Category Archives: Science Fiction/Fantasy

Eileen Wilks. Mortal Sins. New York: Berkley Sensation, 2009.

Murder is a heinous crime that is often described as being thoughtless and illogical. When death magic – the extraction of power through killing – is involved, there are even more unknowns.

FBI agent Lily Yu is in Halo, North Carolina, for personal reasons when Rule Turner, her werewolf boyfriend, discovers three bodies in a shallow grave. When Lily arrives at the crime scene, she realizes that her expertise as a member of the FBI’s Magical Crimes Division will be necessary. Lily is “touch sensitive,” and detects death magic on all three bodies. Lily can exonerate the local sheriff’s prime suspect, but time is running out for her to find the criminal using his or her magical powers to make innocent people commit terrible crimes.

As Lily investigates the case, she must also help Rule deal with a custody battle with his son’s mother and his internal debate on whether to bring the boy into the world of the Lupi.

This is the fifth novel in Wilks’ The World of the Lupi series; the earlier books are not set in North Carolina.

Check this title’s availability in the UNC-Chapel Hill Library catalog.

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Filed under 2000-2009, 2009, Novels in Series, Novels Set in Fictional Places, Science Fiction/Fantasy, Suspense/Thriller, Wilks, Eileen

Warren Rochelle. The Called. Urbana, IL: Golden Gryphon Press, 2010.

At the end of Harvest of Changelings, the tetrad of Hazel, Malachi, Jeff, and Russell crossed over into Faerie after defeating the Fomorii.  As this new novel opens, Malachi and Hazel go back to earth, along with two other magicals, Ben and Larissa.  Malachi and Hazel settle in the Triangle, a center of the magical rights movement. Malachi becomes a champion of the magicals, defending them in the media and in his community against the prejudice that is developing against them.  That prejudice is stoked on by undercover members of the Fomorii who are using unsuspecting human allies.

The Fomorii have plans to capture the magicals, and when they kidnap Malachi, Jeff and Russell return to earth to help Hazel find her husband.  But the Fomoriis’ diabolical scheme extends to humans as well, as they foment the overthrow of state governments and the federal government (headed by President Gore).  The action in the novel moves across the state, from Cherokee to Manteo, but some of the most gripping scenes take place on or near the UNC campus, where Malachi is held prisoner beneath Gimghoul Castle.

Check this title’s availability in the UNC-Chapel Hill Library catalog.

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Filed under 2010, 2010-2019, Coast, Orange, Piedmont, Rochelle, Warren, Science Fiction/Fantasy

Shirley Damsgaard. The Seventh Witch. New York: Avon, 2010.

Ophelia has mixed feelings about going to the Blue Ridge Mountains for her great-aunt’s 100th birthday party. Although she spent part of her childhood at the family homestead there, she feels more at home in her quiet village of Summerset, Iowa, where she lives with her grandmother and serves as the librarian. Ophelia would prefer to lead a normal life, but her status as a psychic witch dictates that she interact with the extreme – curses, ghosts, and even murder.

In North Carolina, Ophelia expects a carefree vacation, but she quickly discovers that her family’s secrets have put them in danger. Her quirky aunts, who are all witches and healers, help Ophelia piece together reasons why another witch in the area wants to do harm to their family – and to kill her beloved grandmother, Abby. By using her psychic abilities and with the assistance of her love-interest, Ethan, Ophelia exposes a crime committed against the people of the community, sets some family history straight, and saves Abby.

Check this title’s availability in the UNC-Chapel Hill Library catalog.

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Filed under 2010, 2010-2019, Damsgaard, Shirley, Mountains, Mystery, Novels in Series, Science Fiction/Fantasy

Shirley Damsgaard. Ophelia and Abby Mysteries.

  • Witch Way to Murder. New York: Avon, 2005.
  • Charmed to Death. New York: Avon, 2006.
  • The Trouble with Witches. New York: Avon, 2006.
  • Witch Hunt. New York: Avon, 2007.
  • The Witch Is Dead. New York: Avon, 2007.
  • The Witch’s Grave. New York: Avon, 2009.
  • The Seventh Witch. New York: Avon, 2010.

Small-town librarian Ophelia Jensen and her grandmother, Abby, have special gifts: they are both witches with psychic powers. Although Ophelia would rather forget about her abilities, they come in handy when people are in danger. Over the past few years, the duo has helped to save their neighbors in usually sleepy Summerset, Iowa, and a missing teenager in an isolated part of Minnesota, all while trying to understand their supernatural powers. Although Ophelia struggles with her mysticism, her grandmother assists her with each case to show her how important their magick is.

Of interest to readers of this blog is the seventh novel in the “Ophelia and Abby Mystery” series, titled The Seventh Witch.  Ophelia, Abby, and other family members have traveled to their homestead in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina for Great-Aunt Mary’s 100th birthday party. Unfortunately, the celebration is overshadowed by some decades-old land battles with other local witches as well as a rogue family member. As Ophelia begins to uncover family secrets and good witch/bad witch battles, she realizes that she must save someone dear to her from danger who is at the center of the contention – Abby!

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Filed under 2010, 2010-2019, Damsgaard, Shirley, Mountains, Mystery, Novels in Series, Science Fiction/Fantasy, Series

Leanna Sain. Return to Nowhere. Kingsport, TN: Twilight Times Books, 2009.

Twenty-two years have passed since Emma Franklin walked through an iron gate to enter 1827 and to leave 2004 and her “modern-day” life behind forever. In that time, has married Gavin MacKinley, had six children, and never regretted crossing into a new century.

Now her tomboyish eighteen-year old daughter, Charlotte, has become transfixed by the magical gate. Charlotte is at a crossroads in her life. She’s known as “Doc Charlie” to everyone in MacKinley, North Carolina, and becoming a physician has always been her dream. Unfortunately, the Boston medical school where she hoped to go rejects her. Charlie’s parents tell her that she is to marry James MacGregor, the Scottish nephew of Gavin’s best friend, who they have never met. And the MacKinleys’ land is threatened by their aggressive neighbors, the Freemans. Sadly, the Freemans’ extreme measures result in the deaths of two of Charlie’s closest confidants.

Charlie feels the need to escape the pressure and heartache of the last few days. She decides to pass through the gate during the full moon intending to learn medicinal practices of early Cherokees. After spending a few days in 1819 learning about Indian herbal remedies (and warning her new friends of the Trail of Tears), Charlie returns home just as typhoid fever breaks out in MacKinley. She must put her new skills to the test, which means tending to the hated Freemans. When the fear and illness pass, Charlie has a chance to meet MacKinley’s new pastor – Jamie MacGregor! They quickly become devoted to each other, and Charlie is able to enjoy her two loves: medicine and Jamie.

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Filed under 2000-2009, 2009, Henderson, Historical, Mountains, Novels Set in Fictional Places, Sain, Leanna, Science Fiction/Fantasy

Kim Reynolds. Alex Charles: The Evening Oak. Plymouth, MI: HMSI Publishing, 2010.

Alexandra “Alex” Charles is at a crossroads in her life. Over the past eighteen months, she has wished many times for her parents’ guidance. After both perished in a tragic car accident when she was just sixteen, Alex was left with no family. Having just graduated from high school, she wonders if college is the right next step. Alex is trying to enjoy a carefree summer when a man contacts her claiming to be her long lost uncle. Although Alex is apprehensive about meeting the stranger, she is enticed by the idea that she might not be completely alone. She decides to meet Joseph Graham.

Alex immediately likes her Uncle Joe, but she must learn to trust him. Joe has some (almost) unbelievable information about her heritage: her family has the ability to travel through time. They see themselves as special angels who can go back in history seven times throughout their lives to right wrongs. Although her parents chose to live a normal life, Joe wants Alex to know her options.

As she gets to know her sole family member through his own stories of time travel, Alex realizes that this is the direction for which she has been yearning. She lets Joe introduce her to the family business, which includes teaching her how to research an event in history that she would like to change (nothing too big or too personal, so she cannot save her parents), and allowing Alex to view his own first experience in 1865 Bentonville, North Carolina. With this knowledge, Alex must choose which life to live.

Alex Charles: The Evening Oak is the first book in the “Alex Charles Book Series.”

Check this title’s availability in the UNC-Chapel Hill Library catalog.

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Filed under 2010, 2010-2019, Johnston, New Hanover, Novels in Series, Piedmont, Reynolds, Kim, Science Fiction/Fantasy, Wake

Diana Gabaldon. An Echo in the Bone. New York: Delacorte Press, 2009.

War is upon the Carolinas in this, the seventh novel in the Outlander series.  Jamie Fraser and his time-traveling wife Claire leave North Carolina aboard the inappropriately named Tranquil Teal. Jamie and Claire’s experiences at sea are part of the mix, along with much about the war in the northern colonies, and Brianna’s new life in twentieth century Scotland.

Check this title’s availability in the UNC-Chapel Hill Library catalog.

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Filed under 2000-2009, 2009, Coastal Plain, Gabaldon, Diana, Historical, Novels in Series, Science Fiction/Fantasy

Leanna Sain. Gate to Nowhere. Kingsport, TN: Twilight Times Books, 2008.

“Before I tell you anything, Gavin, I want to assure you that I’m not crazy. I’m not an escapee from an asylum, and I’m not a witch. I’m just me. My name is Emma Jane Franklin. I’m thirty-four years old; my birthday is April 6… 1970.”

Emma Franklin has been in Nowhere, North Carolina, for a few days when she reluctantly begins to tell her host, Gavin MacKinlay, the story of how she arrived. Gavin can hardly believe his ears – how can someone from the twenty-first century be in his apple orchard? He is transfixed by her beauty, charm, and interest in him and his property; this leads him to believe that she is not lying to him. If what she is saying is true, Emma passed through the gate during a full moon in 2004 to arrive on his plantation in 1827.

Although the thought of traveling through time is shocking enough, Emma gives Gavin some very startling news. In a few days time, the community, which has decided to rename their settlement “MacKinlay” out of admiration of his successes, will suddenly turn on him. Because Emma knows the future, she knows that generations of MacKinlay residents have cursed Gavin’s name, but neither she nor Gavin understand why. Equipped with the information Emma does have, they work together to prevent the events that caused this rift and thus change the course of history.

When the month has passed and the moon is full again, Emma is able to walk through the gate to get back to 2004. Once there, she finds neighbors who are genuinely friendly and who are proud to tout their town’s history. However, Emma is torn. She misses Gavin, who she found to be an honest, gentle person. She finds she likes the practices of the nineteenth century and has no desire to stay in this century. Emma must choose which life to live, although this time, if she passed through the gate, there can be no turning back.

Check this title’s availability in the UNC-Chapel Hill Library Catalog.

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Filed under 2000-2009, 2008, Henderson, Historical, Mountains, Novels Set in Fictional Places, Sain, Leanna, Science Fiction/Fantasy

Vicki Sterling Hasty. Eliza and the Analogies of Burnshire. Baltimore: PublishAmerica, 2009.

Eliza wasn’t exactly thrilled about going to summer camp. She would have preferred to stay at home with her mother to practice her favorite activity—solving analogies. However, when her mother says she’s enrolled Eliza at Camp Camden, Eliza bravely packs a few trusty analogy books and gives camp a chance.

But then, just as Eliza begins to settle into the rhythm of camp, she stumbles upon a magic portal in the camp stable. It leads to the mystical land of Burnshire, where animals talk and the wicked king incinerates anyone who opposes him! The persecuted animals recruit Eliza and her friends to save Burnshire from the king by solving a series of analogies. Eliza’s skills are put to the test in this fast-paced fantasy adventure.

Check this title’s availability in the UNC-Chapel Hill Library catalog.

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Filed under 2000-2009, 2009, Children & Young Adults, Coastal Plain, Hasty, Vicki Sterling, Hoke, Science Fiction/Fantasy

Sarah Addison Allen. The Girl Who Chased the Moon. New York: Bantam Books, 2010.

Coming home can be a difficult process if the reasons you left in the first place were painful. Coming home to a small town like Mullaby, North Carolina where everyone seems to know all about you can be very awkward. Coming home to a place where there is a gentle giant, men who glow in the moonlight, and people can see and follow the smell of cake, can be wonderful.

For Emily Benedict, coming to Mullaby after the death of her mother is a homecoming of sorts. Although this is her first time in the town and the first time she meets her grandfather, Emily feels a strange connection to the people as well as the place. As she learns about why her mother lost touch with her grandfather, a giant, she discovers a town full of animosity towards her mother, animosity which extends to her too. Only when she befriends a strange boy, Win Coffey, whose signature outfit is a white summer linen suit and who glows in the moonlight, does she understand the truth of why her mother left. The history shared by Emily and Win’s families could complicate their budding relationship, but they are determined to write a new story for themselves.

Julia Winterson has returned to Mullaby after the death of her father. She planned to stay in Mullaby for two years to claim her father’s estate and to expand his barbecue restaurant so that when she sells it she will make a profit. Julia wants to move back to Baltimore to open a bakery, leaving the painful memories of Mullaby behind. However, people who hurt her in the past – mean girls, an impossible stepmother, and a boy, Sawyer, who claimed to love her but wanted her to get an abortion when she became pregnant at sixteen – once again become important figures in her life. When Sawyer expresses his true feelings for her, Julia admits to giving birth to their daughter and putting her up for adoption. Julia realizes that she cannot leave Mullaby because it is and always was her home. Although she and Sawyer have no way of finding their daughter, Julia bakes cakes as a way to try to call her home – a method Sawyer’s mother used to reach him.

Maddie Davis had never been to Mullaby when she traveled there to find her birth mother. For her entire life, she has been able to see the ingredients in cake – flour, sugar, vanilla – in the air, and this sixth sense draws her to the dessert and to the baker. Maddie has finally found the source of that scent that has been reaching out to her for her entire life. And in traveling to Mullaby to meet her birth parents, Maddie comes home.

While each homecoming is not without unpleasant moments, the results are comforting – and magical.

Check this title’s availability in the UNC-Chapel Hill Library catalog.

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Filed under 2010, 2010-2019, Allen, Sarah Addison, Novels Set in Fictional Places, Romance/Relationship, Science Fiction/Fantasy