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Gorse

Additional information

Author

Sam K Horton

Genre

Adult – Fantasy

Release Date

September 12, 2024

Publisher

Solaris Books

Categories , Tag Product ID: 20199

Description

The Bear and the Nightingale meets Poldark in this folkloric dark fantasy of faith, magic and belief, set in 18th century Cornwall.

Cornwall, 1786.

For years, the villagers of Mirecoombe have turned to their Keeper, the old and battle-scarred Lord Pelagius Hunt, mediator between the worlds of men and fey, for help. But this is a time of change. Belief in the old ways, in the piskies and spriggans, has dimmed, kindled instead in the Reverend Cleaver’s fiery pulpit. His church stands proud above the mire; God’s name is whispered, hushed, loved. And now, death stalks Mirecoombe on the moor. There are corpses in the heather. There is blood in the gorse.

Nancy Bligh is determined to do what Pel will not: maintain the balance between the fey and the human world, be the Keeper that he refuses to be. Blessed with natural sight, friend to spriggans, piskies and human locals of Mirecoombe, Nancy has power that Pel never had and never lets her use. But as Mirecoombe falls into darkness, perhaps her time has come.

A poignant and lyrical examination of faith, love and grief, Gorse asks what do we choose to believe, and how does that shape who we are?

About the Author

Photograph of author Sam K. Horton

A

n author of literary fantasy, Sam lives above the moor in North Cornwall, and draws on its wild landscape, wide skies, and windblown folklore for his work.

Growing up on a sheep farm near Hereford, he left for London and trained as a costume designer working in film, theatre and opera before moving into visual art, still working with narratives, texts and stories. It was during his last project, surrounding the discovery and development of Eythin (an island lost off the coast of Cornwall, halfway between Boscastle and the Celtic Deep) that he found his talent for writing rich, detailed mythic worlds. This came as a surprise—despite a lifelong love of reading anything within reach, and over a decade working in libraries—but a welcome one.

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