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The Ethereal Cycle #1
Starfall
A magical wolf. A missing mother. A girl caught between two worlds.
Ninth grade was off to a promising start for Samantha Greaves — especially with Starfall as her best friend. But Starfall isn't your typical companion; she's a Star Wolf from the Ethereal realm, a creature who consumes meteors, communicates telepathically, and, when she chooses, soars through the skies.
Just as Sam begins to embrace the wonders of her newfound magical reality, a shadow from her past emerges. An old adversary of her parents — the very man responsible for her mother's mysterious disappearance — returns with a sinister to harness Starfall's magic for his own. Determined and unwavering, Sam realizes she'll do whatever it takes to protect her friend.
Because no one is going to take Starfall from me. Not in this world, or the next.
🐺 Why Readers Love Starfall :"A story of a girl and a magic wolf, Starfall immerses the reader into a world of beauty, love, danger, and commitment." — Amazon Reviewer"Captivating. Unexpected. Great read." — Amazon Reviewer"A coming-of-age tale amid magic and mystery. Great characters and well written." — Goodreads Reviewer
📘 Perfect for Fans Witches and familiarsMagical creatures and talking wolvesComing-of-age tales about remarkable young womenContemporary fantasy adventures
Embark on a journey where friendship defies boundaries, magic is real, and courage knows no limits. Starfall is the first installment in The Ethereal Cycle, a YA contemporary fantasy series that will leave you yearning for more.
Available now in eBook, paperback, and hardcover formats.
Chapter One
I woke up in pitch darkness, with the certainty I wasn’t alone.
“Virginia?” I whispered. Maybe my best friend had changed her mind and come back inside the fire tower to spend the night. There was no answer. Still, I was sure someone — or something — was there.
I crept halfway out of my sleeping bag and found my backpack by feel, where it lay on the cold stone floor. I rummaged through it until my hand closed around my flashlight. I pulled it free and flicked it on, playing its beam around the empty room.
No one was there. Virginia’s sleeping bag and pack were gone. My best friend had said the place gave her the creeps, and she wanted to sleep outside in the tent.
Guess she was true to her word.
I shone the light on my watch, an old brass windup with a velcro strap — about the most advanced form of technology that was compatible with me. The time read two minutes until midnight.
It was the summer of my eighth-grade year. I was still fourteen; Virginia had just turned fifteen. The tower was left over from eighty years before, back when the Forest Service kept lookouts for fires. This one was perched atop Sourdough Mountain, a peak in the Cascade range of my adopted home state of Washington. Funny name, but the hike was no joke. I’d wanted to see the Perseids, the meteor shower that was just hitting its late July peak as the Earth went sailing through the tail of a long-dead comet.
That my dad had let Virginia and me come up here alone to spend the night was — I thought at the time — a minor miracle. Suddenly, I regretted the choice. The hackles rose on the back of my neck, and goosebumps spread across my arms. I shivered.
“Hello?” I called softly. My words vanished into the darkness. There was no answer.
I dug in my backpack again, this time retrieving the short-wave radio Dad had given me in case Virginia and I got into trouble. He was camped by a creek six miles down the trail.
Even now, all these years later, I wonder how things would have turned out if I’d called him.
But I didn’t.
Ninth grade was off to a promising start for Samantha Greaves — especially with Starfall as her best friend. But Starfall isn't your typical companion; she's a Star Wolf from the Ethereal realm, a creature who consumes meteors, communicates telepathically, and, when she chooses, soars through the skies.
Just as Sam begins to embrace the wonders of her newfound magical reality, a shadow from her past emerges. An old adversary of her parents — the very man responsible for her mother's mysterious disappearance — returns with a sinister to harness Starfall's magic for his own. Determined and unwavering, Sam realizes she'll do whatever it takes to protect her friend.
Because no one is going to take Starfall from me. Not in this world, or the next.
🐺 Why Readers Love Starfall :"A story of a girl and a magic wolf, Starfall immerses the reader into a world of beauty, love, danger, and commitment." — Amazon Reviewer"Captivating. Unexpected. Great read." — Amazon Reviewer"A coming-of-age tale amid magic and mystery. Great characters and well written." — Goodreads Reviewer
📘 Perfect for Fans Witches and familiarsMagical creatures and talking wolvesComing-of-age tales about remarkable young womenContemporary fantasy adventures
Embark on a journey where friendship defies boundaries, magic is real, and courage knows no limits. Starfall is the first installment in The Ethereal Cycle, a YA contemporary fantasy series that will leave you yearning for more.
Available now in eBook, paperback, and hardcover formats.
Chapter One
I woke up in pitch darkness, with the certainty I wasn’t alone.
“Virginia?” I whispered. Maybe my best friend had changed her mind and come back inside the fire tower to spend the night. There was no answer. Still, I was sure someone — or something — was there.
I crept halfway out of my sleeping bag and found my backpack by feel, where it lay on the cold stone floor. I rummaged through it until my hand closed around my flashlight. I pulled it free and flicked it on, playing its beam around the empty room.
No one was there. Virginia’s sleeping bag and pack were gone. My best friend had said the place gave her the creeps, and she wanted to sleep outside in the tent.
Guess she was true to her word.
I shone the light on my watch, an old brass windup with a velcro strap — about the most advanced form of technology that was compatible with me. The time read two minutes until midnight.
It was the summer of my eighth-grade year. I was still fourteen; Virginia had just turned fifteen. The tower was left over from eighty years before, back when the Forest Service kept lookouts for fires. This one was perched atop Sourdough Mountain, a peak in the Cascade range of my adopted home state of Washington. Funny name, but the hike was no joke. I’d wanted to see the Perseids, the meteor shower that was just hitting its late July peak as the Earth went sailing through the tail of a long-dead comet.
That my dad had let Virginia and me come up here alone to spend the night was — I thought at the time — a minor miracle. Suddenly, I regretted the choice. The hackles rose on the back of my neck, and goosebumps spread across my arms. I shivered.
“Hello?” I called softly. My words vanished into the darkness. There was no answer.
I dug in my backpack again, this time retrieving the short-wave radio Dad had given me in case Virginia and I got into trouble. He was camped by a creek six miles down the trail.
Even now, all these years later, I wonder how things would have turned out if I’d called him.
But I didn’t.
- GenresFantasyYoung Adult
304 pages, Kindle Edition
First published November 15, 2022
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
July 23, 2023
Samantha’s story about her shifter friend (Starfall) and how no one take her is the sweetest. Definitely more YA since set as eighth grade, but I enjoyed it and was nice overall.
December 2, 2024
Good start
First thing, it’s worth persevering.
I read Carpathians and then read Starfall - Chalk and Cheese. I felt that I had fallen into a not very well put together Young Adult story when I started and I struggled with the tale. The only reason I continued was because of the brilliance that Carpathians had been. Was this, I thought, a first published book - I don’t know the answer but suspect it is, it is a different genre to Carpathians but so what.
Anyway, somewhere around the halfway mark, I found it easier to read - it felt less stilted and the story began to flow, the characters gained substance and this continued.
I will read Moonfall I’m invested enough to want find out what happens next.
First thing, it’s worth persevering.
I read Carpathians and then read Starfall - Chalk and Cheese. I felt that I had fallen into a not very well put together Young Adult story when I started and I struggled with the tale. The only reason I continued was because of the brilliance that Carpathians had been. Was this, I thought, a first published book - I don’t know the answer but suspect it is, it is a different genre to Carpathians but so what.
Anyway, somewhere around the halfway mark, I found it easier to read - it felt less stilted and the story began to flow, the characters gained substance and this continued.
I will read Moonfall I’m invested enough to want find out what happens next.
March 13, 2023
Great story
A coming of age tale amid magic and mystery. Great characters and well written, but the overtones of new age/ green movement are pretty heavy. Still, I enjoyed the story!
A coming of age tale amid magic and mystery. Great characters and well written, but the overtones of new age/ green movement are pretty heavy. Still, I enjoyed the story!
March 5, 2024
This 68-year-old man definitely enjoyed this young adult fiction! Didn't think I would. But it was so lovely and delicate and well written that I am already starting on book two. Only other reviews are spot on so I have nothing more to add.
September 26, 2026
Good book
I like the fantasy. The feeling there is more out there. It would be a good book for teen to read.
I like the fantasy. The feeling there is more out there. It would be a good book for teen to read.
November 29, 2023
This is a good book for teenagers who like adventure, and fantasy.
This book is about friendship, both old friends and new friends.
It is also about overprotection and keeping secrets for your child.
Sam is a very intelligent young woman who has questions that need answering.
This book is about friendship, both old friends and new friends.
It is also about overprotection and keeping secrets for your child.
Sam is a very intelligent young woman who has questions that need answering.
July 20, 2025
Really found this different, exciting, good pace, and I enjoyed hugely. The unfolding plot was interesting, imaginative, and unexpected. Character development was good, I cared about the heroine. Pity about Book 2
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews