Lost tales of the Corvae and more in a tense story of the consequences of assuming power that comes at a tremendous price.
Benedict Patrick has always amazed us with his gorgeous book covers by Seedlings Design Studios and his latest tale in the Yarnsworld Series is no exception.The best part is that each contain such a treasure inside. Grimmedian has been a fan of Yarnsworld from the start. His books strike a unique chord within this reader who loves the feeling of wonder, awe, and fear that we experienced with the tales we read as children. Like the work of the Brothers Grimm. Those are some very dark tales. There is always a feeling of looming dread found in these books that I find irresistible. The writing style is simplistic and beautifully done. Tales wrapped within tales bring the Yarnsworld books a unique flavor and the author has not disappointed with his consistent and growing skill at weaving absorbing stories.
From The Shadows of the Owl Queen’s Court is the first of these books that ties back directly to another Yarnsworld novel, in this case, it is They Mostly Come Out at Night.
In this tale, we meet Lonan’s son Bradan. Lonan is the hero of the forest folk from They Mostly Come Out at Night. His son however is destitute and saddened by his father’s decline. Madness which has cost Lonan dearly as he took the powers of the Magpie King to save the forest and villages from the grotesque imposter who had plagued their forest with his evil offspring. Bradan wants nothing more than to help the forest folk and become a savior of his people. His father, is determined he shall not suffer his own fate. Bradan is knackless, and to the villagers of the Magpie King’s forest, he is an outcast and derided constantly for his uselessness.
We also meet Nascha, a servant of the court of the Owl Queen. She takes a monthly poison from the priestesses of the court, presumably to keep her from passing her bastard inherited traits of the powers of the Owl Queen. She dyes her hair dark to hide her lineage from the court and the dark-haired princess, who herself has none of the gifts of the Owl Spirit. Her best and only friend is the princess Laurentina, who has been suddenly thrust into the role of the Owl Queen despite her lack of the gift of the Owl Spirit.
Together, Bradan and Nascha must find ways to not only free themselves, but to gain the power they need to have any effect on the rise of rival powers within the forests. For the Lady and the Magpie Spirit now vie for the land and the people there.
In the Yarnsworld style, it is woven through with lost tales of Corvae and of the Leone and Titonidae, which enrich and inform the story of the protaganists. The characterizations are detailed and the emotion hook that results is truly wonderful. There is a lot of magic here, and great danger as well. All Yarnsworld books have a lesson to be learned in the reading.
An excerpt from : “The Foxes Castle”
However, when she looked into those cells, the miller’s daughter’s concern turned to outright horror. Each of the cells contained the body of a woman. Some of them had been dead for years, but she could still tell straight away they were women They were all wearing wedding dresses.Â
You can find more about Yarnsworld in my review here: click this image
Benedict Patrick is from a small town in Northern Ireland called Banbridge, but has been living and working in Scotland since he moved there at the age of eighteen. Tragically, that was quite a while ago. He has been writing for most of his life, and has been reading for pretty much all of it (with help from mum and dad at the beginning). Benedict’s life changed when a substitute primary school teacher read his class part of The Hobbit and later loaned him the book – he fell in love with the fantasy genre and never looked back.
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Grimmedian 
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