I made a little teaser trailer for my upcoming Slavic Fantasy debut, The Second Bell, from Angry Robot!
Coming March 2021!
Preorder here: [ Ссылка ]
Book Info: In an isolated mountain community, sometimes a child is born with two hearts. This child is called a striga and is considered a demon who must be abandoned on the edge of the forest. The child s mother must then decide to leave with her infant, or stay and try to forget.
Nineteen year-old striga, Salka, and her mother, Miriat, made the choice to leave and live a life of deprivation and squalor in an isolated village. The striga tribe share the human belief that to follow the impulses of their other hearts is dangerous, inviting unspoken horrors and bringing ruin onto them all.
Salka, a headstrong and independent young woman, finds herself in a life threatening situation that forces her to explore the depths of her true nature and test the bonds between mother and child...
Review
Captivating, provocative and poignant - not to be missed.
- David Wragg, author of The Black Hawks
This is well worth your time!"
- Gavin G Smith, author of The Bastard Legion series
Houston is able to mark the significance of daily events, highlight her characters, and comment on humanity's capacity for othering. This intimate fantasy offers a heartfelt reflection on what it means to be human that is sure to please.
- Publishers Weekly
A very personal story you won't be able to stop thinking about long after the tale is told.
- Dan Hanks, author of Captain Moxley and the Embers of the Empire
enchanting fairy tale with real-world themes.
- Ginger Smith, author of The Rush's Edge
a coming-of-age tale set in a lavishly detailed backdrop drawn from the writer's native Slavic mythology
- Tracy Fahey author of The Girl in the Fort and New Music For Old Rituals
Prose that scintillates, characters that captivate, and a world that is at once enchanting in its magic, horrifying in its realism, and vice-versa. Houston has gifted us with a folktale that is both mythically resonant and all too human.
- Tyler Hayes, author of The Imaginary Corpse
A fresh and provocative spin on the Slavic Stiga mythology, The Second Bell is a smart and complex journey into the meaning of family, community, nature and possibility. A gripping read and full of heart."
- Soniah Kamal, award-winning author of Unmarriageable
