As a writer, I like to get on with a story, rather than creating reams of history and myth for my other-race before I can even start. As a result, my Aetherial “mythos” is developing organically along with the novels. My plan is to catalogue my mythos-so-far and develop it further on my website, www.fredawarrington.com.
Each of the Aetherial Tales series—Elfland, Midsummer Night, Grail of the Summer Stars—tells a self-contained, stand-alone story that you can follow without having to read the others. However, as they’re set in the same “universe,” there is an overspill of characters and plotlines from one book to the next. Elfland tells the story of Rosie, Sam, Lawrence Wilder and others. Midsummer Night explores the conflicts of Dame Juliana Flagg, Gill, Peta, Rufus and company. Grail of the Summer Stars, rather to my surprise, completes a plot arc over the three books that I hadn’t planned or expected until it happened! There are also hints of events and characters from my earlier novels. For example, my Aelyr race—or let’s say their distant cousins—first appeared in my epic fantasy The Amber Citadel. And when Fin tells Stevie about her friend August, she’s referring to events in my alternative history novel about King Richard III, The Court of the Midnight King.
It means a lot to me to make these connections, because I’m realizing that, while each of my novels is different, they’re all part of a bigger whole. After all, the stories are taking place in the internal landscape of my imagination, my own personal Otherworld, so it’s natural to me that characters from different books will sometimes cross paths and say, “There’s something you ought to know…”
Also, it’s fun. If readers don’t pick up on these moments, nothing is lost, but if you do happen to spot them, I hope you enjoy them too.
Books by Freda Warrington
AETHERIAL TALES
Elfland*
Midsummer Night*
Grail of the Summer Stars*
THE BLACKBIRD SERIES
Book 1: A Blackbird in Silver
Book 2: A Blackbird in Darkness
Book 3: A Blackbird in Amber
Book 4: A Blackbird in Twilight
THE BLOOD WINE SEQUENCE
Book 1: A Taste of Blood Wine
Book 3: The Dark Blood of Poppies
SORROW’S LIGHT
Dark Cathedral
Pagan Moon
Dracula the Undead
The Rainbow Gate
Darker Than the Storm
The Court of the Midnight King
THE JEWELFIRE TRILOGY
Book 1: The Amber Citadel
Book 2: The Sapphire Throne
Book 3: The Obsidian Tower
* A Tor Book
About the Author
Freda Warrington grew up Leicestershire, England. She spent her first years out of school as a graphic designer and illustrator and eventually became a full-time writer. She began writing short stories at a very early age, and by nineteen she had her first novel well under way. She has written twenty novels, including the Jewelfire trilogy and the Blood Wine sequence, all of which have been published in the United Kingdom.
Learn more at www.fredawarrington.com.
This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
GRAIL OF THE SUMMER STARS
Copyright © 2013 by Freda Warrington
All rights reserved.
Cover art by Kinuko Y. Craft
Edited by James Frenkel
A Tor Book
Published by Tom Doherty Associates, LLC
175 Fifth Avenue
New York, NY 10010
www.tor-forge.com
Tor® is a registered trademark of Tom Doherty Associates, LLC.
The Library of Congress has cataloged the print edition as follows:
Warrington, Freda, 1956–
p. cm. — (Aetherial tales; 3)
“A Tom Doherty Associates book.”
ISBN 978-0-7653-1871-8 (hardcover)
ISBN 978-1-4299-8651-9 (e-book)
1. Painting—Fiction. 2. Magic—Fiction. I. Title.
PR6073.A75G73 2013
823'.914—dc23
2012042626
eISBN 9781429986519
First Edition: April 2013