Stargazy Pie
Magic is out of fashion.
Good manners never are.
Jemis Greenwing returned from university with a broken heart, a bad cold, and no prospects beyond a problematic inheritance and a job at the local bookstore.
Ragnor Bella is a placid little market town on the road to nowhere, where Jemis’ family affairs have always been the main source of gossip. Having missed his stepfather’s funeral, he is determined to keep his head down.
Unfortunately for his reputation, though fortunately for several other people, he falls quickly under the temptation of resuming the friendship of Mr. Dart of Dartington, Squire-in-training and beloved local daredevil. Mr. Dart is delighted to have Jemis’ company for what will be, he assures him, a very small adventure.
Jemis expected the cut direct. The secret societies, criminal gangs, and illegal cult to the old gods–to say nothing of the mermaid–come as a complete surprise.
Book One of Greenwing & Dart, fantasies of manners—and mischief.
Bee Sting Cake
Magic is out of fashion. Gambling is merely illegal. Neither law nor common sense has ever stopped anyone in Ragnor Bella from making—or breaking—their fortunes at the table, at the racetrack, and especially at the Dartington Harvest Fair. With Mad Jack Greenwing’s only son Jemis finally back from university, this year’s betting is bidding fair to be the stuff of legend. Jemis assumes the speculative glances are for his inherited notoriety (and, perhaps, his adventurous first weekend back in town), and is determined to do nothing more than a little light wagering at the Fair. Perhaps one footrace. The odds on his placing are remarkably high—but the real bets are whether he makes it to the starting line at all. Lost heirs. Botanizing dukes. Riddling dragons. High Gothic melodrama. And all that’s just to get his name in the race. Book Two of Greenwing & Dart, fantasies of manners—and mischief.
Whiskeyjack
Magic is out of fashion.
Outlaws make their own.
Jemis Greenwing has slain a dragon, been acknowledged as the Viscount St-Noire, and not incidentally also been given a raise. After a chaotic first month back in Ragnor Bella, he’s finally feeling confident that he can make it to the Winterturn Assizes and the reading of his stepfather’s will without falling headlong into any more disaster.
Then he’s arrested on suspicion of murder.
By magic.
Of one of the greatest folk heroes of legend.
Trained to be a politically radical gentleman-of-leisure, Jemis thought he was doing fairly well as a bookstore clerk. That, of course, is before he ends up on the run in the Arguty Forest confronting highwaymen, illegal distillers, the odd relation, and the Wild Saint—not to mention the secrets a town truly committed to being infamously dull can hold.
Book Three of Greenwing & Dart, fantasies of manners—and mischief.
Blackcurrant Fool
Magic is out of fashion.
Orio City is where that’s decided.
When his best friend Mr. Dart unexpectedly needs to make an urgent trip to Orio City, Jemis Greenwing’s immediate response to ask when. He’s willing to make up to his grandmother so she will lend them her falarode, he’s willing to offer to run the errands of half the barony, and he’s certainly willing to spend a week or so away from the gossips of Ragnor Bella.
It’s such a pity that Jemis and Mr. Dart are more than halfway to Orio City before Jemis remembers that his vindictive ex-lover Lark is a rising star in the criminal courts of Orio City. It’s an even greater pity when they realize just what her new position is in the legally instituted court there.
What with the dragon Jemis slayed a month ago, his consequent ascension to the position of Viscount St-Noire, and his father’s very recent second return from the dead, to say nothing of that still-famous play from the summer, Three Years the Tragicomedy of the Traitor of Loe, it’s really too much to hope for that Jemis will be able to spend even three days in the old capital incognito.
University students. Bear baiting. Unexpected relations. Wild magic. Literary criticism. Kittens. And always that whisper from the highwaymen of the Arguty Forest that someone’s death is on the line …
Book Four of Greenwing & Dart, fantasies of manners–and mischief.
Love-in-a-Mist
Magic is out of fashion.
Murder, like romance, is always a possibility.
The journey home from Orio City was supposed to be straightforward. Avoid being captured by brigands or agents of the criminal gangs; try not to cause any further spiritual or magical shocks; and make it over the mountains before winter closes in.
A sudden blizzard drives Jemis and his friends to seek refuge in an eccentric country gentleman’s even more eccentric house. They only want to stay out the storm without revealing all their secrets: but the other guests have secrets of their own, and Mr. Dart’s ability to hear the inanimate has some unforeseeable consequences …
Blizzards. Unicorns. Ciphers. Noblesse oblige. A budding romance. And that’s before the murder.
Book Five of Greenwing & Dart, fantasies of manners–and mischief.
Plum Duff
Magic is out of fashion.
Except, obviously, at Winterturn.
Winterturn in Ragnor Bella is a holiday for family, feasting, and a few religious festivities.
Jemis Greenwing and Mr. Dart are both quite ready for a quiet week or two after their adventures going to and coming home from Orio City. Jemis in particular is looking forward to the first Winterturn spent with his father since he was a child.
Then the fairy fox shows up.
Wild magic. Family secrets. Gifts from unknown admirers. Sainthood. And that’s before the pageant.
My Take
I really enjoyed The Hands of the Emperor and was looking forward to more from that world. I found the first book really slow going and almost dropped the series. But it picked up towards the end and the second book was on Kobo Plus so I thought why not. (Yes, I just bought a Kobo. I’ll have a Kindle vs Kobo article soon.)
Now I love this series. I enjoy how the cast of characters expands and our knowledge of characters deepens as the series continues. The very mannered, formal society contrasting with the wacky binds they get themselves into. Men working to show their feelings for each other despite the awkwardness. Independent women. Parts of it can get really dense and twisted as they work through riddles and I’ve cried more than once, but overall I find it relaxing. I look forward to more! It sounds like there are four more books planned. And there are other series, that I will likely dip into.