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    The Girl Who Fell Beneath Fairyland and Led the Revels There
    The Girl Who Fell Beneath Fairyland and Led the Revels There
    The Girl Who Fell Beneath Fairyland and Led the Revels There
    Ebook294 pages4 hours

    The Girl Who Fell Beneath Fairyland and Led the Revels There

    By Catherynne M. Valente and Ana Juan

    4.5/5

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    About this ebook

    "One of the most extraordinary works of fantasy, for adults or children, published so far this century."—Time magazine, on the Fairyland series

    September has longed to return to Fairyland after her first adventure there. And when she finally does, she learns that its inhabitants have been losing their shadows—and their magic—to the world of Fairyland Below. This underworld has a new ruler: Halloween, the Hollow Queen, who is September's shadow. And Halloween does not want to give Fairyland's shadows back.
    Fans of Valente's bestselling, first Fairyland book will revel in the lush setting, characters, and language of September's journey, all brought to life by fine artist Ana Juan. Readers will also welcome back good friends Ell, the Wyverary, and the boy Saturday. But in Fairyland Below, even the best of friends aren't always what they seem. . . .

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherMacmillan Publishers
    Release dateOct 2, 2012
    ISBN9781466828001
    Author

    Catherynne M. Valente

    Catherynne M. Valente began September’s adventures in installments on the Web; the project won legions of fans and also the CultureGeek Best Web Fiction of the Decade award. She lives with her husband on an island off the coast of Maine. She has written many novels for adults, but this is her children’s book debut.

    Read more from Catherynne M. Valente

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    Reviews for The Girl Who Fell Beneath Fairyland and Led the Revels There

    4.5/5

    45 ratings40 reviews

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    • 3/5
      While I very much enjoyed The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making by Catherynne M. Valente, this sequel didn't live up to my expectations. Valente's imagination continues to amaze me, but The Girl Who Fell Beneath Fairyland and Led the Revels There failed to reel me in.
    • 5/5
      The Girl Who Fell Beneath Fairyland and Led the Revels There by Catherynne M Valente is the sequel to the similarly long-titled The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making. It is also very much an homage to Dorothy's second trip to Oz (and the 4th book in the series), Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz.Whereas Alice first gets to fairyland through falling down an impossibly deep hole, Dorothy and September save this method of travel for their return trip. For Dorothy, it's a giant California earthquake (quite possibly the 1906 San Francisco quake). For September, the trip downwards takes the form of an elevator — but not with the underworld / Hades overtones as The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan. So although September is essentially exploring / questing through the land below Fairyland, there still remains that odd combination of magic and technology (much in the way that the Land of Oz embraces and brings to life the commonplace technology of the early 1900s)Dorothy's second journey to Oz is as unexpected as the first, but September goes willingly. She has been waiting anxiously for an entire year to return. Dorothy's time away from Oz is never fully outlined, but it was long enough for her and her aunt and uncle to travel to Australia (Oz of our world). It is on their landing in California for the trip home that she and her cousin, Zeb, are plummeted beneath Oz via the earthquake.It is September's desire to revisit Fairyland and upon arrival, fix the broken pieces of it (caused, perhaps by her own hand) that sets her apart from either early Dorothy (before she campaigns to move herself and her family to Oz on a permanent basis) and Alice. Alice and Dorothy both focus on seeking a way home — even if for Alice she must be moved through the land like a pawn on a chessboard.September has a greater sense of purpose and a stronger free will than her earlier fantasy counterparts. It is her strength of character that gives the Valente's Fairyland books an adult appeal to them, even though these darker themes will probably go over the heads of most of the series's younger readers. THIS IS A GOOD THING. The books will grow with their audience on subsequent re-reads.I have been cagey about describing specific characters or specific scenes. I don't want to spoil anything. I also don't want to give false expectations. Yes — September's friends are there. But her visit isn't a rehash of her previous adventures (although a pair of crows do follow a familiar route). Instead, it's an exploration of uncharted (for us as readers) areas and the meeting of new characters. Without getting too spoilerly, let me just sign off by saying the last quarter of the book took my high expectations (which I'd felt had already been satisfactorily met), and thrown them out the window, resulting in many squeals of joy and thrusting of the ARC into the hands of kith and kin so that I'd have someone to talk about the book with.I have, by the way, pre-ordered an audio copy of the book and will later buy a hardback copy so I can have all the glorious illustrations. The ARC I will continue to share with my book club friends.
    • 5/5
      Settembre tornerà a Fairyland e si troverà a rimediare a problemi causati da lei. Sarà una discesa in un altro mondo ancora, popolato da ombre così diverse dai loro possessori, per detronizzare questa volta una regina.
      Ancora una volta il linguaggio è protagonista della storia assieme a vari riferimenti mitologici.
      Bello, ricco, sempre di difficile lettura in lingua originale.

      ---
      September is back to Fairyland and has to face problems caused by herself. There will be a climb down to another world, full of shadows so different from their owners, to dethrone an evil queen.
      Also this time language is a protagonist with various mythological references.
      Nice, rich and difficult to read in the original language.
    • 5/5
      I'm not often fond of sequels because they are usually set-ups for a third book, but The Girl Who Fell Beneath Fairyland is unique. It's a second book with interesting characters and places that does an excellent job of wrapping everything up neatly at the end, while still giving hope that maybe we will all have a chance to return again to Fairyland. Very much worth the read for anyone who read the first book. If you haven't read the first, you may get a little lost, as several characters return from the Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland and it does continue the story where that book left off.
    • 5/5
      upon reread, i think i can safely say this is my favorite of the series
    • 5/5
      The Girl Who Fell Beneath Fairyland and Led the Revels There was my one non-Brandon Sanderson pre-order this year. The first book, The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making was one of the best books I read in 2011.It has been a little over a year since September's first visit to Fairyland, where she defeated the evil Marquess and saved the land. She has been waiting for the Green Wind to come fetch her so she can see her friends Saturday and A-through-L and have a fun adventure, but she's afraid her friends have all forgotten her. When she finally gets to Fairyland, it turns out that the magic is seeping out of the land into Fairyland Below whose Queen is Halloween, September's shadow. So our intrepid September has to save Fairyland all over again... but now it's from her shadow self.Pretty much everything about this book is gorgeous - the cover art, the words, the setting, the story. Valente is one of the most skilled writers I've encountered in her ability to play with words and ideas. Her prose is evocative and is full of whimsical but logical similes, allusions and metaphors. I would recommend this series based entirely on her writing, but every other part of the book is perfectly crafted too.Valente tackles the age old children's book trope - growing up, but somehow manages to put a fresh face on it. September is a lovely protagonist - she's practical, but brave, very sure of herself and not afraid to take responsibility for her actions. But now she's outgrowing her childhood, and that means she's growing a heart and her feelings war. She's always seen things the way she wants them to be, and now she sees things as they are, and that's a hard realisation at any age. This is especially poignant when she encounters the shadow Marquess.I especially loved the concept of shadows being everything the "real" person keeps hidden. Halloween is so wild because September tries her best to be proper, shadow Saturday is effusive, and shadow A-through-L is bashful. Mirroring was a big theme throughout the book - Fairyland Below is a mirror of Fairyland, and Fairyland itself mirrors wartime America.I could go on and on, but I wouldn't leave you any magic to discover for yourself. This series is the new Phantom Tollbooth! It doesn't matter how old you are (you'll love the whimsy if you're young and you'll appreciate the nuances if you're older) - READ THIS! Just make sure you read The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making first.
    • 3/5
      3*** is probably generous. I don't that much care for this Girl Who series which, though written in extravagant language, is weak on characterization and thin in plot. I find the same flaws here as I find in Clive Barker's Abarat series, and as I think through the problem I believe I've discovered just what it is.Too much magic. That may be an odd thing to say about a "fairy tale" -- too much magic -- but when magic is used to excess, providing the transition from one chapter/incident in the story to the next, it eventually destroys all cause-and-effect relationships and thus destroys any coherent narrative thread. That's what's happened here. Cleverly written, and with numerous clever literary allusions, but not a coherent plot line. Finally, in the end, we do see some resolution, but it really doesn't flow credibly out of what went before it in the story. I'm hoping that this "final resolution" means that Valente doesn't plan on publishing any more of these Girl Who novels.
    • 4/5
      It's not quite the same whimsical and funny tone as book one, more adventure and interesting world building!
    • 4/5
       I always find Catherynne Valente's writing beautiful and terribly clever. Her two fairyland books are also very accessible and fun. It's always such a delight to travel with September, though as a teenager she has now developed a new and raw heart (children are heartless), and now has some aches and betrayals to show for it. I missed her friends that she could trust when she was forced to set off with their wild and untamed shadows, just like she did. All in all, another pleasure to read.
    • 5/5
      An Adventure, with a capital A! This Fairyland installment shines as much as the tale before it! The Girl Who Fell Beneath Fairyland and Led the Revels There continues to chronicle September’s exploits in Fairyland with whimsy, flair and a healthy helping of balderdash!

      If you are of a mind to pick up these books you will find a world full of wonder and nonsensical wisdom that of course makes the most perfect sense you will ever read! What makes these books so marvelous is that Valente takes the simplest thoughts, pleasures and actions you might ever have an impulse of doing – and brings them to life in such a way that is not only true – but FUN!

      There’s something to be said for breaking things. They make a satisfying sound when they crunch. ~location 2884

      September’s return journey into Fairyland brings her back a year older, a touch wiser and no less determined to do what needs doing. She is still without a shadow and discovers so are many of the residents of Fairyland. With the shadows gone from Fairyland-Above the magic is seeping away into Fairyland-Below. Magic is in such short supply that it needs to be rationed. September knows this must have started with her shadow and sets out to confront herself.

      At each turn of the page I was delighted and amazed at how much more in love with September and this world I could become.

      “A book is a door, you know. Always and forever. A book is a door into another place and another heart and another world. ~location 2027

      There are no truer words that could be written and captures the exact reason why I read: To see those other worlds and know those others hearts.

      Then would come a line that would make me crack an evil smile like no other, squeeze the book and let out a forceful, “YES, precisely!” These are the things I could picture myself doing…whether I was a child or the 30-something I am now. I know such lines will resonate with the child within us all.

      September could just barely see the ornate handle in the dark. It made her think of the one that, when flipped, animated Frankenstein’s monster in the film her mother quite regretted taking her to. For a week afterward, September had run about the house, turning on the lights in every room and booming out what she considered a very scientific and professional cackle. ~location 717

      The Girl Who Fell Beneath Fairyland and Led the Revels There would be a perfect book to read together with your child or one that a middle grade reader could devour on their own, but is most definitely a guilty pleasure that I highly recommend to every adult who has ever imagined Fairyland.
    • 4/5
      It's been a year since September's adventures in Fairyland and after much wishing and waiting she has finally returned. However, the Fairyland she comes back to is much different as she discovers that everyone is losing their shadows - and their magic - to Fairyland-Below. There September's shadow rules as the Hollow Queen, Halloween. Once again, September finds herself on a Quest to set Fairyland back to rights.Fans of the first book will love this sequel. The narrative voice remains a delight, weaving the rich tapestry that makes up Fairyland and Fairyland-Below. September is still a charming heroine, who is starting to grow up, and starting to come into a new, fresh heart. A great fairy tale for all ages.
    • 5/5
      The Girl Who books never fail to delight me. And Valente's second book in the series lived up to my (high) expectations. Not unlike Prue from Under Wildwood, September has trouble focusing on her real live when Fairyland is out there waiting for her. Unlike Prue, what September discovers is a bigger secret than she can imagine. The second book in the Girl Who series is a bit darker than the first, in both plot and tone (it takes place underground), but Valente gives us version of our favorite characters (September's friends) along with a while new set of characters that are just as fun as the others. I know I say this a lot, but I love this series. It's for tweens, really, but I think that anyone can read it.
    • 4/5
      I asked my ten-year-old to recommend a book to me. Either a book he thought I'd like, or a book he wanted to have someone to talk to about, whatever. He chose this one, and I'm pleased that he did, as we had both read the first book in the series, and I'd been intending to read this some time anyway. It had been far too long since the first one, though, and for a great deal of this book, I was straining to remember details of the first, sometimes tempted to put this book on hold to reread the first, but I didn't.

      Valente does a great job with peril here. Enough that you're fully invested in some of the characters, worrying over them, sometimes almost certain that something dreadful is going to happen to them, that it's only a matter of time, but at the same time not too much peril. September will somehow pull through, it is certain, the darkness isn't overwhelming.

      The playfulness with which she works with fairytale tropes and creatures is another of the big selling points of this series, of course. The shadow folk, the magical clothing, the steampunk inventors, stolen kisses and the market crash of first-borns, I hate to single any out at all because I couldn't possibly list all the ones that I loved.

      I need the rest of this series. Conveniently, I'm already reading another Valente book, which I'm sure I'll review shortly.
    • 4/5
      It feels like the "Wow, I want to quote this" moments are not quite as densely packed as it was in the first book. Still, it was a lovely trip to Fairyland and I can't wait for the next one.
    • 5/5
      The sequel to the stunning 'The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making.' You will enjoy this one more if you read that one first. The author has created a fantasy world rivaling Oz, and a heroine to cheer for. It's funny, beautiful, grabs your heart reading. The heroine, September, is now 13. A year has past since her return from Fairyland. And when she is drawn back, it's not what she expects. She's thinking of being reunited with old friends, and everyone in the land being delighted to see the girl who saved them before. Instead, they are suffering-due to her. Last book, she gave up her shadow to save someone-and her freed shadow is the cause of the current troubles! An Amazon reviewer compared the author to E.Nesbit and Eva Ibbotson, and I find I agree. Read the first, read this, read the third when it comes out. I'm searching out all her work now.
    • 5/5
      Funny with lots of adventure and heart (and wisdom) in this book. A very good audiobook. Lots of descriptions and my favorite word.Brobdingnagian.
    • 5/5
      Yeah, I really stretched this out. It was wonderful, as expected. September is a great character and these stories are done very, very well. I hope we get a chance to follow her through more Fairyland adventures as she continues to grow.

      I'm pretty sure I will be rereading these.
    • 5/5
      For all that the story here is wonderful and powerful and happy and sad altogether, the best part of this book was the 2 chapters at the end. You have succeeded, Ms. Valente. This is not a retread of September's first adventure in Fairyland. It is, in fact, the best kind of sequel - one that tells a story all its own, without needing what went before or what may come after. Thank you!
    • 4/5
      4.5 stars

      A review copy of The Girl Who Fell Beneath Fairyland and Led the Revels There was kindly provided to me by Macmillan.

      'Shadows are the other side of yourself'

      Hardly a day has passed since September hasn't thought about Fairyland and Ell and Saturday and the Green Wind. Sometimes she even wonders whether she imagined the whole thing, but it was all so very real because September's shadow is gone; she left it behind in Fairyland. But she's thirteen now, and so much time has passed and she begins to think she'll never make her way back, until one day she sees a rowboat floating across the fields behind her house. She knew this was her opportunity and hastened to follow them to wherever they were going. Upon her return, she realizes that Fairyland is quite different from when she left it several months ago and that September is not the only one missing her shadow now.

      "...your light side isn't a perfectly pretty picture, either, I promise you. You couldn't dream without the dark. You couldn't rest... You need your dark side, because without it, you're half gone."

      September was once again an incredible character: full of heart, strength, and loyalty. Realizing that the problems in Fairyland stemmed from her actions from her previous visit, she didn't hesitate for a second before starting her adventure to make things right. I loved the implications of the purpose of shadows and how their importance reaches far beyond their physical presence. Very mature topics that I see as being a fantastic 'learning opportunity' for children during a potential read-along with their parents. The writing is not just full of beautiful prose but manages to also have substantial meaning behind every word.

      'She did not know yet how sometimes people keep parts of themselves hidden and secret, sometimes wicked and unkind parts, but often brave or wild or colorful parts, cunning or powerful or even marvelous, beautiful parts, just locked up away at the bottom of their hearts... all of those brave and wild and cunning and marvelous and beautiful parts they hid away and left in the dark to grow strange mushrooms--and yes, sometimes those wicked and unkind parts, too--end up in their shadow.'

      The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland was wonderful, original, and full of incredible prose and The Girl Who Fell Beneath Fairyland doesn't disappoint. If anything, the second installment is even more brilliant. The Girl Who Fell Beneath Fairyland will be well received by children but I so love that it's equally (if not more so) able to be enjoyed by adults. Catherynne M. Valente has definitely done it again; full of adventure mixed with a new take on old-world fairytales.
    • 5/5
      This is a sequel to the book The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making. It is a wonderful book just as beautifully written as the first, if aimed at a slightly older age group. You never know what wonderful things you are going to run in to from one page to the next.September is eager to journey back to Fairyland and leave her mundane life of school behind. When she finally does though, she finds out things are very wrong. Magic is being rationed in Fairyland and shadows are constantly going missing. September must journey deep into the Fairyland-Below if she is to save the shadows and return magic to Fairyland.Incredibly creative, beautifully written, and full of beautiful sparkling images both light and dark that will really make your imagination sore. You can absolutely not predict what wonder the next page will hold. Valente has such a creative and wondrous mind that she thinks up things and ideas I can only begin to comprehend.September is slightly older in this book and has more mature worries than in the first book. Her mother isn’t around much because she has to support them and her father is still at war.This book has a darker tone to it than the first. When September journeys to Fairyland-Below she finds the shadows of her friends who accompany on her journey. This is interesting because the shadows of her friends are similar to her friends but different, they are a little darker and a little wilder. Valente did an excellent job making the shadow versions of all the characters we know and love the same, but different.September is forced to confront her Shadow-self who has become the Queen of Fairyland-Below. It is an interesting battle and there are some fun and creative twists and turns to the story that are very well done and unpredictable.You definitely need to read the first book to understand what’s going on in this book; you run into a number of characters that played a major role in the last book and continue to have some influence on the story in this book. The book ends well and is fairly well tied up. I am hoping we see future adventures with September, but the story is happily complete at the end of this book. Valente’s writing style is just absolutely spectacular; her writing is lush and sparkling, dripping with wondrous description, and full of magical creatures and settings. If you loved the first book, you will adore this one as well. Both of these books are much less ambiguous than some of Valente’s other books and should be more accessible to a wider range of readers.Overall an absolutely spectacular read. I love Valente’s creativity, beautiful writing, and unpredictable twists and turns. You never know what spectacular new thing each page will hold. This book builds on the story started in the first The Girl Who book and ties up all of the loose ends in a wonderful way. Highly recommended to those who love fantasies written in a beautiful and lyrical way. The stories have a very fairy tale feel to them.
    • 5/5
      These books are household favorites. Great fun to read aloud. Sneakily thoughtful, with attention paid to each word. Love them.
    • 5/5
      Let's be honest, I probably could have given this 5 stars before even cracking the spine. I loved the first Fairyland book, it was dark and whimsical and lyrical in exactly the right proportions.

      I liked this one just as much. This is the underbelly of Fairyland, it's the shadow-self of the first book literally and figuratively, but it still has everything to love about the first - the quest, the gorgeous prose, the courageous pluckiness of September and her friends.

      I really loved the metaphor of September having to deal with her shadow self as the villain in this book. Having her friends as shadows, but still their own individual selves was beautiful as well. The overarching quest/underworld theme was really well done, too.

      The ending was strange, but I think I liked it? It's really the only question mark I've got about the book, it warped the fantasy/reality boundary for me in ways I didn't quite follow and therefore couldn't appreciate as much as I'd like. I suspect the ending here is one of the driving forces behind the next one, though, so I'll pick that up and have a look.

      Final words: I wish I had access to children old enough to read stories to, these books are made for it!
    • 5/5
      This book, like the whole series, is beautiful and unbearably Real, like when the velveteen rabbit became Real.
    • 5/5
      This is the sequel to The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making.This one is just as whimsical as the first. I really enjoy reading about September and her adventures in Fairyland. Kids will love reading this too. I would dare say this book is as good as the first. Would definitely recommend to others.
    • 5/5
      A wonderful read: inventive, delightfully female-oriented, with dazzling imagery and the most gorgeous use of language (I *must* have a listen to the audio version of this). Valente plays gleefully with classic fantasy tropes, sneaking in some clever commentary, but at the same time builds in solid character development. 'The Girl Who Fell Beneath Fairyland' is very nearly as good as its predecessor, 'The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland', and that is high praise indeed. Just magical, and highly recommended.
    • 5/5
      This YA/children's novel is the sequel to Valente's brilliant and beautiful 'The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making', which started the Fairyland series out with a high bar. The second installment is, if perhaps not quite as engaging as the first, still brilliant and beautiful in its own ways. Valente's narrative voice, a clever homage to the omnipresent narrators of nineteenth and twentieth century children's books, is as strong and enjoyable as ever. Her heroine, September, is growing up -- a fact acknowledged throughout the book -- but remains fierce and vulnerable at once, a combination that makes her one of the most wonderful protagonists I've encountered in years. And, though September has voyaged underneath Fairyland this time, where shadows are cavorting, we the readers do recognize the lovable and not-so-lovable figures from the first book, which provides a pleasant familiarity while not rehashing exactly the same sort of adventure as previously undertaken.The adventure plot itself is where the sequel doesn't quite live up to its predecessor. While it was enjoyable enough, I did not feel as invested in the peril and wonder of September's journey. We cannot lay this at the feet of Ms. Valente entirely, though, because part of what made the first book so extraordinary was its newness -- and with the return of a now-familiar world, we automatically lose a little of that charge of excitement that drove the intensity of the first book. That we get to see new parts of Fairyland and meet new citizens of the world helps -- and provides some of the most intriguing parts of this book -- but those new faces who contribute to the path of the story sometimes feel rushed here. I am eager, however, to see whether some of the most tantalizing glosses are further developed later in the series. I will say, above all this, that even though this book might not have reached quite the the level of the first, I loved it. I loved it mostly because, no matter whether or not her book is perfectly paced or balanced in its complexity, underneath the bits that can be nitpicked, Valente is an absolute master of emotional tone. For children, no doubt this is a wondrous adventure story, but for adults... well, in my own experience, the novel -- especially its end -- was so achingly nostalgic that I closed it with slow tears running down my face.I read Catherynne Valente because her imagination makes unthought-of things live. But I also read her books because they show me an impossible childhood that I none the less wish -- desperately wish -- I could've had. Recommended without reservation.
    • 5/5
      I didn't think it would be possible to like this volume better than the first, but I did. I've rarely read a book with such an engaging narrative style, one that simultaneously subverts and respects fairytale logic. My only criticism, and as I recall the same issue I had with book one, was the suddenness of the ending. There are plot-specific reasons this time, but the effect was jarring and not entirely pleasant.Still, I totally and thoroughly recommend this book, for young readers and adults alike.
    • 4/5
      The second in Valente's Fairyland series, this is an enjoyable addition to September's first journey. Be prepared for myths to be rewritten and journeys to be turned askew. It's good
    • 5/5
      Cat Valente obviously loves words. The way she plays with them... the story was lovely as well.
    • 4/5
      The only real failing of The Girl Who Fell Beneath Fairyland and Led the Revels There is that it's not quite as good as The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making. Or maybe that's my failing as a reader, for being unable to replicate the delight I felt when Valente's charming world and style were new.

      In any case, things have changed for September since we last saw her. She's a teenager now, with a "raw, unripe heart" that gets her into no end of trouble - she was better off as a Somewhat Heartless child. She's spent the last year of her life longing to return to Fairyland, but when she finally makes her way through, she finds the world much changed and not for the better.

      It turns out that Fairyland Below has a new Queen, who's been stealing shadows. All the denizens of Fairyland-Above who've lost their shadows lose their magic along with them, and the world is beginning to suffer. Now magic is rationed (just like food in wartime Nebraska, in September's mundane life). September knows her own lost shadow is causing this mischief. She determines to visit Fairyland-Below and reunite all the shadows with their owners, starting with her own.

      I felt like every odd event or panorama in The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland hid a nugget of wisdom. The Girl Who Fell Beneath Fairyland didn't have the same depth for me. Many scenes were beautiful without being profound, and Valente toys with the idea of the Hero's Quest and its defined progress in a way that was clever without being particularly fresh or new (As when the Sibyl observes, "Nothing is more tedious than dropping broad mystical hints for wizards and knights with skulls like paperweights. 'Do you think you might want to discover that you had the power in you all along? Hm? Could shorten the trip.' They never listen.")

      The parts that I found most moving I can only refer to obliquely, for fear of spoilers. September is similar to her shadow - who has a name of her own, Halloween, the Hollow Queen - but not the same, and the differences are heartbreaking. September does reunite with old friends, but this time she finds herself traveling in the company of A-through-L's shadow, and Saturday's shadow, and it's clear from the beginning that these shadow-beings who so insist upon their right to be "free beasts" are not at all identical to the friends they so resemble.

      I think the best moments in The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland are sort of painfully triumphant - my favorite of all, the one that just stabs me in the heart, is when September is told to "take up thy mother's sword," and she finds herself holding a wrench. The best moments in The Girl Who Fell Beneath Fairyland are melancholy or downright sad. September almost cries when she sees Halloween's parrot, and I came pretty close myself. When the narrator laments, "Oh, September! It is so soon for you to lose your friends to good work and strange loves and high ambitions," I knew exactly, and painfully, just what she meant.

      I didn't love Fairyland #2 quite as much as Fairyland #1, but I did love it. I liked seeing September begin to grow up, peeking at adulthood. I liked the new scenery, and the language and imagery remains gorgeous. One of the remarkable things about Fairyland below is that you can feel the color palette change, all cold icy blues and violets. And I hope this series continues; I want to know what happens when September turns fourteen, and how the world will have changed again.

      I received a free copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for a review.

    Book preview

    The Girl Who Fell Beneath Fairyland and Led the Revels There - Catherynne M. Valente

    CHAPTER I

    EXEUNT IN A ROWBOAT, PURSUED BY CROWS

    In Which a Girl Named September Keeps a Secret, Has a Difficult Time at School, Turns Thirteen, and Is Finally Nearly Run over by a Rowboat, Thereby Finding Her Way into Fairyland

    Once upon a time, a girl named September had a secret.

    Now, secrets are delicate things. They can fill you up with sweetness and leave you like a cat who has found a particularly fat sparrow to eat and did not get clawed or bitten even once while she was about it. But they can also get stuck inside you, and very slowly boil up your bones for their bitter soup. Then the secret has you, not the other way around. So we may be very glad that September had the better of her secret, and carried it with her like a pair of rich gloves which, when she was cold, she could take out and slip on to remember the warmth of days gone by.

    September’s secret was this: She had been to Fairyland.

    This has happened to other children in the history of the world. There are many books about it, and for ever so long little boys and girls have been reading them and making wooden swords and paper centaurs and waiting for their turn. But for September, the waiting had ended last spring. She had fought a wicked queen and saved a whole country from her cruelty. She had made friends who, in addition to being funny and brave and clever, were a Wyvern, a Marid, and a talking lamp.

    The only trouble was, precious few books about swashbuckling folk have much to say on the subject of how to behave when one gets home. September had changed profoundly from a girl who desperately wanted such things to be real to one who knew they were real. Such a change is less like getting a new haircut than getting a new head.

    It did not particularly improve her school life.

    Where once September seemed merely and quietly odd, staring out the window during Mathematics lectures and reading big colorful books under her desk during Civics, now the other children sensed something wild and foreign about her. The girls in her grade could not have said what it was about September that so enraged them. If you sat them down and asked them about it, the best they could have managed might have been, She’s just not like us.

    And so they did not invite her to birthday parties; they did not ask about her summer vacation. They did steal her books and tell lies about her to their teachers. September cheats on her algebra, they revealed in strictest confidence. September reads ugly old books during physical exercise. September goes behind the chemistry building with boys. They snickered behind her back in tones that sent up prickly hedges all around their tight huddles of lace dresses and ribboned curls. They stood on the inside of those hedges, the whispers said, and September would always stand on the outside.

    Against all this, September held her secret. When she felt awful and lonely and cold, she would take it out and blow upon it like an ember, until it glowed again and filled her up: A-Through-L, her Wyverary, snuffling at Saturday’s blue cheek until he laughed, and the Green Wind stamping his emerald snowshoes in the wheat. All of them waiting for her to come back, which she would—soon, so terribly soon, any moment now. She felt very much like her Aunt Margaret, who had never seemed quite the same after coming home from her travels. She would tell long stories about Paris and silk trousers and red accordions and bulldogs and no one understood her particularly. But they listened politely until she trailed off, looking out the window as if she might see the river Seine flowing by instead of acre after acre of wheat and corn. September felt she understood her Aunt now, and resolved to be specially attentive toward her when she visited again.

    Every evening, September carried on. She washed the same pink-and-yellow teacups that she had always washed, minded the same small and increasingly anxious dog she had always minded, and listened to the tall walnut-wood radio for bulletins about the war, about her father. The radio loomed so tall and huge in their parlor that it seemed to her like a terrible door, ready to open at any moment and let bad news in. As the sun set on the long yellow prairie each day, she kept a keen eye out for a flash of green on the horizon, a spotted pelt flashing through the grass, a certain laugh, a certain purr. But autumn dealt its days like a pack of golden cards, and no one came.

    Her mother had Sundays off from the airplane factory, and so September fell in love with Sundays. They would sit together comfortably by the fire and read while the dog worried their shoelaces, or her mother would slide under Mr. Albert’s miserable old Model A and bang at it until September could turn the key and hear it grumble into life once more. Not so long ago her mother read out loud to her from some book or other concerning fairies or soldiers or pioneers, but now they read companionably, each to their own novels or newspapers, quite as September remembered her mother doing with her father, before the war. Sundays were the best days, when the sunlight seemed to last forever, and September would bloom under her mother’s big, frank smile. On Sundays, she didn’t hurt. She didn’t miss a place she could never explain to a grown-up person. She didn’t wish her small dinner with its meager ration of tinned beef were a fey feast of candy and roasted hearts and purple melons full of rainwater wine.

    On Sundays, she almost didn’t think about Fairyland at all.

    Sometimes she considered telling her mother about everything that had happened. Sometimes she burned to do it. But something older and wiser within her said, Some things are for hiding and for keeping. She feared that if she said it out loud it would all vanish, it would never have been, it would blow away like dandelion cotton. What if none of it had been real? What if she had dreamed it, or worse, had lost her mind like her father’s cousin in Iowa City? Any of these were too awful to consider, but she could not help considering all the same.

    Whenever she thought those dark thoughts, that she might just be a silly girl who had read too many books, that she might be mad, September glanced behind her and shuddered. For she had proof that it had all really happened. She had lost her shadow there, on a distant river, near a distant city. She had lost something big and true, and could not get it back. And if anyone should notice that she cast no shadow before or behind, September would have to tell. But while her secret remained secret, she felt she could bear it all—the girls at school, her mother’s long shifts, her father’s absence. She could even bear the looming radio crackling away like an endless fire.

    *   *   *

    Nearly a year had passed since September had come home from Fairyland. Being quite a practical child, she had become very interested in mythology since her exploits on the other side of the world, studying up on the ways of fairies and old gods and hereditary monarchs and other magical folk. From her research, she reasoned that a year was just about right. One big, full turn of the sun. Surely the Green Wind would be sailing back over the sky for her any day, laughing and leaping and alliterating his way back into her world. And since the Marquess had been defeated and the locks of Fairyland undone, this time September would have no awful feats to perform, no harsh tests of her courage, only delight and fun and blackberry trifles.

    But the Green Wind did not come.

    As the end of spring neared, she began to worry in earnest. Time ran differently in Fairyland—what if she turned eighty before a year passed there? What if the Green Wind came and found an old lady complaining of gout? Well, of course September would go with him anyway—she would not hesitate if she were eighteen or eighty! But old women faced certain dangers in Fairyland, such as breaking a hip while riding a wild velocipede, or having everyone do what you say just because you had wrinkles. That last would not be so bad—perhaps September could be a fabulous withered old witch and learn to cackle. She could get quite good at that. But it was so long to wait! Even the small and gloomy-faced dog had begun to stare pointedly at her, as if to say, Shouldn’t you be getting along now?

    And worse, what if the Green Wind had forgotten her? Or found another girl quite as capable as September at defeating wickedness and saying clever things? What if everyone in Fairyland had simply dropped a curtsy for the favor and gone about their business, giving no more thought to their little human friend? What if no one ever came for her again?

    September turned thirteen. She did not even bother inviting anyone to a party. Instead, her mother gave her a stack of ration cards tied with a velvety brown ribbon. She had saved them up for months. Butter, sugar, salt, flour! And at the store, Mrs. Bowman gave them a little packet of cocoa powder to crown it all. September and her mother made a cake together in their kitchen, the small and frantic dog leaping to lick at the wooden spoon. The treat had so little chocolate that it came out the color of dust, but to September it tasted wonderful. Afterward, they went to a film about spies. September got a whole bag of popcorn to herself, and toffees as well. She felt dizzy with the lavishness of it all! It was almost as good as a Sunday, especially since she’d gotten three new books wrapped specially in green paper, one of them in French, sent all the way from a village liberated by her father. (We may be certain September’s father had help in liberating the village, but as far as she was concerned he had done it single-handed. Possibly at the point of a golden sword, atop a glorious black horse. Sometimes September found it very difficult to think of her father’s war without thinking of her own.) Of course she could not read it, but he had written in the cover, I will see you soon, my girl. And that made it the greatest book ever written. It had illustrations, too, of a girl not older than September sitting on the moon and reaching out to catch stars in her hands, or standing on a high lunar mountain conversing with a strange red hat with two long feathers sticking out of it that floated right next to her as pert as you please. September pored over it all the way to the theatre, trying to say the strange-sounding words, trying to tell what the story was meant to be.

    They demolished the dust-colored birthday cake and September’s mother put the kettle on. The dog set upon a powerfully satisfactory marrow bone. September took her new books up and went out into the fields to watch the dusk come down and think. She heard the radio crackling and talking as she let herself out the back door, the pop and spit of static following her like a gray shadow.

    September lay down in the long May grass. She looked up through the golden-green stalks of grain. The sky glowed deep blue and rose, and a little yellow star came on like a lightbulb in the warm evening. That’s Venus, September thought. She was the goddess of love. It’s nice that love comes on first thing in the evening, and goes out last in the morning. Love keeps the light on all night. Whoever thought to call it Venus ought to get full marks.

    We may forgive our girl for ignoring the sound at first. For once, she had not been looking for strange sounds or signs. For once, she had not been thinking about Fairyland at all, but about a girl talking to a red hat and what that could possibly mean, and how wonderful it was that her father had got a whole village liberated. Anyway, rustling is quite a common noise when fields of wheat and wild grass are involved. She heard it, and a little breeze ruffled the pages of her birthday books, but she did not look up until the rowboat flew at ripping speed over her head on the tips of the wheatstalks as if they were waves.

    September leapt up and saw two figures in a little black boat, oars spinning furiously, bouncing swiftly over the fields. One had a broad hat on, slick and dark like a fisherman’s. The other trailed a long silver hand out over the furry heads of dry grain. The arm sparkled metallic, shining, a woman’s slim wrist gleaming metal, her hand tipped with iron fingernails. September could not see their faces—the man’s back hunched huge and wide, obscuring the silver lady, save her arm.

    Wait! September cried, running after the boat as fast as she could go. She knew Fairylandish happenings when she saw them, and she could see them bouncing away from her right that very moment. Wait, I’m here!

    Better look out for the Alleyman, called the man in the black slicker, looking back over his shoulder. Shadows hid his face, but his voice seemed familiar, a kind of broken, unruly rasping September could almost place. The Alleyman comes with his rag cart and bone truck, and he’s got all our names on a list.

    The silver lady cupped the wind with her shining hand. I was cutting barbed wire before you were cutting your milk teeth, old man. Don’t try to impress me with your slang and your free verse and your winning ways.

    Please wait! September called after them. Her lungs clenched tight and thick. I can’t keep up!

    But they only rowed faster, over the tips of the fields, and the night had its face on right and proper now. Oh, I’ll never catch them! September thought frantically, and her heart squeezed. For though, as we have said, all children are heartless, this is not precisely true of teenagers. Teenage hearts are raw and new, fast and fierce, and they do not know their own strength. Neither do they know reason or restraint, and if you want to know the truth, a goodly number of grown-up hearts never learn it. And so we may say now, as we could not before, that September’s heart squeezed, for it had begun to grow in her like a flower in the dark. We may also take a moment to feel a little sorry for her, for having a heart leads to the peculiar griefs of the grown.

    September, then, her raw, unripe heart squeezing with panic, ran harder. She had waited so long, and now they were getting away. She was too small, too slow. How could she bear it, how could she ever bear it if she missed her chance? Her breath came too tight and too fast and tears started at the corners of her eyes, only to be whipped away as she ran on, stamping down old corn and the occasional blue flower.

    I’m here! she squeaked. It’s me! Don’t go!

    The silver lady glittered in the distance. September tried so hard to see them, to catch them, to run faster, just a little faster. Let us lean in close and nip at her heels, let us whisper in her ear: Come now, you can do more, you can catch them, girl, you can stretch out your arms just a little further!

    And she did clamber faster, she did stretch further, she did move through the grass and did not see the low, mossy wall cutting suddenly through the field until she had tripped and tumbled over it. September landed facedown in a field of grass so white it seemed as though snow had just fallen, except that the lawn was cool and smelled marvelously sweet, quite like a lemon ice.

    Her book lay forgotten on the suddenly empty grass of our world. A sudden wind, smelling ever so faintly of every green thing, of mint and rosemary and fresh hay, turned the pages faster and faster, as if in a hurry to find out the end.

    September’s mother stepped out of the house, looking for her daughter, her eyes puffy with tears. But there was no girl in the wheat anymore, only three brand-new books, a bit of toffee still in its wax wrapper, and a pair of crows winging off, cawing after a rowboat that had already vanished ahead of them.

    Behind her, the walnut radio snapped and spit.

    CHAPTER II

    SHADOWS IN THE FOREST

    In Which September Discovers a Forest of Glass, Applies Extremely Practical Skills to It, Encounters a Rather Unfriendly Reindeer, and Finds that Something Has Gone Terribly Awry in Fairyland

    September looked up from the pale grass. She stood shakily, rubbing her bruised shins. The border between our world and Fairyland had not been kind to her this time, a girl alone, with no green-suited protector to push her through all the checkpoints with no damage done. September wiped her nose and looked about to see where she had got herself.

    A forest rose up around her. Bright afternoon sunshine shone through it, turning every branch to flame and gold and sparkling purple prisms—for every tall tree was made of twisted, wavering, wild, and lumpy glass. Glass roots humped up and dove down into the snowy earth; glass leaves moved and jingled against one another like tiny sleigh bells. Bright pink birds darted in to snap at the glass berries with their round green beaks. They trilled triumph with deep alto voices that sounded like nothing so much as Gotitgotitgotit and Strangegirl!Strangegirl! What a desolate and cold and beautiful place those birds lived in! Tangled white underbrush flowed up around gnarled and fiery oaks. Glass dew shivered from leaves and glass moss crushed delicately beneath her feet. In clutches here and there, tiny silver-blue glass flowers peeked up from inside rings of red-gold glass mushrooms.

    September laughed. I’m back, oh, I’m back! She whirled around with her arms out and then clasped them to her mouth—her laughter echoed strangely in the glass wood. It wasn’t an ugly sound. Actually, she rather liked it, like talking into a seashell. Oh, I’m here! I’m really here and it is the best of birthday presents!

    Hullo, Fairyland! she cried. Her echo splashed out through the air like bright paint.

    Strangegirl! Strangegirl! answered the pink-and-green birds. Gotitgotitgotit!

    September laughed again. She reached up to a low branch where one of the birds was watching her with curious glassy eyes. It reached out an iridescent claw to her.

    Hullo, Bird! she said happily. I have come back and everything is just as strange and marvelous as I remembered! If the girls at school could see this place, it would shut them right up, I don’t mind telling you. Can you talk? Can you tell me everything that’s happened since I’ve been gone? Is everything lovely now? Have the Fairies come back? Are there country dances every night and a pot of cocoa on every table? If you can’t talk, that’s all right, but if you can, you ought to! Talking is frightful fun, when you’re cheerful. And I am cheerful! Oh, I am, Bird. Ever so cheerful. September laughed a third time. After so long keeping to herself and tending her secret quietly, all these words just bubbled up out of her her like cool golden champagne.

    But the laugh caught in her throat. Perhaps no one else could have seen it so quickly, or been so chilled by the sight, having lived with such a thing herself for so long.

    The bird had no shadow.

    It cocked its head at her, and if it could talk it decided not to. It sprang off to hunt a glass worm or three. September looked at the frosty meadows, at the hillsides, at the mushrooms and flowers. Her stomach turned over and hid under her

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