Fantasy novel, written by T. Kingfisher and published by Sofawolf Press in 2016.
Summer is a 12-year-old girl whose mother is fiercely, fanatically over-protective of her daughter. She won't let Summer go on sleepovers, she won't let her go to camp, she won't let her ride the Ferris wheel at the carnival, she worries she'll drown in the bathtub. And Summer is very, very tired of being treated like her mother's precious, breakable crystal figurine. And then Baba Yaga shows up.
Well, it's not quite as bad as it sounds. Rather than embarking on a wild spree of killing and eating children, Baba Yaga's chicken-legged hut strolls down the alley and plops itself down for a rest, and when Summer peeks around the corner, the ancient witch invites her in for a chat and offers to grant her her heart's desire. Well, Summer spends a day worrying if she should ask to become a shapeshifter or if she should wish to be an orphan -- and finally decides that she really doesn't know what her heart's desire is yet. Baba Yaga thinks that's fine, more than fine, better than asking for gold and power. So Baba Yaga gives Summer a talking weasel and sends her down a magical hallway, and when she comes out the door on the other side, Summer finds herself in the strange magical world of Orcus.
Soon enough, Summer meets a trio of shapeshifters, Boarskin, Bearskin, and Donkeyskin, and discovers a tree that sprouts living frogs -- but the tree is dying, and Summer resolves to find a way to cure the disease infecting it, as well as finding her heart's desire. The shapeshifters tell Summer she can find help from the Waymaster, which leads to a long nighttime walk across a desert -- and when she gets to the other side, she instead finds the Wheymaster, a cheesemonger. He actually is the Waymaster, but he changed his name and occupation because he was getting threatened by Zultan Houndbreaker, a powerful minion of the monstrous Queen-in-Chains. And as soon as Zultan realizes an outsider is in Orcus, Summer finds herself on his hitlist, too.
In the process of fleeing from Zultan, Summer meets a number of new allies, including Reginald Hoopoe, an aristocratic and somewhat silly hoopoe who has a very kind and noble heart, and Glorious, a large, savage, and wise wolf who is also a were-house -- he transforms into a very comfortable house every night. There are Ankh and Ounk, two courageous guard geese, the Forester, a woman with the mind and soul of a dragon, and the antelope woman, a creature that does Summer a favor but who absolutely cannot ever be trusted.
Can Summer survive her confrontations with Zultan Houndbreaker and the Queen-in-Chains? Can she discover and cure the blight threatening all of Orcus? Can she keep her friends safe, and vice versa? Can she find her way back home again?
One of the things I love about T. Kingfisher's work is, when she's not writing mind-wreckingly terrifying horror, one of her specialties is nostalgic fantasy genres that have enough fun packed into 'em for both children and adults. For "Summer in Orcus," the genre is Portal Fantasies, where a character passes through a portal into another world. The best-known portal fantasies are "Alice in Wonderland," "The Chronicles of Narnia," and the various Oz books. Those are all considered children's books, so the whole genre is often considered a kids-only thing, despite how popular portal fantasies are with many adults.
This book has a lot of similarities to those traditional juvenile stories -- but there are also more adult sensibilities here, too. Summer faces serious dangers in Orcus, even as she acquires friends and allies. And Kingfisher's knowledge of horror adds to the tension in several sections, particularly Summer's various confrontations with Houndbreaker's deformed and mutated servants and her meeting with the Queen-in-Chains. But the story remains kid-friendly -- and not despite the story's darkness, but because of it. There's never been a truly great children's story that didn't include darkness. And this one isn't even particularly dark, especially not compared to stories with dead deer and poisoned apples.
I also really love the imaginative characters scattered throughout this book. Yes, the talking weasel is great from the beginning, Reginald Hoopoe (and his flock of sparrow valets) is wonderful and funny, and Glorious the wolf is awesome and wise and will tear-jerk the hell out of you the closer you get to the end of the book. The secret identities of both Zultan Houndbreaker and the Queen-in-Chains are fantastic surprises. Lord Almondgrove, Miss Merope Bee-eater, Matron Sophia, and the other birds at Reginald's party are very well realized. And even minor villains like Grub, rotting from the inside out, and the Sleipnirians, horrifying crosses of horses and giant spiders, are memorable.
If you're looking for amazing fantasy that'll be a hit with both children and grownups, this is one you'll want to pick up and read.
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