Thorns

Arthur Hawthorne sees it in his dreams: The corpse queen on her throne; black briars and blood-red roses entwined with human bones in a tower of ruins. Visions of death and suffering that only madness could contrive.

And surely Arthur is mad. What else could explain the dark imaginings of an otherwise respectable young gentleman? Sketches of corpses and fairy lore have no place among the genteel of Regency society, and Arthur fears he’s losing a grip on reality. Except that he’s about to encounter a very real kind of magic, one that he’s only visited in prose before.

Fairies appear in human form, drawing magic doors to another place and time, and pulling Arthur into a true adventure–a quest to fulfill an ancient prophecy that must conquer Death itself.

The Dark Woods’ retelling of Sleeping Beauty includes the return of Faenwick the fairy godmother, who pursues her final task in the world of men; and introduces readers to a new villainess, whose cunning and power threatens human life and the very outcome of history.