Celandine [Hardcover]

This is the second in a trilogy about The Various, a tribe of faery folk who live in the woods near to Celandine's home. This episode takes part during WW1, when Celendine runs away from her boarding school and discovers the home of `little people'. First she has to prove to them that she isn't a feared giant but a true friend, and gradually she earns their trust. They then allow her to move in with them and she teaches them to read, write and sing. All is not calm and peaceful though because the tribe that Celandine live with are at war with another tribe. Their lives are fraught with danger and the book is packed with adventure, drama, magic, humour and heartbreak.

Steve Augarde has created a fantastic faery world and I cannot wait for the final instalment

From Robbie Fischer, book reviewer for Mugglenet: 'The second book in the trilogy that began with The Various is an unusual sort of sequel. Instead of picking up where the first book left off, Celandine goes back several decades, to the early 20th century, when Europe was on the brink of the First World War. But in a really weird way, it does connect with the events of The Various, particularly as the farm girl Celandine Howard has unsettling visions of another girl who will live on the same farm...the better part of a century later.

These aren't Celandine's only weird experiences, though. She senses a dog is dying merely by touching it. She has unsettling premonitions, and shows signs of having the healing touch. All of these things make her a social outcast, a target of bullies, and an object of suspicion to the teachers and staff at the boarding school Celandine is forced to attend after a set-to with her governess that, believe me, you would rather read for yourself than have summarized to you. Things are nearly as bad at home, where her father and oldest brother are unsympathetic, her Austrian-born mother is ostracized by a society at war with her homeland, and her closest brother is rushing headlong into danger on the battlefield.

With all these things against her, it is no wonder that Celandine keeps her strangest gift a secret. For she also knows about the "little people" who live on the wooded hill on her family's farm. To the Various, Celandine is a fearsome giant, the only one of her race they have ever befriended. When the terrible events in Celandine's life trigger a major crisis, her secret becomes her refuge. But just when it seems she could go on living with her earthy little friends, another crisis comes from outside, one that will force Celandine to choose between facing her problems in the outside world and being completely destroyed. For a long-lost tribe of winged warriors is about to arrive and stir things up on Howard's Hill, led by a crafty devil who is willing to shed any amount of blood necessary to get the power that he wants.

Once again, Augarde has woven a fascinating blend of adventure, tragedy, terror, beauty, and magic, this time adding a thread of historical color. It is interesting, and at times agonizing, to experience the fear, anger, hatred, and anxiety of a country at war, a page in history that has been overshadowed by more recent events. The misery of Celandine's school days is a study in changing attitudes toward childhood discipline and psychic powers, and of the unchanging nature of human beings--be they little girls or little people--when they are placed together in a tension-filled social structure.

But whether the setting is a rigidly regulated girls' dormitory or a wild forest full of otherworldly creatures, this book delivers more than just social criticism. It is full of magical marvels, unsettling weirdness, and nerve-wracking suspense. It is peppered with luscious vistas, gruesome shocks, snicker-inducing pranks, and mysteries that linger even at the end of the tale, so that you're glad there's a third book coming. Plus, Celandine is full of rich, lively characters, memorable dialogue, and even a bit of romance tinted with a touch of sepia-tone melancholy. If you were to read this as the first book in the series, you would find it full of intriguing foreshadowings of "things to come" in the latter-day adventures of The Various. And it is also charged with enough storytelling energy to send the trilogy's third book into orbit!

Robbie Fischer'

This long awaited sequel to "The Various" will take you back to an era almost a century ago, just before the outbreak of World War I and before women’s’ rights. Celandine is “different”, an exotically beautiful and high spirited young girl not only misunderstood by adults but by those her own age, too. Her parents fail to recognize that she has a very special magic, and therefore she is the forgotten one in a family of two older brothers, a loving but helpless mother, and a stern, unforgiving father. So not knowing what else to do with her after Celandine finally retaliates following several incidents with a cruel, sadistic governess (which her parents refuse to acknowledge or believe), they send her off to boarding school, where she is teased and taunted by the other students and severely disciplined by her teachers. But Celandine has a secret. Before being sent to away to school, during an accident in which she strikes her head while playing with her brother on the vast property owned by her father, she meets Fin, a member of The Various, a tribe of little people living unnoticed among the “Gorgi”, or giants – humans, like Celandine herself, who are fighting for their survival. Breaking all rules of the tribe, Fin takes her through a secret tunnel to meet them. Once Celandine convinces the Various she is not their enemy, they accept her help – everything from useful gifts like fishing hooks to teaching them to read and write. Their trust in her is complete when they offer their home among the hidden caves in the forest as a refuge when circumstances at school become too horrifying to bear and Celandine learns of an unspeakable tragedy at home…events that make it impossible for her to return. She is lost, she is lonely, but somehow she becomes part of this strange, mystical community as she struggles to come to terms with all that has happened while realizing that The Various themselves are in terrible danger as well from not only the outside world but from forces within their own ranks -- and that this danger extends to her, too. Celandine's experiences are a fascinating mixture of humor and heartache that make for a fast paced, nail biting adventure, and there is a direct link to her own personal torment and joy to that of The Various. Like them, she is a lost soul who is searching for a place in what seems to be a cold, cruel world, and the book’s tender, beautiful conclusion will have many reaching for a box of tissues.