Seasonal Fears

by Seanan McGuire

Overview

From New York Times bestselling author Seanan McGuire, Seasonal Fears is the extraordinary companion novel to Middlegame.

The king of winter and the queen of summer are dead. The fight for their crowns begins!

Melanie has a destiny, though it isn’t the one everyone assumes it to be. She’s delicate; she’s fragile; she’s dying. Now, truly, is the winter of her soul.

Harry doesn’t want to believe in destiny, because that means accepting the loss of the one person who gives his life meaning, who brings summer to his world.

So, when a new road is laid out in front of them—a road that will lead through untold dangers toward a possible lifetime together—walking down it seems to be the only option.

But others are following behind, with violence in their hearts.

It looks like Destiny has a plan for them, after all….

"One must maintain a little bit of summer even in the middle of winter." —Thoreau

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781250768261
Publisher:	Tor Publishing Group
Publication date:	05/03/2022
Series:	Alchemical Journeys , #2
Pages:	496
Sales rank:	398,830
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.30(h) x 1.80(d)

About the Author

SEANAN McGUIRE is the author of the Hugo, Nebula, Alex, and Locus Award-winning Wayward Children series, the October Daye series, the InCryptid series, Middlegame, and other works. She also writes darker fiction as Mira Grant. Seanan lives in Seattle with her cats, a vast collection of creepy dolls, horror movies, and sufficient books to qualify her as a fire hazard. She won the 2010 John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer, and in 2013 became the first person to appear five times on the same Hugo ballot.

Editorial Reviews

04/25/2022

McGuire’s intricate, dense companion to 2020’s Middlegame delves ever deeper into the hidden alchemical history of her world, populating it with incarnate concepts and sinister agendas. Teen Harry March has been madly devoted to his girlfriend, Melanie Cosgrove, for as long as he can remember, though her heart condition means she likely won’t live long enough to have a future with him. Indeed, she dies during a high school football game—and promptly reanimates, her death just the start of a strange new adventure. A young woman named Jack Frost explains that Melanie and Harry are now candidates for the thrones of Winter and Summer respectively, the concept of seasons incarnated. To claim their mantles, they must travel cross-country to prove their worthiness in a magical trial, while battling their rival candidates, often to the death, along the way. Succeed and they stay together; fail and they both perish. As they master their seasonal affinities, they uncover secrets that have shaped their lives and influenced their destinies. However complicated the premise and worldbuilding may be, it’s all held together by Harry and Melanie’s unwavering partnership, and the strength of family, both blood and found. The result is a worthy, highly intelligent, wholly satisfying expansion of the Middlegame mythos that will leave readers wanting more. Agent: Diana Fox, Fox Literary. (May)

Publishers Weekly

12/01/2021

Awards-laden McGuire returns to the world of Middlegame, where the queen of summer is fading toward death and the king of winter bemoans his fate: a life without her sunshine. Then they see an alternative and take it, trailed by those who wish them harm. With a 175,000-copy first printing.

Library Journal

A Goodreads Most Anticipated Summer Read!

“A worthy, highly intelligent, wholly satisfying expansion of the Middlegame mythos that will leave readers wanting more.” —Publishers Weekly

“A fitting return to McGuire's magical, alchemical world.” —Booklist

From the Publisher