The combination of fantasy and Regency-era England make reading Bessie Bell and the Goblin King by Charlotte E. English like pulling on an enchanted sweater: magical and cozy. There’s dresses and hats along with goblins and spells. There’s also a plucky heroine and thrilling adventure. And, like many stories set in Regency-era England, there’s even romance.

The titular Bessie Bell is the heroine of the story. Unlike many protagonists in stories set during this time, Bessie is not a member of the gentry or nobility but is a servant. Although her days may be filled with dreary work, Bessie is not meek and downtrodden. She’s headstrong and not afraid to say what she thinks. In the opening chapter, Bessie whacks the lecherous son of her employer on the head with a bucket after he tries to take advantage of her. Bessie is also sensible and quick-witted, relying on both qualities when she finds herself in trouble. These characteristics make Bessie a fun character to read about.

After Bessie is released from her serving job and turned out in the middle of the night (due to the aforementioned bucket incident), she meets the mysterious Mr. Green. Bessie then joins his search for Tatterfoal, the magical horse she’s only heard about in legends. As she becomes more involved with Mr. Green, Bessie finds herself drawn into the world of magic.

This world of magic, called Aylfenhame, exists alongside Bessie’s own England. There exists goblins and fae creatures and magic abounds. To Bessie, it represents a change from her ordinary life. She finds delight in the magic and the descriptions of it carry that delight over to the reader. The magic pipes with colorful bubbles, tables that fulfill commands, and hats with small doors add charm to the story. Magic can be used for dark purposes too but the atmosphere of the story never becomes too dark.

Although this story is the third in the Tales of Aylfenhame series, this novel can be read as a stand-alone. However, once you read Bessie Bell and the Goblin King, you might find yourself wanting to read more of the series. If you’re looking for a book to read while curling up in a blanket, Bessie Bell and the Goblin King would be a great choice.

 

The Mirror Visitor Quartet is a series that I’ve had my eye on ever since I saw the cover for the first book, A Winter’s Promise. I loved the detailed sketch of a floating castle. In this case, judging a book by its cover was on the mark since I really liked A Winter’s Promise and its sequel The Missing of Clairdelune.

A Winter’s Promise takes place in a time where the Earth has been shattered into fragments called Arks and the people living on the Arks have unique abilities. Ophelia lives on an Ark called Anima and has the ability to read the history of objects and travel through mirrors. She is forced to marry Thorn, a man from another Ark called the Pole. Life in the Pole is very different from life on Anima–it’s a cold, unforgiving place with constant fighting and political maneuvering between clans. Ophelia has to navigate her way through these tensions and deal with her cold fiancé.

One of the things I liked most about A Winter’s Promise and The Missing of Clairdelune is Ophelia. She begins shy and uncertain but grows and develops confidence. Despite being in overwhelming situations and constant political intrigue where her enemies are cruel but her supposed allies aren’t much better, she still finds ways to exercise her agency. For example, when Ophelia is forced into hiding for reasons that she doesn’t understand she decides to sneak out and investigate on her own. She also chooses to remain compassionate to others although her compassion is not often reciprocated.

I also enjoyed the relationship between Ophelia and her Aunt Rosaline who acts as her chaperone before her marriage. Aunt Rosaline is a distant relation that Ophelia doesn’t know well but on the frozen Ark of the Pole, she’s one of the very few people she can trust. Seeing their relation grow from near strangers to an almost mother-daughter bond is satisfying. Aunt Rosaline is a great character in her own right–practical with a dry sense of humor.

The setting of The Mirror Visitor Quartet is unique and refreshing. Most of the first book and all of the second are spent in the Citalceleste, the floating castle of the Pole (beautifully depicted on the cover of A Winter’s Promise). The Citalceleste has many floors and is filled with illusions and mirages since one of the prominent clans has the ability to create such things. However these beautiful illusions often hide ugliness, which Ophelia learns early on.

I was excited by the developments of the second book, The Missing of Clairdelune. This book explores more of the history of the world and of the family spirits who rule each Ark. Ophelia’s fraught relationship with her fiancé Thorn is also developed. The sequel does an excellent job of building on the foundation of the first book. The only thing I dislike about the second book is its cliffhanger ending because the third book has not been published yet.

I highly recommend The Mirror Visitor Quartet to anyone who enjoys rich, imaginative worlds and great characters.

Many people like to look back on the year as it ends and reflect on their accomplishments. I like to do the same and think about the books (some good, some not-so-much) that I was able to read. 2018 was a good year for me, reading-wise. I finished 90 books this year, which is much higher than previous years. Hopefully I can keep up this trend in 2019.

I finished some series this year, some of which have taken years as I’ve had to wait for each book to come out. Django Wexler’s The Shadow Campaigns was one such series as the final book, The Infernal Battalion, was published in 2018. The wait, however, was worth it and the last volume was a thrilling and satisfying end to a series filled with adventure. The other series that I finished was Sherwood Smith’s excellent Inda. Although the series has been complete for a while, I didn’t begin the series until 2017. I read the concluding novel, Traitor’s Shore, in 2018. It was a great final volume in the story of Inda and did a wonderful job of tying up loose ends.

While saying good-bye to series that I finished, I also began some new series this year. I read An Alchemy of Masques and Mirrors in The Risen Kingdoms series by Curtis Craddock and it was one of the my favorite books I read in 2018. I am excited to read A Labyrinth of Scions and Sorcery, the sequel. Another series that I started was The Books of Babel by Josian Bancroft. The first novel in the series, Senlin Ascends, is a stand-out book that I would recommend to anyone.

I hope 2019 is an even better year for reading and books.