Age range: 13 years plus (in my opinion)

Another installment of the "wayward children" series.

From Amazon:

A stand-alone fantasy tale from Seanan McGuire's Alex award-winning Wayward Children series, which began in the Alex, Hugo, Nebula, and Locus Award-winning, World Fantasy Award finalist, Tiptree Honor List Every Heart a Doorway

This fourth entry and prequel tells the story of Lundy, a very serious young girl who would rather study and dream than become a respectable housewife and live up to the expectations of the world around her. As well she should.

When she finds a doorway to a world founded on logic and reason, riddles and lies, she thinks she's found her paradise. Alas, everything costs at the goblin market, and when her time there is drawing to a close, she makes the kind of bargain that never plays out well.

The Wayward Children Series
Book 1: Every Heart a Doorway
Book 2: Down Among the Sticks and Bones
Book 3: Beneath the Sugar Sky
Book 4: In an Absent Dream

I thoroughly enjoyed Every Heart a Doorway, and have picked up another book in the series, but hadn't encountered this prequel before - so of course I nabbed it when I found it in the Burgess Farm Road LFL in Dracut today!

Later: Another enjoyable prequel in this intriguing series! This one fills in the back story of Lundy, finishing up with her introduction to the school from Every Heart a Doorway. (If you've read that one first, the ending to this one won't be a surprise, but even knowing that it's tempting to hope that this time Lundy won't make the same mistakes...)

I adore McGuire's world-building here, crafting fictional versions of different literary worlds, the kind that people fall into by accident and where they may or may not feel more at home than in the worlds they came from. Lundy has a decent homelife, unlike some of the kids who wind up through the looking glass, but she's so devoted to following rules that she pretty much hems herself in to the life that's expected of her - until she comes across a new and strange tree, with a very tempting door in it, with the label "Be sure." Hard to resist, eh?

This world, themed on the "goblin market" of Christina Rossetti, has one major difference from many others; here, the people who find their way in can, if they like, return to their home worlds and come back to this one any number of times - up until "curfew," that is, when they turn 18, and have to choose which side to be on. Lundy takes advantage of this, usually intending to go home to gather goods with which to enhance her stay in the Goblin Market, but often finds herself tempted by her home-world to stay longer than she'd planned - with consequences on the other side. It's clear she loves the Goblin Market world, though, where the place itself manages the give-and-take of its residents in an attempt to enforce fairness.

The book's a short one, and delivers tempting but all-too-brief hints as to all the adventures Lundy has with her friends Moon and Mockery. [Update: there's a new story on the publisher's web site about one of those adventures: Juice Like Wounds.] The book spends more time describing how the "fair exchange" rules work, with loving advice to Lundy from the Archivist, the wise woman who seems to be at the heart of the most significant parts of this world. But in the end, as Lundy's 18th birthday draws near and she's pulled by her original family as well as by her love of the Goblin Market, Lundy makes a choice that will change everything...

I did wonder why the Archivist couldn't be more specific about the consequences of that choice - apparently it's part of the fairy-tale setup - but it seemed out of keeping with the whole fair-exchange concept, as one cannot make an informed decision about the fairness of a bargain without knowing the true cost. Perhaps that will provide a loophole for Lundy in the future, though as of Doorway that hasn't happened.

I'm not sure how I'd have reacted to this book if I hadn't read Doorway first; I think I'd have liked it, but the reaction would have been different. I do hope there's a sequel to Doorway about the futures of those whose fates didn't get decided in that one!

[There's a TV Tropes page on the book, with some entertaining tidbits.]

I left this book in the charming dollhouse-style Little Free Library on this bright but very cold day; hope someone enjoys it!

[See other recent releases in NH here.]

*** Released for the 2019 D for December release challenge. ***

*** Released for the 2019 Keep Them Moving release challenge. ***