A Closer Look at the Sir Julius Vogel Award Novel Finalists

For millennia, nature spirits have caused massive destruction throughout the world with storms and other disasters. Rika has lived on the streets for eight years and is one of the few people in the world who can see these spirits. She’s maintained a truce with them, but then a powerful storm sprite named Erlking attacks Berlin and she finds herself drawn into the Spirit Seekers, an elite force that battles the spirits.

Remezov is the best earthquake predictor in the world; he’s the youngest inductee the powerful Guild of Geographers has chosen in decades. But as he travels to the city of Hanemark to receive this honor, he finds the diary of a dead scientist, which warns of a coming invasion and explains some otherwise quite inexplicable recent occurrences. Remezov must decide if he will hand the diary over and face possible accusations of being the murderer… or keep it and try to use it to add to his fame.

Alongside the societal sins of bootleg gin and jazz, black magic is having a major comeback, much to the delight of Doctor Vincent Temple, who makes his living dealing with demons and cultists who trouble others. With even the Mafia finding themselves subject to magical issues, Vincent is happy to take the case because money is money. But it turns out the cult the dons are clashing with has a personal connection to Vincent–maybe too personal.

In a future where plants have saved us from a poisoned atmosphere and resource hoarders are the favorite marks of bounty hunters, Orfeus has relatively small goals–she just wants to be a traveling musician, though fame and adoration would be a nice bonus. Despite the fact that she’s never done anything wrong, she finds herself pursued by the Wolf, the most feared bounty hunter of the Vengeful Wild–and even as she tries to escape her hunter, there are greater monsters waiting for her on the road.

After Jena’s mother, father, and siblings were killed in a barn fire, her grandmother, Rose, banished her from the farm. Twenty years later, Rose is dying and it’s Jena’s last chance to find out what really happened the night of the fire. Rose’s live-in caregiver, Will, is a hunter of the supernatural, and he has his own questions. There’s something dark lurking on the homestead, and as Will and Jena search for answers, they unwittingly release a far darker evil into the world.

There has been no marriage between mortal and faerie since the Iron Law was revoked… until now. Maybe. If Hetta and Wyn actually manage to have their wedding. They’ve received permission from the mortal queen, but now they need the blessing of the fae high king. Hetta and Wyn both have deeply personal reasons for wanting to get hitched as quickly as possible… but what are personal desires next to politics and haywire magic?