The Space Between by Susan Rooke
Book Title: The Space Between: The Prophesy of Faeries by Susan Rooke
Category: Adult Fiction, 452 pages
Genre: Fantasy, Fairy Tale
Publisher: Holynok Press
Release date: September 12, 2017
Format available for review: ebook (mobi, ePub, PDF)
Tour dates: Oct 23 to Nov 17, 2017
Content Rating: PG-13 (For some violence. There is no sex or bad language)
Book Description:
Mellis, a courageous and resourceful young woman, is kidnapped from the human world and taken to the Space Between by a tribe of faeries called the Penitents. Because of guilt over an ancient sin committed by their angel ancestors against the Maker, the Penitents have cursed themselves with grotesque physical disfigurements. Mellis can help them reunite with the Maker and find their way back to redemption, but she would need to give up the life she’s always known to remain in the Space Between.
As she struggles with this heart-wrenching decision, one of the Penitents, bent on revenge, commits a gruesome attack against the tribe, and they learn he has taken Satan–the Maker’s greatest enemy–as his ally. All in the Space Between are facing grave danger. Will a long-awaited act of vengeance save them?
Susan Rooke builds a rich and fantastical world of angels and demons, monsters, faeries and dragons. Abounding with spirituality and humanity, this faery tale for adults has a cast of vivid characters you won’t soon forget.
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Susan Rooke is a Pushcart-nominated poet and author of the forthcoming The Space Between Series. Her short stories and poems have appeared in publications such as The Christian Science Monitor and The Twilight Zone Magazine, among many others. She resides on a square of green, peaceful country not far from Austin, Texas, with her husband Glen, who runs a small cattle operation while Rooke writes fiction about angels and demons, monsters, faeries and dragons. Look for her fantasy novel, The Space Between: The Prophecy of Faeries on Amazon.
Book Review:
The premise of the book, the characters, the style-not my typical genre. I like to expand my reading though, challenge myself.
Do faeries exist? Would a human be brought to their world? Would the human, Mellis be able to help them reunite with the Maker and find their way back to redemption? Would she forgo returning to her world to do this?
This kind of story is similar to many others with the overall premise of redemption and one trying to be the mediator between good and bad or good and evil.
The Space Between is a fantasy full of fallen angels, faeries, dragons, and monsters. The book was confusing and I could not get that into the storyline all that much. Perhaps this book is more appropriate for older youth or teenagers.
If you enjoy a book about fantasy than you may like this book.
Author Interview
You’ve written a book you describe as a fairytale for adults. Do you believe in fairies (or “faeries,” as you spell it)?
I do. Over the years some curious stories without ready explanations have arisen from what’s said to have been faery/human interaction.
Which of your characters surprised you the most as you wrote the book?
Lugo, Master of the Penitents’ Keep. He begins the book as shallow, pompous and self-absorbed, but by the end we know him as a fully-realized character with depth. I came to love Lugo, and I feel privileged to tell his story, which is fleshed out even more in Book 2.
How do you choose names for your characters?
Sometimes a name seems the obvious choice because it fits a character’s personality, like Constant, the Keep’s doctor. Others arrive in my head with their names in place, like Lugo. But there are characters whose names come to me in dreams. There’s an enormous white sow who’s a character in Book 2. I’d begun writing her into the story, unnamed, and one night saw the word “Bryngwyn” in a dream. When I awoke, I googled it and discovered that it means “white hill” in Welsh. The perfect name for her, but it was disconcerting.
In today’s tech savvy world, most writers use a computer or laptop. Did you write any part of The Space Between on paper?
Yes, I always have paper with me so I can write anywhere, whether at the DMV or the dentist. Some of my favorite scenes have been written on legal pads at the car dealership while I waited for an oil change and tire rotation.
In your writing space, what’s the most interesting thing in your field of vision?
My husband Glen runs a small cattle operation (small operation, large cattle), and my office window looks out on pastures dotted with grazing black cows. One day when he was working cattle, I looked up from my laptop and saw a man on horseback chasing down a couple of recalcitrant cows to round them up for the working pen. Before we moved to the country a couple of years ago, I never would’ve expected to see that out my window. It was just so . . . ranch-y.
Do you reread favorite books? If so, which ones do you turn to most often?
I’ve read the Harry Potter series and The Lord of the Rings several times. Moby-Dick and Susanna Clarke’s wonderful Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell also. But my very favorite is the great Edward Gorey’s illustrated novella, The Unstrung Harp, Or, Mr. Earbrass Writes a Novel.
If you could choose one writer to meet over cocktails and hors d’oeuvres, who would it be?
Neil Gaiman! His body of work covers so much territory, and his imagination is boundless.
*I received a complimentary ebook in exchange for an honest review.*
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