TURNING PAGES: THE COBWEB BRIDE, by Vera Nazarian

Gather round, children, gather round, with sugar skulls clutched in your wee sticky hands. ‘Tis El Dia de los Muertos and have I got a suitably wintry, suitably creepy, suitably grrrl power tale for you! Based ever so loosely on the tale of Persephone and Hades, this is an absolutely atmospheric, fable-feeling piece of epic fantasy with a lovely old world feel from Russian-Armenian author Vera Nazarian, who is a two-time Nebula award finalist. Technically, this isn’t marketed as a YA novel, which is too, too bad, because it would have been easily eligible for a Cybils nomination this year. Ah, well, never mind. It’s enough that you know that it exists, and that you GO OUT AND FIND IT NOW. Go. I’ll wait…

“Bring to me my Cobweb Bride. Bring her to the gates of Death’s Keep that stands in the Northern Forest. Only then will I grant relief and resume taking your kind unto me. Until then, none shall die.

Concerning Character: The main character in this novel, at least at first, is …well, Death, and the three kingdoms of the Imperial Realm, one of which is the southern kingdom of Lethe. Our tale begins with the Queen Mother of Lethe – on her deathbed, surrounded by her son, the Prince, and his bride. She, after a visit from a faceless and nearly bodiless presence, demanding his bride, is suddenly both still dying, and no longer dying. The world has just hit Pause.

At the same moment, far to the north, a grisly battlefield becomes a hideous farce, as soldiers of the Duke of Chidir, armed with pikes and swords hack and bludgeon at the soldiers of the ancient enemy, the Duke of Goraque, removing limbs and heads… unceasingly. Yet, no one falls, and the battle, which was stupid to begin with, becomes a nightmare of horror and stupidity. Meanwhile and all at once, in a tiny peasant cottage in the northern village of Oarclaven, in the Dukedom of Goraque, Percy’s beloved grandmother lies dying… and dying. Sixteen-year-old Percy has never been her mother’s favorite daughter – and the tension the household is under makes sharp words even sharper. Percy, seeing a bodiless …presence standing in the corner, says so, and that makes everything worse. Gran’s last breath goes on, and on, and on…

Suffice it to say, everything is horrible. And it spreads – the butcher cannot kill the pig he set out to, because it, too, will not die… and, to his twelve-year-old daughter, Jenna’s horror, he keeps trying. And then, far to the South, in the Silver Court, there’s been a murder in the Emperor’s palace… only, the victim has pulled out the dagger and stood up…

SOMEONE has to do SOMETHING to right the world — someone must bring back Death’s bride, and in turn, death. But, who? The clumsy, cloddish Percy, whose own mother wishes she hadn’t been born? The runny-nosed, klutzy Jenna, who is only good for helping her father with the butchering – which isn’t even a job anymore? The obedient son of the Duke of Chidir, who has sworn to be his father’s man, despite the fact that his father, the Duke, has… changed? And where is this Keep of Death’s? And who is the Cobweb Bride? Someone has to set things right – and fast, or everyone will starve to… a horrible, endless life. So, together with the hapless maidens of the kingdom, Percy sets out… and the whole world stands in her way…

This absolutely riveting novel reminds me of Keturah and Lord Death, by Martine Leavitt, Emily Whitman’s Radiant Darkness and less so Meg Cabot’s Abandon – but none of these novels has quite the satisfying old-world European/epic fantasy feel. I like the starlight on the cover – and the dreamy, sort of neo-Classical damsel as well – who we assume must be Death’s Bride? The whole thing is mysterious and otherworldly, a kind of immediately immersing world where you’re not even sure what you should hope for, but you’re just glad to be along for the ride. The writing is clear and lyrical and lovely. I can’t wait to read the sequel – the recently released COBWEB EMPIRE. I believe it’s a trilogy.

WARNING: Sugar skulls will leave your hands dyed and sticky. Gravestones are not meant to be sat upon. Do not run with lit candles. Or scissors. This novel will make you LONG for Death. Life without Death is like zombies with no brain appetite, thus no real purpose but to annoy and putrefy. Do not read while operating heavy machinery. Not every girl in epic fiction must be a damsel in distress, neither beautiful, willowy, fresh-faced, nor blonde. Reading while eating in bed will leave crumbs.

You can find THE COBWEB BRIDE by Vera Nazarian online, or at an independent bookstore near you!