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Night Calls Series #1
Night Calls
Resisting the dark Gift that her mother insists is her responsibility, a young woman reluctantly begins her training in the practitioner arts when a band of werewolves begin to prey on the children of her village. Original.
310 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published May 1, 1996
17 people are currently reading
797 people want to read
About the author
Katharine Eliska Kimbriel
18 books103 followersNOTE TO FANS & READERS: I did NOT write the book "Finding the Strength Inside You" which someone has attached to Goodreads, and coincidentally the author's name is my name. I am contacting GoodReads to see what I can do about this.
In the beginning Katharine Eliska Kimbriel was nominated for the Astounding Award for Best New SF/Fantasy Writer. Katharine’s work has long straddled the line: “too literary to be commercial, too commercial to be literary” – she has a list of itinerant occupations to prove it.
Published novels include the historical dark fantasies NIGHT CALLS, KINDRED RITES, and SPIRAL PATH. On the science fiction side you will find FIRE SANCTUARY, FIRES OF NUALA, and HIDDEN FIRES, stand-alone tales that take place on the same planet.
Katharine prefers being managed by Burmese cats and a handful of gargoyles. Her occasional hobbies have included ballroom dancing, brewing beer, antique roses, and macrobiotic and paleolithic cooking. She also plant trees. 110 so far.
Go to https://bookviewcafe.com/bvc_author/k... for the most recent publishing info. She posts ghost events at her blog (https://alfreda89.dreamwidth.org/), other stuff at Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/katharine.ki...), Mastodon (https://raggedfeathers.com/@KatKimbriel), and BlueSky (https://bsky.app/profile/catkimbriel....).
She is a founding member of Book View Cafe (https://bookviewcafe.com/blog/). Due to her spending more time living science fiction than writing it, she makes no promises on when her last update to anything happened. Due to Life, Interrupted, she has't updated her web site in 15 years and it's not looking good for the site....
In the beginning Katharine Eliska Kimbriel was nominated for the Astounding Award for Best New SF/Fantasy Writer. Katharine’s work has long straddled the line: “too literary to be commercial, too commercial to be literary” – she has a list of itinerant occupations to prove it.
Published novels include the historical dark fantasies NIGHT CALLS, KINDRED RITES, and SPIRAL PATH. On the science fiction side you will find FIRE SANCTUARY, FIRES OF NUALA, and HIDDEN FIRES, stand-alone tales that take place on the same planet.
Katharine prefers being managed by Burmese cats and a handful of gargoyles. Her occasional hobbies have included ballroom dancing, brewing beer, antique roses, and macrobiotic and paleolithic cooking. She also plant trees. 110 so far.
Go to https://bookviewcafe.com/bvc_author/k... for the most recent publishing info. She posts ghost events at her blog (https://alfreda89.dreamwidth.org/), other stuff at Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/katharine.ki...), Mastodon (https://raggedfeathers.com/@KatKimbriel), and BlueSky (https://bsky.app/profile/catkimbriel....).
She is a founding member of Book View Cafe (https://bookviewcafe.com/blog/). Due to her spending more time living science fiction than writing it, she makes no promises on when her last update to anything happened. Due to Life, Interrupted, she has't updated her web site in 15 years and it's not looking good for the site....
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 64 reviews
October 11, 2015
New edition of NIGHT CALLS available in ebook September, 2013, with print to follow! (Including some minor but very important text corrections!)
Well--I'm biased, because I wrote the book. But I love Allie passionately, and as long as she'll tell me stories, I'll write them down. This book is a first person narrator. Oh, for the curious -- no, I've never read Scott Card's Alvin Maker books. And -- trivia for you. When I thanked Pat Elrod for taking time to review the book, and teased her about the exaggeration of "the lights" she said something like: "Exaggeration? I didn't exaggerate! I still leave the lights on at night thanks to that (SPOILER)!"
Considering I was trying for a dark fantasy and not a horror novel, I'm honored!
A review or two --
"With a clear, distinctive voice, Katharine Kimbriel invents and re-invents magic on America’s frontier, a place hardly explored by writers and long overdue for a visit. (Or should I say a visitation?) Love the book."
---Jane Yolen, author of Sister Light/Sister Dark and White Jenna
"Beautifully drawn, solid, compelling characters against a background so real and scary I left the lights on all night. It was great!"
---P.N. Elrod, author of The Vampire Chronicles
http://www.ke-kimbriel.com
Well--I'm biased, because I wrote the book. But I love Allie passionately, and as long as she'll tell me stories, I'll write them down. This book is a first person narrator. Oh, for the curious -- no, I've never read Scott Card's Alvin Maker books. And -- trivia for you. When I thanked Pat Elrod for taking time to review the book, and teased her about the exaggeration of "the lights" she said something like: "Exaggeration? I didn't exaggerate! I still leave the lights on at night thanks to that (SPOILER)!"
Considering I was trying for a dark fantasy and not a horror novel, I'm honored!
A review or two --
"With a clear, distinctive voice, Katharine Kimbriel invents and re-invents magic on America’s frontier, a place hardly explored by writers and long overdue for a visit. (Or should I say a visitation?) Love the book."
---Jane Yolen, author of Sister Light/Sister Dark and White Jenna
"Beautifully drawn, solid, compelling characters against a background so real and scary I left the lights on all night. It was great!"
---P.N. Elrod, author of The Vampire Chronicles
http://www.ke-kimbriel.com
January 6, 2009
Lyrical, evocative, compulsively readable. One of the absolute best fantasies to ever have been horribly mismarketed in nearly every respect. Our heroine is Allie, a precocious(not in an obnoxious way) 12 year old living in an alternate America, where Washington was king and magic works splendidly, thank you very much. It was a beautiful piece of work, loads richer than Alvin Maker ever thought of being, and it suffered for its cover- which looked to be subtle horror, from the art to the back blurb, and from the fact that it was considered too literary to be fantasy, yet too fantastic to be truly literary. Frankly, it managed to be both, and a pox on all those who couldn't see it. In any case, no one knew where to stick the poor thing, so it often ended in the horror section-and horror readers buying it likely felt it was bait and switch when their vampire-werewolf horror novel wasn't too terribly horrifying, or even particularly fang-y. As it was, I resisted reading it for almost a year before I finally yielded to the blandishments of my then-husband. He was right, it was outstanding. Find it, and good luck with that. Once you do find it, read it immediately, because if you manage to get hit by a runaway trolley or contract ebola and die before you get to read it, you will regret it into your next incarnation.
October 21, 2010
Night Calls is a spooky, atmospheric tale about a young girl coming of age amongst werewolves, vampires and other assorted supernatural frights. The story begins when werewolves invade the young heroine's life and she learns that she has a "gift" for dealing with these beings. She begins a quest to learn all that she can to save those she loves from the creatures of the night.
Written in a low key style with muted violence Night Calls is a good choice for younger readers and for those who don't enjoy in-your-face violence. The pace was a bit too slow for my tastes, and all too often I found my eyes glazing over when the minuet details of the heroine's life got out of control. Still, it was a sufficiently eerie story written with emotion and I immediately liked the spunky and outspoken heroine.
Written in a low key style with muted violence Night Calls is a good choice for younger readers and for those who don't enjoy in-your-face violence. The pace was a bit too slow for my tastes, and all too often I found my eyes glazing over when the minuet details of the heroine's life got out of control. Still, it was a sufficiently eerie story written with emotion and I immediately liked the spunky and outspoken heroine.
January 4, 2008
One of my favorite books of all time. Think Little House on the Prairie meets Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Great if you like demon slaying set in pre-revolution American frontier, with lots of interesting (if you're into it) frontier survival types. Also, huge character development and a great conversational tone. I felt like I knew the characters, because I know people exactly like them.
February 28, 2016
I have had this book to read for quite some time. It ended up being a very well done fantasy and I enjoyed it a lot.
Things were peaceful until the werewolves came, reeking havoc in the small village Sun Return. Then young Allie learned that she had special powers. All of her relatives and the other close magic practitioners were called in to decide how Allie would receive her training. Allie's mother and father were the first to train her, but as her powers grew it was time for her apprentice to her Aunt Marta. Allie and Aunt Marta now travel the land and fight the evil creatures that lurk there in an effort to protect the common village folk from the dark.
The whole story takes place in an alternate sort of America. Slavery still exists but a king and queen rule in Washington. Additionally fantastical creatures and magic are well known throughout the land.
The book starts out a bit slow and moves at a fairly deliberate pace. The first half is dedicated to Allie finding out she has a special gift and starting to train it. The second half reminded me of The Last Apprentice series by Joseph Delaney. Allie and her mentor travel around facing evil creatures of the night and protecting the villagers from them.
I really enjoyed the herbalogy throughout, it's very intricate and detailed and fun to learn about.
I also loved Allie’s character; she is so matter of fact about things and eager to learn and help. In fact I loved the majority of the characters in this story, even the side characters are very well done. By the end of the novel I was very engaged and attached to both the world and the characters here.
Overall this was a very well done fantasy novel with a historical paranormal feel to it. It starts out a bit slow and is pretty deliberately paced. However, I ended up really enjoying the world and characters. I would recommend to fans of classic fantasy who don't mind a historical paranormal theme to their fantasy.
Things were peaceful until the werewolves came, reeking havoc in the small village Sun Return. Then young Allie learned that she had special powers. All of her relatives and the other close magic practitioners were called in to decide how Allie would receive her training. Allie's mother and father were the first to train her, but as her powers grew it was time for her apprentice to her Aunt Marta. Allie and Aunt Marta now travel the land and fight the evil creatures that lurk there in an effort to protect the common village folk from the dark.
The whole story takes place in an alternate sort of America. Slavery still exists but a king and queen rule in Washington. Additionally fantastical creatures and magic are well known throughout the land.
The book starts out a bit slow and moves at a fairly deliberate pace. The first half is dedicated to Allie finding out she has a special gift and starting to train it. The second half reminded me of The Last Apprentice series by Joseph Delaney. Allie and her mentor travel around facing evil creatures of the night and protecting the villagers from them.
I really enjoyed the herbalogy throughout, it's very intricate and detailed and fun to learn about.
I also loved Allie’s character; she is so matter of fact about things and eager to learn and help. In fact I loved the majority of the characters in this story, even the side characters are very well done. By the end of the novel I was very engaged and attached to both the world and the characters here.
Overall this was a very well done fantasy novel with a historical paranormal feel to it. It starts out a bit slow and is pretty deliberately paced. However, I ended up really enjoying the world and characters. I would recommend to fans of classic fantasy who don't mind a historical paranormal theme to their fantasy.
December 27, 2011
I found I had this book and started reading it Christmas Eve. I could not put it down. It's dark fantasy with the flavor of horror--perfect. I love the main character, Allie, and the others too. You are drawn into a world out of time and you vacation among the story. You even believe that werewolves, vampires and revengeful ghosts exist. Most of all, she did very convincingly the myths and legends--high marks for that.
September 16, 2013
This is a really enjoyable YA novel set in an alternate North America, where the settlement patterns were similar if not necessarily identical to our own world. We don't know for sure where the history diverged, but there is, in passing, a reference to "King Washington." Date is pretty vague; there are references to trains for long-distance travel to larger population centers, but the story is set in small settlements where the technology is that of the frontier. Any reader of the Little House series will recognize it.
Except that, as we gradually discover, magic works.
Eleven-year-old Alfreda Sorensson's life takes a dramatic turn when her father and brothers, along with neighboring men, kill a wolf that turns out to have been a werewolf. In the aftermath of the werewolf killing, death and tragedy stalk the community of Sun-Return, and Allie discovers she has true dreams as well as other skills that help her family and neighbors to weather the crisis.
Yet her clearly growing talent raises the question of her education and training, and this is no easy choice. Being a practitioner brings danger as well as power, and Allie's mother Garda is determined to keep her safe. Her father, and his cousin Marta, herself a distinguished practitioner, equally concerned for Allie's safety, believe that her talent is too great to be safely hidden away. She needs to learn the skills to actively protect herself from the dark creatures of the night.
As Allie grows into adolescence, she experiences first crush and first jealousy, and first mastery of her growing talent--and a far more serious and insidious threat to her friends and neighbors than the werewolf, one of the creatures of the night that cousin Marta had feared to have her encounter without the skills and education for the challenge.
This is a really nicely done story, well-written, lovely character development, and a magic system that has real costs and dangers as well as rewards. I'm looking forward to reading more.
Highly recommended.
I received a free electronic galley of this book from the author.
Except that, as we gradually discover, magic works.
Eleven-year-old Alfreda Sorensson's life takes a dramatic turn when her father and brothers, along with neighboring men, kill a wolf that turns out to have been a werewolf. In the aftermath of the werewolf killing, death and tragedy stalk the community of Sun-Return, and Allie discovers she has true dreams as well as other skills that help her family and neighbors to weather the crisis.
Yet her clearly growing talent raises the question of her education and training, and this is no easy choice. Being a practitioner brings danger as well as power, and Allie's mother Garda is determined to keep her safe. Her father, and his cousin Marta, herself a distinguished practitioner, equally concerned for Allie's safety, believe that her talent is too great to be safely hidden away. She needs to learn the skills to actively protect herself from the dark creatures of the night.
As Allie grows into adolescence, she experiences first crush and first jealousy, and first mastery of her growing talent--and a far more serious and insidious threat to her friends and neighbors than the werewolf, one of the creatures of the night that cousin Marta had feared to have her encounter without the skills and education for the challenge.
This is a really nicely done story, well-written, lovely character development, and a magic system that has real costs and dangers as well as rewards. I'm looking forward to reading more.
Highly recommended.
I received a free electronic galley of this book from the author.
May 31, 2020
Simple, I enjoyed it as a teenager and still do.
September 18, 2013
It started as a normal evening- farm folk defending life and livestock from a predator- but when Alfreda and her father went out the next morning to recover the precious wolf pelt they found horror in its place. It was not a wolf that hung, ready to be skinned, but a man.
Thus starts a grim sort of waiting as families hope that their loved one is not one of the afflicted. And through it all, Alfreda can hear the wolves calling.
It is a rough and sudden jump into an adulthood far different than Alfreda had ever imagined. Her mother’s bloodline is known to throw Practitioners, individuals knowledgeable in folklore and skilled in folk magic, and she has inherited its gifts.
I have not been so enthralled with a novel since Wrede’s ‘Thirteenth Child’. I have a deep fondness for frontier-type fantasy and ‘Night Calls’ is beautifully executed in that regard. The fantasy aspects are worked into the world, are an integral part of it. The little magics, as well as the grand, are a part of day to day life.
It takes talent to build a world so rich and lush that the reader cannot imagine it ever being differently, but that is exactly what Ms. Kimbriel has done. Readers are invited into Alfreda’s world, and will not want to leave. Alfreda herself is a joy to get to know and to follow as she starts along the path of a Practitioner. Her love of her family, her fascination and dedication to her craft, and the adventure she finds herself in the middle of all make her a magnificent protagonist that will appeal to young and old alike.
Thus starts a grim sort of waiting as families hope that their loved one is not one of the afflicted. And through it all, Alfreda can hear the wolves calling.
It is a rough and sudden jump into an adulthood far different than Alfreda had ever imagined. Her mother’s bloodline is known to throw Practitioners, individuals knowledgeable in folklore and skilled in folk magic, and she has inherited its gifts.
I have not been so enthralled with a novel since Wrede’s ‘Thirteenth Child’. I have a deep fondness for frontier-type fantasy and ‘Night Calls’ is beautifully executed in that regard. The fantasy aspects are worked into the world, are an integral part of it. The little magics, as well as the grand, are a part of day to day life.
It takes talent to build a world so rich and lush that the reader cannot imagine it ever being differently, but that is exactly what Ms. Kimbriel has done. Readers are invited into Alfreda’s world, and will not want to leave. Alfreda herself is a joy to get to know and to follow as she starts along the path of a Practitioner. Her love of her family, her fascination and dedication to her craft, and the adventure she finds herself in the middle of all make her a magnificent protagonist that will appeal to young and old alike.
September 8, 2014
2.5/5; rounded up. Such a cool premise (werewolves, vampires, ghosts in a Buffyverse-type world) but I couldn't get into the story. Everything was set up to be exciting, but then it wasn't. I think something was off about the structure of the story (where it began and where it ended up don't meet up well)... the writing also had too much irrelevant detail that added nothing to my enjoyment as a reader.
I also have a headache from rolling my eyes so much. You're uncertain about God, Allie? Then why do you call on him to help you exorcise a ghost and thank the lord every other breath?? The idea of a female goddess makes so much sense to you? And yet you question the plausibility of a female god existing a few paragraphs later! I have a pet peeve about inconsistent religiosity in books, I guess. :-/
Looking at the other reviews, I'm sad I didn't experience the story the same way everyone else seems to have.
I also have a headache from rolling my eyes so much. You're uncertain about God, Allie? Then why do you call on him to help you exorcise a ghost and thank the lord every other breath?? The idea of a female goddess makes so much sense to you? And yet you question the plausibility of a female god existing a few paragraphs later! I have a pet peeve about inconsistent religiosity in books, I guess. :-/
Looking at the other reviews, I'm sad I didn't experience the story the same way everyone else seems to have.
September 29, 2013
Night Calls is the kind of book I needed most when I was a tween. A tween kid learns her family is full of magic users; beautiful and terrible things happen to them and to her; she turns out to have the talent in spades and chooses to pursue training. She gets older throughout this book and the next. (And O Joy, there will be a third novel about her!) Her talents and her understanding grow. She gets good. The challenges get harder.
Along with Terry Pratchett's Wee Free Men, A Hatful of Sky, Wintersmith, and I Shall Wear Midnight, this is a story rich in regional historical detail, voice, and charm.
I feel gypped that I didn't get this book when I was that age. But I can have it now.
Along with Terry Pratchett's Wee Free Men, A Hatful of Sky, Wintersmith, and I Shall Wear Midnight, this is a story rich in regional historical detail, voice, and charm.
I feel gypped that I didn't get this book when I was that age. But I can have it now.
March 5, 2016
Excellent. Katharine Eliska Kimbriel does an excellent job at creating the early American frontier life that is the core of this novel's setting while also introducing werewolves and other mythical creatures related to the backgrounds of the early settlers' heritages. Additionally, the characters, especially Alfreda, the protagonist, were fabulously drawn. An excellent read, one I would recommend to anyone. This would be an excellent introduction to fantasy for readers who loved Wilder's works as children.
November 6, 2007
This is one my top ten of all time books. It's an absorbing mix of Little House on the Prairie and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Every few months when I'm a bit stressed out, I settle down with this book. It's comfort food for the brain.
May 5, 2021
I loved Katharine Eliska Kimbriel's stories in the ElfQuest anthologies, so I wanted to read some more of her writing. "Night Calls" is a mix of magic with, what do you call it, "cozy survival porn?" (Not literally porn, just a story that lovingly details things like hunting, trapping, quilting, collecting herbs, preserving crops, that kind of thing.)
It also had a small Christian element to it, not in a judgy, preachy way, but a deliberate acknowledgement of the fact that the young girl's family does believe in God and Jesus, and they seem perfectly okay with her being a wizard. (Aside from how flipping dangerous it can be, though, but there isn't ever any talk about her going to hell for practicing magic or, gasp, occasionally wearing trousers.)
I felt the book was somehow unbalanced, but I'm not sure why. I never quite connected to the story or the characters. It's not badly written though, so it may just not be the right book for me.
It also had a small Christian element to it, not in a judgy, preachy way, but a deliberate acknowledgement of the fact that the young girl's family does believe in God and Jesus, and they seem perfectly okay with her being a wizard. (Aside from how flipping dangerous it can be, though, but there isn't ever any talk about her going to hell for practicing magic or, gasp, occasionally wearing trousers.)
I felt the book was somehow unbalanced, but I'm not sure why. I never quite connected to the story or the characters. It's not badly written though, so it may just not be the right book for me.
April 3, 2023
By far the best of the trilogy. This is brilliant writing and characterization that completely brings you into world Ms. Kibriel has created, and which will stick with you long after the book is finished.
What's so amazing is how fascinating she can make the descriptions of the minutiae of life in the magic-filled frontier world she's created. This is a complete experience; from a fresh utterly believable magic framework, her wonderful use of language, to her characters who live far beyond the confines of the page... this is, and has remained, one of my favorite books over many multiple readings.
What's so amazing is how fascinating she can make the descriptions of the minutiae of life in the magic-filled frontier world she's created. This is a complete experience; from a fresh utterly believable magic framework, her wonderful use of language, to her characters who live far beyond the confines of the page... this is, and has remained, one of my favorite books over many multiple readings.
August 31, 2018
Years ago, I was at a comic convention here in Dallas and I was at Peter David's table getting some stuff signed and he mentioned that the writer next to him seemed to have some interesting stuff. The writer was Katharine Eliska Kimbriel. I picked up both of her Night Calls books and loved them. It was Little House on the Prairie with Werewolves. I just reread Night Calls and the book was just as entertaining. Kimbriel has built a wonderful world. I know you will love this series.
January 7, 2020
Been in a bit of a book funk lately, nothing was quite what I wanted to read and then I picked this up at the library. Anyone who has a few of my reviews has probably come across my opinion of first person - most people shouldn't write it. Katharine Kimbriel is one of those authors that does first person exceptionally well and I was instantly pulled into the story and never once thrown out of it due to awkward first person writing. A little bit Laura Ingalls, a little bit Sam & Dean, but very much its own unique world with its own spectacular main character, Ally.
I suppose it is YA, but anymore I associate that term with Twilight and all those other stories that all seem vaguely the same because they revolve around a supposedly strong young woman and her love triangle. Which got old for me in the late 80's and early 90's when I WAS a young adult and we had that series of historically set books about young woman with two love interests and she inevitably chose the boring "safe" guy and left me totally disgusted with the world. But, I digress. (As usual.) This is not one of those. (Please don't let it turn to that in the next books, I beg you.)
Now I just have to wait for the library to open and hope the second book is there.
I suppose it is YA, but anymore I associate that term with Twilight and all those other stories that all seem vaguely the same because they revolve around a supposedly strong young woman and her love triangle. Which got old for me in the late 80's and early 90's when I WAS a young adult and we had that series of historically set books about young woman with two love interests and she inevitably chose the boring "safe" guy and left me totally disgusted with the world. But, I digress. (As usual.) This is not one of those. (Please don't let it turn to that in the next books, I beg you.)
Now I just have to wait for the library to open and hope the second book is there.
May 19, 2020
Best magical book
Night calls is my vote for most maligned but best book ever. The cover art and publishing but make the book sound like a bad horror film, but the reality is one of the best magic user books ever. Alfreda brings 19th century frontier mixed with wizards to reality with her matter of fact attitude. Cohesive and full of plot twist this believable book is both out of this world and in it.
Night calls is my vote for most maligned but best book ever. The cover art and publishing but make the book sound like a bad horror film, but the reality is one of the best magic user books ever. Alfreda brings 19th century frontier mixed with wizards to reality with her matter of fact attitude. Cohesive and full of plot twist this believable book is both out of this world and in it.
June 28, 2020
Recommended by folks on the FB Epic Fantasy Fanatics.
Really enjoyable read. Love how the characters are mature for their age, and only enough drama to move the storyline. The book moved at a decent pace, and made for a relaxing read.
Really enjoyable read. Love how the characters are mature for their age, and only enough drama to move the storyline. The book moved at a decent pace, and made for a relaxing read.
August 28, 2023
ETA: SUMMARY IS NOT ACCURATE AT ALL! The young woman isn’t the reluctant one, her mother is. And the werewolves are only the start.
Effing amazing. The Witcher meets Anne of Green Gables. Allie is a wonderful protagonist, and this book loves her family and her work just as much as she does.
Effing amazing. The Witcher meets Anne of Green Gables. Allie is a wonderful protagonist, and this book loves her family and her work just as much as she does.
September 23, 2018
It was okay.
I expected more and felt like author got hung up on details. There was about too much fluff or filling.
I expected more and felt like author got hung up on details. There was about too much fluff or filling.
December 27, 2018
Starts very, very slowly snd for my taste a but too wordy ( show me, dont tell me) . But the ending is really good
listed
June 30, 2019Word-of-God demisexual MC (Allie)
March 11, 2020
Great book! Full of tension 🙂
November 1, 2020
I read this as a teenager and loved it then. It was just as good as an adult!
September 8, 2021
3.5 had a YA feel to it.
August 17, 2014
Review originally posted here: http://thebookpushers.com/2014/02/19/...
Publisher: Book View Cafe
Publish Date: Out now
How I got this book: Purchased
“When you have the Gift, your life is not your own.”
I was born to a family that harnessed the winds and could read futures in fire and water. Yet my mother kept her secrets.
Then the werewolf came, sharing his madness.
Now it’s my turn to keep secrets….
*********
Descended from powerful magic-users, but ignorant of her heritage, young Alfreda Sorensson learns magic and wisdom from her extended family in an alternate early 1800s Michigan Territory.
This blurb came from Book View Café.
I have been relatively vocal about saying that if an author has a website, they don’t need to have a blog just a place for me to find out what is coming out next, what is out now, what was out in the past and where I can buy them. However, if an author does have a blog one of the things I love is seeing what they have read and enjoyed. I was browsing through Laura Anne Gilman’s blog about five months ago when she had a book recommendation post. She was recommending Night Called and made mention that she felt it belonged on the shelf with The Blue Sword by Robin McKinley. I you have been following us for a while you know that I absolutely LOVE Robin McKinley and tend to re-read both The Hero and The Crown and The Blue Sword on a regular basis so that statement sent me on a clicking frenzy to get to the blurb. I really don’t know why I bothered to read the blurb because the combination of who recommended it and the recommendation itself I knew I was going to buy it. Life happened to get in my reading way so I didn’t manage to read Night Calls until after the New Year when I was dealing with the post holiday slump. After I finished reading it I knew three different things. First, I really hoped she Kimbriel was writing more Alfreda stories. Second, I HAD to review this and spread the word. And finally Gilman gives good book recs.
Night Calls is like an epic fantasy/alternate historic world coming of age with a heroine as the central character. Alfreda lived in a rather small town and dealt with the usual trials and tribulations of growing up and trying to fit in while being slightly different. Then after the visit by a werewolf Alfreda learned she was part of a world that she didn’t know existed. This was a world well known to her family, but her mother’s fears about the very real dangers kept Alfreda ignorant until it became obvious she was in even more danger with her lack of knowledge. Not only was she in danger, but for some reason her town seemed to attract a growing number of creatures or supernatural entities who thought of humans as prey.
Told from Alfreda’s perspective as she learns about this new aspect to hear world and the role she can play in it I found this story an absolute delight. Alfreda did not have all the answers, nor was she all-powerful but she was determined to learn and do the best she could to help deal with the problems. In addition to learning about her abilities, Alfreda was still dealing with school, first crushes, and adults disregarding her thoughts because of her age. I loved the combination of challenges both in her day-to-day life and in her training/apprenticeship.
Kimbriel also created a very interesting world. The merging of magic and supernatural with rustic historic living and superstition was very deftly done. I enjoyed the hints that not all supernatural was evil and sometimes what appeared evil was created by humanity itself. The supporting cast was also evenly balanced, they weren’t all good, bad, or indifferent but appeared to be fully fleshed out. I also think several other families from Alfreda’s town have secrets of their own I am looking forward to discovering. While the focus of the story is Alfreda, her training came from both men and women, which I loved because it showed gender wasn’t a limitation.
Night Calls was a wonderful reminder of why I read epic coming of age fantasy for years and still hope to find that sense of adventure and wonder. I will also agree with Gilman that Night Calls is one I plan to re-read right along with McKinley’s stories. I am looking forward to Alfreda’s continuing adventures.
I give Night Calls an A
Publisher: Book View Cafe
Publish Date: Out now
How I got this book: Purchased
“When you have the Gift, your life is not your own.”
I was born to a family that harnessed the winds and could read futures in fire and water. Yet my mother kept her secrets.
Then the werewolf came, sharing his madness.
Now it’s my turn to keep secrets….
*********
Descended from powerful magic-users, but ignorant of her heritage, young Alfreda Sorensson learns magic and wisdom from her extended family in an alternate early 1800s Michigan Territory.
This blurb came from Book View Café.
I have been relatively vocal about saying that if an author has a website, they don’t need to have a blog just a place for me to find out what is coming out next, what is out now, what was out in the past and where I can buy them. However, if an author does have a blog one of the things I love is seeing what they have read and enjoyed. I was browsing through Laura Anne Gilman’s blog about five months ago when she had a book recommendation post. She was recommending Night Called and made mention that she felt it belonged on the shelf with The Blue Sword by Robin McKinley. I you have been following us for a while you know that I absolutely LOVE Robin McKinley and tend to re-read both The Hero and The Crown and The Blue Sword on a regular basis so that statement sent me on a clicking frenzy to get to the blurb. I really don’t know why I bothered to read the blurb because the combination of who recommended it and the recommendation itself I knew I was going to buy it. Life happened to get in my reading way so I didn’t manage to read Night Calls until after the New Year when I was dealing with the post holiday slump. After I finished reading it I knew three different things. First, I really hoped she Kimbriel was writing more Alfreda stories. Second, I HAD to review this and spread the word. And finally Gilman gives good book recs.
Night Calls is like an epic fantasy/alternate historic world coming of age with a heroine as the central character. Alfreda lived in a rather small town and dealt with the usual trials and tribulations of growing up and trying to fit in while being slightly different. Then after the visit by a werewolf Alfreda learned she was part of a world that she didn’t know existed. This was a world well known to her family, but her mother’s fears about the very real dangers kept Alfreda ignorant until it became obvious she was in even more danger with her lack of knowledge. Not only was she in danger, but for some reason her town seemed to attract a growing number of creatures or supernatural entities who thought of humans as prey.
Told from Alfreda’s perspective as she learns about this new aspect to hear world and the role she can play in it I found this story an absolute delight. Alfreda did not have all the answers, nor was she all-powerful but she was determined to learn and do the best she could to help deal with the problems. In addition to learning about her abilities, Alfreda was still dealing with school, first crushes, and adults disregarding her thoughts because of her age. I loved the combination of challenges both in her day-to-day life and in her training/apprenticeship.
Kimbriel also created a very interesting world. The merging of magic and supernatural with rustic historic living and superstition was very deftly done. I enjoyed the hints that not all supernatural was evil and sometimes what appeared evil was created by humanity itself. The supporting cast was also evenly balanced, they weren’t all good, bad, or indifferent but appeared to be fully fleshed out. I also think several other families from Alfreda’s town have secrets of their own I am looking forward to discovering. While the focus of the story is Alfreda, her training came from both men and women, which I loved because it showed gender wasn’t a limitation.
Night Calls was a wonderful reminder of why I read epic coming of age fantasy for years and still hope to find that sense of adventure and wonder. I will also agree with Gilman that Night Calls is one I plan to re-read right along with McKinley’s stories. I am looking forward to Alfreda’s continuing adventures.
I give Night Calls an A
November 1, 2014
After all the failures to launch I've read lately, I have to say, this was a totally unexpected and very welcome surprise.
There's probably no need to recap the plot, but I will say that, on the surface, it's not exactly new. Night Calls takes a witchcrafty view of magic; rituals, herbs, spirits...but even though there are tons of witch books (though if we're being precise, Alfreda is a practitioner or wizard, not a witch), Kimbriel did a really, really good job with it.
I think this book is classified as YA, but let me assure you: this is not one of those YA stories that's so juvenile or simply told that an adult can't enjoy it...and considering Alfreda opens the story at age (I think) 11, that's saying a lot. It helps, I think, that the setting requires the main character to be more mature than one of today's pre-teens. The story has a distinct Little House on the Prairie feel to it, and even though there's action, it's interspersed with a lot of regular life and learning. Those who require a non-stop joyride in their books may not take to this story. Personally, I think it's nice to not have to read something that has my pulse going at warp speed through the whole thing; I like a substantial story, and the style allows the time we readers need to grow with the characters.
From what I could tell - which may not be much considering I'm not a historian - the author did her homework with respect to realism and accuracy. Sometimes, even when a book is only nominally historical (for instance, set in a different world with medieval-level technology), you find little anachronisms that jar you out of the story. Not so here. From the geography to the culture to the religion, I was impressed by how far I was able to immerse myself in Olde Tyme Michigan Territory.
One of the things that most surprised me was how literary the book was. That adjective came to me while I was reading the story, and afterward, I read a thing on the author's Goodreads page about how she's been deemed too literary for regular readers and too regular to be classed as literature. (That's paraphrased.) Now, that could very well represent the views of the publishers, but I'd have to disagree with them. This author actually combines the best of both worlds into something that is artistic and enriching and amazingly entertaining all at once.
(Frankly, I think whoever does the marketing for her publisher ought to have his or her legs taken off at the knees. I devour fantasy, and even though the book has been around for nearly 20 years, I'd never heard of it or her. I feel cheated!)
Truly, I'm astonished, enough that I'm adding this to the short list of my all-time favorites. The sequel doesn't disappoint either (I may have liked that one even better than this first book), and I'm typing this now to kill time before book 3 is released tomorrow.
Especially if you like themes of witchcraft and coming-of-age - and really, even if those aren't normally your thing - I strongly recommend this book. I've been trying to think of another book that would make a good comparison, and I can't. It's beyond compare. And it's one that I'll be re-reading many many times in the years to come.
There's probably no need to recap the plot, but I will say that, on the surface, it's not exactly new. Night Calls takes a witchcrafty view of magic; rituals, herbs, spirits...but even though there are tons of witch books (though if we're being precise, Alfreda is a practitioner or wizard, not a witch), Kimbriel did a really, really good job with it.
I think this book is classified as YA, but let me assure you: this is not one of those YA stories that's so juvenile or simply told that an adult can't enjoy it...and considering Alfreda opens the story at age (I think) 11, that's saying a lot. It helps, I think, that the setting requires the main character to be more mature than one of today's pre-teens. The story has a distinct Little House on the Prairie feel to it, and even though there's action, it's interspersed with a lot of regular life and learning. Those who require a non-stop joyride in their books may not take to this story. Personally, I think it's nice to not have to read something that has my pulse going at warp speed through the whole thing; I like a substantial story, and the style allows the time we readers need to grow with the characters.
From what I could tell - which may not be much considering I'm not a historian - the author did her homework with respect to realism and accuracy. Sometimes, even when a book is only nominally historical (for instance, set in a different world with medieval-level technology), you find little anachronisms that jar you out of the story. Not so here. From the geography to the culture to the religion, I was impressed by how far I was able to immerse myself in Olde Tyme Michigan Territory.
One of the things that most surprised me was how literary the book was. That adjective came to me while I was reading the story, and afterward, I read a thing on the author's Goodreads page about how she's been deemed too literary for regular readers and too regular to be classed as literature. (That's paraphrased.) Now, that could very well represent the views of the publishers, but I'd have to disagree with them. This author actually combines the best of both worlds into something that is artistic and enriching and amazingly entertaining all at once.
(Frankly, I think whoever does the marketing for her publisher ought to have his or her legs taken off at the knees. I devour fantasy, and even though the book has been around for nearly 20 years, I'd never heard of it or her. I feel cheated!)
Truly, I'm astonished, enough that I'm adding this to the short list of my all-time favorites. The sequel doesn't disappoint either (I may have liked that one even better than this first book), and I'm typing this now to kill time before book 3 is released tomorrow.
Especially if you like themes of witchcraft and coming-of-age - and really, even if those aren't normally your thing - I strongly recommend this book. I've been trying to think of another book that would make a good comparison, and I can't. It's beyond compare. And it's one that I'll be re-reading many many times in the years to come.
September 16, 2014
More of a 3.75 than a 4. Although I enjoyed the story and liked the alternate history set-up, there were some problems that left me unsatisfied.
I'm not really thrilled with the "Little House on the Prairie meets Buffy" description for this story, as accurate as it may seem on the surface, because the concept is a lot more complex than that. Allie and her family are not the Ingalls family, and Allie is not Buffy (if anyone is Buffy, it's Aunt Marta). But if you like mixing frontier America with magic, this story has a lot to offer.
But...I found there was too much background information lacking for me to be fully satisfied with it as an alternate history fantasy. We know that pagan beliefs remained strong and relatively acceptable, alongside traditional Christian sects, but not how or why (i.e., why Christianity didn't forcibly wipe those beliefs out as in real history). We know that there is a kingdom in Europe (although it isn't clear whether it's a pan-European kingdom or just Britain that is being referred to), and that Washington was a king (presumably over an American kingdom, although we learn nothing about the status of the country as it exists in the story). The only clue to the story's time period is the appearance of a new fashion: the Empire-waist muslin dress, which suggests the early 1800s. And I never did figure out WHERE the story took place. References were made to a very large lake not too far away, which is presumably one of the Great Lakes, but every time I thought I was figuring out the location, I found another clue that destroyed my latest theory. One of the things I like about alternate history is seeing where history diverged in order for the story to happen, and there simply wasn't enough info here to figure that out.
The other problem I had with the story was that the pacing is off. If you look at the publication notes, it's easy to figure out why: parts of the book were previously published in shorter form. That explains, for example, why the werewolf episode of the book feels (as far as pacing goes) like a complete story on its own. Unfortunately, the book as a whole doesn't have a complete story arc. It just stops at the end of the utburd episode.
I do want to read more of Allie's story, but I can't help feeling frustrated with this book's flaws.
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