburban life, Charlie's student routine, friends requirements to earn their living with long hours and shifts with this parallel fantastical world that increasingly intrudes and leads to conflict.
Just a couple of things in the storytelling weren't to my taste. A small point; I appreciate that young adults commonly feel they're on the edge of starvation if they don't eat every few hours but the frequent detailing of several character's menu choices (pizza topping, curry type, cereal brand, wine, etc.) I thought just got in the way of the flow of the plot! More importantly, we get good characterisations of the human protagonists but we get virtually nothing about the Faerie characters - it would have been good to have had some insight into Lord Faniel's motivations and their rather old style medieval society, but the Fae folk remain a mystery. I get that they are labelled Otherkins, and will be different from humans but it seemed just too Us and Them.
The book is clearly intended to have a follow up as there are some loose ends, with a couple of unexpected twists at the end of the book giving intriguing possibilities. I'll read the follow up.
Overall an interesting and, for me, original story. Plus side of 3.5*.
Charlie, the main POV, is the product of a consensual relationship of his mother with a Faerie. This has endowed him with a talent that's a hindrance to social life but proves, as he discovers following a tragic event, to be useful to the Police. So the story explores two initially separate paths; Charlie's assistance to the Police and his attempts to find his father. Eventually these paths merge.
I enjoy occasionally seeking out fiction looking at English folklore and this often seems to include Fae folk, who are not especially well disposed to humanity. I though this book did the job well, contrasting mundane suburban life, Charlie's student routine, friends requirements to earn their living with long hours and shifts with this parallel fantastical world that increasingly intrudes and leads to conflict.
Just a couple of things in the storytelling weren't to my taste. A small point; I appreciate that young adults commonly feel they're on the edge of starvation if they don't eat every few hours but the frequent detailing of several character's menu choices (pizza topping, curry type, cereal brand, wine, etc.) I thought just got in the way of the flow of the plot! More importantly, we get good characterisations of the human protagonists but we get virtually nothing about the Faerie characters - it would have been good to have had some insight into Lord Faniel's motivations and their rather old style medieval society, but the Fae folk remain a mystery. I get that they are labelled Otherkins, and will be different from humans but it seemed just too Us and Them.
The book is clearly intended to have a follow up as there are some loose ends, with a couple of unexpected twists at the end of the book giving intriguing possibilities. I'll read the follow up.
Overall an interesting and, for me, original story. Plus side of 3.5*.
J.B. Richards - Goodreads:
Realms Collide In This Gripping Paranormal Murder Mystery!
Overview: For centuries countrywomen in England have kept a secret; if you go to the right part of the woods and sing the right song, an Otherkin man will appear and be your lover. Twenty-four-year-old Charlie Somes is the product of such a liaison. With a simple touch, he can instantly "read" both the living and the dead. When women who have taken faerie lovers suddenly start turning up dead and Charlie is accused of murdering of a female roommate, he realizes he's the only one who can clear his name and stop the real killers.
Realms collide as Author Martin Owton pens a gripping and engaging paranormal murder mystery in "Shadows of Faerie"-A story in which an adult son is suddenly reunited with the Faerie father he has never known.
Owton creates an affable main protagonist in Charlie, whose strange abilities lie at the heart of solving several bizarre murder cases, including one of which he himself is the prime suspect. For an avid, overachieving police detective who has a chip on her shoulder and something to prove, Charlie's telepathic touch provides the essential clues she needs to investigate criminals and murderers. Author Owton tosses yet another wrench in Charlie's already complicated life after he accidentally reads the detective and finds what he believes to be burgeoning romantic feelings. The plotline continues to build when the author sends Charlie and his Faerie father, Jack, on a quest to stop the dangerous denizens of the other realm from crossing over to our world with the intentions of creating mayhem and murder.
Owton's characters are rich and full of life - each has an independent, logical backstory that enhances the story and meshes well with other characters, even as Charlie is pulled in several different directions at the same time. It is the characters in this tale who guide the reader through the engrossing and emotional journey of a young man who missed out on having a normal life and who struggles to find a place in both worlds.
"Shadows of Faerie" delivers plenty of dark horror and monstrous deeds. I highly recommend this novel for readers who believe in chance relationships, fate, and paranormal abilities, as well as fans who relish dark fantasy and occult horror - ages 17 and up.
Overview: For centuries countrywomen in England have kept a secret; if you go to the right part of the woods and sing the right song, an Otherkin man will appear and be your lover. Twenty-four-year-old Charlie Somes is the product of such a liaison. With a simple touch, he can instantly "read" both the living and the dead. When women who have taken faerie lovers suddenly start turning up dead and Charlie is accused of murdering of a female roommate, he realizes he's the only one who can clear his name and stop the real killers.
Realms collide as Author Martin Owton pens a gripping and engaging paranormal murder mystery in "Shadows of Faerie"-A story in which an adult son is suddenly reunited with the Faerie father he has never known.
Owton creates an affable main protagonist in Charlie, whose strange abilities lie at the heart of solving several bizarre murder cases, including one of which he himself is the prime suspect. For an avid, overachieving police detective who has a chip on her shoulder and something to prove, Charlie's telepathic touch provides the essential clues she needs to investigate criminals and murderers. Author Owton tosses yet another wrench in Charlie's already complicated life after he accidentally reads the detective and finds what he believes to be burgeoning romantic feelings. The plotline continues to build when the author sends Charlie and his Faerie father, Jack, on a quest to stop the dangerous denizens of the other realm from crossing over to our world with the intentions of creating mayhem and murder.
Owton's characters are rich and full of life - each has an independent, logical backstory that enhances the story and meshes well with other characters, even as Charlie is pulled in several different directions at the same time. It is the characters in this tale who guide the reader through the engrossing and emotional journey of a young man who missed out on having a normal life and who struggles to find a place in both worlds.
"Shadows of Faerie" delivers plenty of dark horror and monstrous deeds. I highly recommend this novel for readers who believe in chance relationships, fate, and paranormal abilities, as well as fans who relish dark fantasy and occult horror - ages 17 and up.