Wingless: The Wing Collector Short Story Prequel

by Kristi Helvig

In this dark urban fantasy, Jemma looks like all the other students at her private school in London, but she has something different underneath her uniform--wings. Half-human and half-faerie in a world where faeries hide their wings due to prejudice by humans, Jemma does her best to fit in with her classmates. She's lucky to have a best friend, Kate, who accepts her despite the extra appendages, but when Jemma sets her sights on star footballer, Matthew Taylor, she knows something has to give. She dreams of becoming wingless, and when Kate discovers a doctor who can perform the risky operation if Jemma can come up with the money, she is excited at the chance for a normal existence. Just as she dares to hope for a brighter and wingless future, a faerie is found murdered in Epping Forest, and Jemma realizes she may be running out of time.

30 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2017

About the author

Kristi Helvig is a Ph.D. clinical psychologist turned sci-fi/fantasy author. She muses about Star Trek, space monkeys, and other assorted topics on her blog. Kristi resides in sunny Colorado with her hubby, two kiddos, and behaviorally-challenged dogs.

Reviews

[Tez · Rating 2 out of 5]

Set in England, but doesn't sound authentic. Doesn't help that the character calls her mother Mom, which suggests American.

Jemma's narrative says that faeries get more hate than any other marginalised person. Uh...NO.

So Jemma fawns all over this bloke, even though he's anti-faerie. The story actually acknowledges that faeries are prone to stupidity. Well done to the author for recognising the TSTL factor, but unfortunately not enough to FIX it.

"Seracord" sounds scientific, though, so credit for that. Would've liked to read a surgical scene.

[Robbert · Rating 5 out of 5]

I like the story but its not ready?

[OldBird · Rating 3 out of 5]

The classic girl likes boy but they cannot be together because she's not human and he might be a tad racist about faeries. What's a girl to do except look for a way to get rid of those wings and so win her teenage dirtbag of a crush?

Not so much a short story (it doesn't have a full narrative arc) as a taster of the world "The Wing Collecter" will happen in. It's still a good way of checking out the writing, which is your usual fast-paced, hormone-fuelled YA fantasy style that drops you right in without dwelling too much on details. Not my cup of tea, but perfectly well done for the audience. The characters did a good job of reminding me of people I went to school with, so the UK tone was almost right (the odd Americanism: "mom" and saying someone was "in class" didn't quite fit) and a little refreshing! One off thing would be that I guessed the kids were about 14 from how they talked/their school lives, but then one of them starts driving.

If you want to put a toe in the water to see if the series will be your thing, then this makes a good sample.

[Katheyer · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Wingless” is a short prequel story to “The Wing Collector” by Kristi Helvig, a paranormal fantasy series set in London, that mixes elements of epic and urban fantasy to create an interesting story that manages, despite its extreme shortness (27 pages!) to present the world of the main series (The Wing Collector) to the reader.

Jemma is hiding in plain sight, looking like any other student at her private school in London, but she is in fact a half-Faerie who keeps her wings out of sight due to the prejudice of the human world. As she falls for Matthew, an open anti-faerie, she takes a radical decision, which will affect her life forever.

Kristi Helvig puts a twist on the eternal “girl falls for the wrong guy” story, with an interesting, easy-to-read story that already encourages to read the main series.

[Helena Zelin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Okay, so, first read of 2022, how exciting!
I liked the story, even thought I would most likely see it as a prologe of a whole book. It's nice that I can gt a sence of the world even though I haven't read any books from the series. I just realy would have liked it better if there was more of it to read.
There is hight chance I end up reading the series, but still, this on felt more like a prologe than a short story.

[Kaye · Rating 5 out of 5]

AN AWESOME READ!!!
A well written, easy to follow, with the right pace to run down a murderer in the mist. A fantasy full of twists and turns to keeo you frozen to the edge of your seat and enough intrigue to captivate your attention to the story as it unfolds. Kristi does a remarkable job bringing this read to life. I would recommend reading this tale to anyone who loves a great paranormal read.

[Veronica Prowant · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fae girl hiding from the world, wishing to be a normal human teenager. Nothing spells disaster like the loss of innocent hope. This novella is a prequel and sets the stage for an amazing series, till of grit, mystery, suspense, and maybe just a little hope. Fantastically written!!

[Annemarie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Having already read The Wing Collector, I found this a bit disappointing. I had hoped it would delve more into the London murders than it did. Where it did mention one, that of a male, you are left to surmise that Jemma also becomes a victim. I felt that it was rather too short.

[crystal euceda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read to short

I chose this rating because I enjoyed reading 📚. I would recommend this book to others. It needed to be longer

[Kaka_shi · Rating 4 out of 5]

After this lil tid bit? Forsure gonna read the main event.

[The Endless Unread · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow fantastic little read

[Lyssa F · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting story

Quick paced, fun story. Good characters. Looking forward to reading the entire tale. Worth reading. Too bad it's so short.

[Margaret Sullivan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great for a short story

This prequel explained a lot in a very short time. In my head I kept saying “listen to Kate”. :-).