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Europa #1
The Autumn Castle
In this first volume of Wilkins' Europa Suite, a woman's world is turned upside down when her childhood friend, abducted as a young girl into a place of magic and myth, returns. But now jealousies and betrayals threaten to destroy them both.
536 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published April 1, 2003
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 109 reviews
October 28, 2011
Review from my blog: http://rosesandvellum.blogspot.com/
Kim Wilkins makes me proud to be an Australian. Why? Because she is the author of the most amazing dark, twisted adult fairytale I have ever read. Taking all the elements that make us love fairytales, the darkness, the death, wicked witches, fairies, forbidden love, Kim Wilkins weaves a magical tale set in modern day Berlin. Christine, an ordinary girl with whom the reader can relate, is staying in Berlin with her boyfriend, Jude. Jude is a painter spending a year in the building of bizarre art lover Mandy Z.
Christine is haunted by tragedy: by the death of her parents in a hit and run that also left her with chronic pain, and by a half forgotten childhood memory that begins to come back to her of her childhood friend May, who disappeared. Mayfridh is now the queen of fairies, but she is lonely, and wants to reconnect with Christine. And as she insinuates herself into Christine's life, events begin to unravel, along with a sinister threat that none of them are aware of.
I love this story because it goes back to the original dark roots of fairytales, with all the passion and horror that are often taken out of modern day fairytales to make them more acceptable and 'child friendly.' This book has everything I am looking for in a book, and more! It blew me away the first time I read it, and I keep coming back to read it again! There is also lush descriptive prose throughout the book, not a dull sentence to be found. I wholeheartedly recommend it!
Kim Wilkins makes me proud to be an Australian. Why? Because she is the author of the most amazing dark, twisted adult fairytale I have ever read. Taking all the elements that make us love fairytales, the darkness, the death, wicked witches, fairies, forbidden love, Kim Wilkins weaves a magical tale set in modern day Berlin. Christine, an ordinary girl with whom the reader can relate, is staying in Berlin with her boyfriend, Jude. Jude is a painter spending a year in the building of bizarre art lover Mandy Z.
Christine is haunted by tragedy: by the death of her parents in a hit and run that also left her with chronic pain, and by a half forgotten childhood memory that begins to come back to her of her childhood friend May, who disappeared. Mayfridh is now the queen of fairies, but she is lonely, and wants to reconnect with Christine. And as she insinuates herself into Christine's life, events begin to unravel, along with a sinister threat that none of them are aware of.
I love this story because it goes back to the original dark roots of fairytales, with all the passion and horror that are often taken out of modern day fairytales to make them more acceptable and 'child friendly.' This book has everything I am looking for in a book, and more! It blew me away the first time I read it, and I keep coming back to read it again! There is also lush descriptive prose throughout the book, not a dull sentence to be found. I wholeheartedly recommend it!
February 21, 2023
5 stars--loved it. This reminds me of old-school urban fantasy from the 80s and 90s (especially Tam Lin and The Mysteries).
On the one hand it's a predictable, slightly whimsical, cozy fantasy that alternates between Berlin (where I'm currently living, so an extra star for that) and fairyland. But there's enough darkness to add tension and keep the plot moving. I don't usually like plots, but I didn't mind it here because of the satisfying conclusion.
On the one hand it's a predictable, slightly whimsical, cozy fantasy that alternates between Berlin (where I'm currently living, so an extra star for that) and fairyland. But there's enough darkness to add tension and keep the plot moving. I don't usually like plots, but I didn't mind it here because of the satisfying conclusion.
September 13, 2017
Fucking LOVE this book: I became obsessed with it in highschool and re-read it almost 10 years later and it holds up. Kim does such a beautiful job of balancing two narratives simultaneously, despite them being very different (one the rich, modern world - the other a fairytale fantasy world). I love the horrific nature of the villain and how wonderfully that's juxtaposed with the love story, which feels genuinely passionate and romantic. Also the ending is so satisfying, tying up everything without feeling trite. Love, LOVE, love this book and so glad I rediscovered it.
April 27, 2008
This is a beautiful story. It's sad, exciting and has a very romantic, wistful atmosphere. It's a great read for people who love the Sevenwaters Books by Juliet Marillier or the Tamír Triad by Lynn Flewelling, for it's got that same easy style and magical feeling to it.
December 7, 2022
In revisiting this book about 14 years since first reading it, I’m pleased to say that I enjoyed it just as much as the first time, albeit I soon remembered the plot. Overlooking a few spelling and grammatical errors, as well as some of the characters irritatingly whimsical names (Starlight? Honeychurch?), this is a nuanced and layered fairytale in the spirit of Brothers Grimm that is both traditional and original in its story-telling. Mandy Z reads like a true crime serial killer, with dark and macabre fantasies. The bone wife is an extraordinary invention of the imagination. I also love the juxtaposition between the urban bohemia of Berlin and the fairy world of the Autumn soon-to-be-Winter Castle. There is love, magic, secrets, betrayals, and horror. There are fairies, witches & a shape-shifter. There’s even some nostalgia when a CD player gets a mention! (‘What’s one of those?’ young readers might ask!) Not all of the protagonists are likeable, but the ending is - for the most part - satisfying. Personally, I would’ve liked Jude & Mayfridh to have had some comeuppance or undoing. Nonetheless, this all makes for a worthwhile and recommended read.
January 20, 2010
This was an intriguing mix of fantasy, relationship drama with a little horror thrown in though it wasn't nearly as disgusting as I was expecting.
Christine, the main character, has a run in with the faery realm when she meets up with an old long-lost friend. She was too naive and doormat-like for me and the rest of the characters were all unlikable to me for various reasons but despite all that I still found it an interesting book. Mandy Z., a madman hellbent on destroying all fairies in the most brutal fashion he can imagine, kept me turning the pages more-so than all of the relationship drama surrounding the other characters.
Personally, I would've preferred a less tidier, much more bittersweet ending for several of the characters but it wasn't meant to be. . .
Christine, the main character, has a run in with the faery realm when she meets up with an old long-lost friend. She was too naive and doormat-like for me and the rest of the characters were all unlikable to me for various reasons but despite all that I still found it an interesting book. Mandy Z., a madman hellbent on destroying all fairies in the most brutal fashion he can imagine, kept me turning the pages more-so than all of the relationship drama surrounding the other characters.
Personally, I would've preferred a less tidier, much more bittersweet ending for several of the characters but it wasn't meant to be. . .
January 6, 2016
I frickin' love you, Kim Wilkins.
Longer review to come!
Longer review to come!
October 26, 2012
This review contains significant spoilers, which begin after the Plot heading.
There’s a tension when reviewing authors who are alive and live relatively close to you. You’d like them to succeed. You’d like to give them a hand. You’d like, in short, to give them positive reviews. The problem, when you are reviewing, is that you’d like to be fair to your readers, and that means being publicly disappointed by the part of the book which did not work for you. In writing this review, I’m intensely aware of this dynamic tension, so if you feel I’ve strayed one way or the other, please comment.
In brief
The plot of The Autumn Castle is slow, and dwells heavily on the internal lives of the characters, rather than what they do. The descriptions are vivid, and there are some original ideas compared to other urban fantasy novels. The magic system has no underlying structure. It becomes increasingly difficult to find characters whom you hope will succeed. Enjoyable, but only recommendable to people who like lengthy books with the slow pace, and introspective, passive characters found in litfic.
Plot
Foundationally, I think I wrong-footed myself on this book. My favourite book about faeries is Diane Purkiss’s Troublesome Things, which is non-fiction and stresses the liminality of faeries, and the possibility that they are not fully cognisant beings. This created a problem for me, in that the reader’s position on the characters was not immediately clear. When we meet Mandy, who hunts faeries, I didn’t immediately flag him as a villain.
The book’s position, which is that faeries are people and a faerie hunter is therefore a sort of serial killer, was not clear to me until we meet enough faeries, later in the plot, to measure them as moral agents. Mandy’s ugly, and the other characters bodyshame him pretty thoroughly for about a hour (in audiobook). Rather than seeing his outer form as a symbol of his spiritual twistedness, I initially thought they were a pack of drunks piling crap on the guy who was supporting their lifestyle. I was kind of hoping they’d get a comeuppance.
Then, we pull back to a rather more conventional narrative in which the artists are the side we are meant to hope will win. They deepen their characters by sitting around talking, mostly, and mostly about each other. The Queen of the Faeries seems to be little more than an agressively demanding adolescent, and she seems to keep a slave in a well. Perhaps slave is too strong a term? If the slave is lost the faerie kingdom will die, so I was hoping for some Those Who Walk Away From Omelas, but, no, the slave is, according to the people who need to keep her enslaved, wicked. This means you can just Gitmo her according to them. She also seems to hate them and will hurt them if she gets free: another reason she can and must be kept locked away. In her situation, I think I’d be plotting escape myself.
When she tricks her way free because of the Queen’s inability to control her infatuation, she becomes a second villain. The two villains are out doing things, while the other characters just gossip about each other’s love lives. This gives the main characters time to work through their childhood traumas. As the characters pushing the narrative forward, the villains are the more interesting characters. The female villain quickly disfigures a woman and eats parts of her, so that the reader is quite clear that the faerie princess is still on Team Right.
I’m sorry we were given that marker, because the side we are meant to support are terrible people. The princess is gradually wrecking the lives of the other characters in her endless quest to fulfill herself. This is perhaps forgivable because she’s not a moral adult, having been raised in a fantasy kingdom as a princess, but that makes the man who wants to be her lover creepy. Her faerie parents were also horrible beings, in a classic faerie way. We are all set up for a twist in which the ugly slave and the serial killer are the heroes, but are denied it.
The faerie plot ends with the good guys winning by simple luck. None of them do anything to deserve victory. They just stand by while victory is handed to them on a plate. One of the leads finally gets enough forward momentum to not just be carried by events (after the villains are taken away). We then settle in for another hour and a bit of the main characters resolving their love triangle in a way that was obvious from early in the story. The story claims the ending is an act of restitution by the faerie princess, but she gets exactly and precisely what she wants. Again.
In the same way that I wrongfooted myself with a definition of faeries, I think think I wrongfooted myself, in this book, with a definition of love. Characters in this book can do terrible things if they say that they are doing it because they love people. The thing is, though, their loves are never selfless giving to the beloved. Love, for all sides, is a possessive impulse that excuses other immoralities. Initially I thought that was the characters being hypocritical, but no, in this universe, that’s really how love works. It really is a higher calling so great that if you claim it, you feel justified doing anything else for it, and in the end, are rewarded for whatever evil you’ve done, provided you looked nice to begin with. So, love, in this world, is a great source of evil and peversion, even in the nominally good characters.
Audio Presentation
You will need to be patient with this book. If you are listening to the audiobook, you have surrendered the pacing of the story to the author. The book is 19 and a half hours long (462 pages). The point where the real conflict starts is about Section 12, which is about four hours in. This is so far past “hook me in the first hour or I’m leaving” rule of thumb that I would have given this book up, if I’d not given up on my previous AWWC book for the same reason. The framing for the final confrontation occurs in section 36, so you know, because the book has 50 sections, that things are going to take an awfully long time to resolve. When the epilogue starts, buckle down for an extra quarter hour.
I feel for the audiobook presenter. The shorthand the author uses to distinguish many of her characters is that each comes from a different place and so has a different accent. This works well in audio, and the reader gamefully struggles through all of these. He does very well, but at one point he’s asked to carry more than any performer could.
Sex scenes are difficult to write. The authors need to get across the emotional impetus of the scene while ignoring the mechanics beyond a few indicative acts. To give too much detail is boring. To give too little detail is to miss the point at which characters realign their priorities and alligences. Add to this that each reader is interpreting the book in their own way, and sex scenes often come off as unconvincing. The reader of the audiobook then tries to perform both parts, with voices. I felt so sorry for him, because he’s hitting square on the difference between a performance of the book and a person reading a book to themself. He does as well as could be hoped, but he can’t carry the scene, which is problematic, because its seminal to the plot’s development.
This review originally appeared on
book coasters
There’s a tension when reviewing authors who are alive and live relatively close to you. You’d like them to succeed. You’d like to give them a hand. You’d like, in short, to give them positive reviews. The problem, when you are reviewing, is that you’d like to be fair to your readers, and that means being publicly disappointed by the part of the book which did not work for you. In writing this review, I’m intensely aware of this dynamic tension, so if you feel I’ve strayed one way or the other, please comment.
In brief
The plot of The Autumn Castle is slow, and dwells heavily on the internal lives of the characters, rather than what they do. The descriptions are vivid, and there are some original ideas compared to other urban fantasy novels. The magic system has no underlying structure. It becomes increasingly difficult to find characters whom you hope will succeed. Enjoyable, but only recommendable to people who like lengthy books with the slow pace, and introspective, passive characters found in litfic.
Plot
Foundationally, I think I wrong-footed myself on this book. My favourite book about faeries is Diane Purkiss’s Troublesome Things, which is non-fiction and stresses the liminality of faeries, and the possibility that they are not fully cognisant beings. This created a problem for me, in that the reader’s position on the characters was not immediately clear. When we meet Mandy, who hunts faeries, I didn’t immediately flag him as a villain.
The book’s position, which is that faeries are people and a faerie hunter is therefore a sort of serial killer, was not clear to me until we meet enough faeries, later in the plot, to measure them as moral agents. Mandy’s ugly, and the other characters bodyshame him pretty thoroughly for about a hour (in audiobook). Rather than seeing his outer form as a symbol of his spiritual twistedness, I initially thought they were a pack of drunks piling crap on the guy who was supporting their lifestyle. I was kind of hoping they’d get a comeuppance.
Then, we pull back to a rather more conventional narrative in which the artists are the side we are meant to hope will win. They deepen their characters by sitting around talking, mostly, and mostly about each other. The Queen of the Faeries seems to be little more than an agressively demanding adolescent, and she seems to keep a slave in a well. Perhaps slave is too strong a term? If the slave is lost the faerie kingdom will die, so I was hoping for some Those Who Walk Away From Omelas, but, no, the slave is, according to the people who need to keep her enslaved, wicked. This means you can just Gitmo her according to them. She also seems to hate them and will hurt them if she gets free: another reason she can and must be kept locked away. In her situation, I think I’d be plotting escape myself.
When she tricks her way free because of the Queen’s inability to control her infatuation, she becomes a second villain. The two villains are out doing things, while the other characters just gossip about each other’s love lives. This gives the main characters time to work through their childhood traumas. As the characters pushing the narrative forward, the villains are the more interesting characters. The female villain quickly disfigures a woman and eats parts of her, so that the reader is quite clear that the faerie princess is still on Team Right.
I’m sorry we were given that marker, because the side we are meant to support are terrible people. The princess is gradually wrecking the lives of the other characters in her endless quest to fulfill herself. This is perhaps forgivable because she’s not a moral adult, having been raised in a fantasy kingdom as a princess, but that makes the man who wants to be her lover creepy. Her faerie parents were also horrible beings, in a classic faerie way. We are all set up for a twist in which the ugly slave and the serial killer are the heroes, but are denied it.
The faerie plot ends with the good guys winning by simple luck. None of them do anything to deserve victory. They just stand by while victory is handed to them on a plate. One of the leads finally gets enough forward momentum to not just be carried by events (after the villains are taken away). We then settle in for another hour and a bit of the main characters resolving their love triangle in a way that was obvious from early in the story. The story claims the ending is an act of restitution by the faerie princess, but she gets exactly and precisely what she wants. Again.
In the same way that I wrongfooted myself with a definition of faeries, I think think I wrongfooted myself, in this book, with a definition of love. Characters in this book can do terrible things if they say that they are doing it because they love people. The thing is, though, their loves are never selfless giving to the beloved. Love, for all sides, is a possessive impulse that excuses other immoralities. Initially I thought that was the characters being hypocritical, but no, in this universe, that’s really how love works. It really is a higher calling so great that if you claim it, you feel justified doing anything else for it, and in the end, are rewarded for whatever evil you’ve done, provided you looked nice to begin with. So, love, in this world, is a great source of evil and peversion, even in the nominally good characters.
Audio Presentation
You will need to be patient with this book. If you are listening to the audiobook, you have surrendered the pacing of the story to the author. The book is 19 and a half hours long (462 pages). The point where the real conflict starts is about Section 12, which is about four hours in. This is so far past “hook me in the first hour or I’m leaving” rule of thumb that I would have given this book up, if I’d not given up on my previous AWWC book for the same reason. The framing for the final confrontation occurs in section 36, so you know, because the book has 50 sections, that things are going to take an awfully long time to resolve. When the epilogue starts, buckle down for an extra quarter hour.
I feel for the audiobook presenter. The shorthand the author uses to distinguish many of her characters is that each comes from a different place and so has a different accent. This works well in audio, and the reader gamefully struggles through all of these. He does very well, but at one point he’s asked to carry more than any performer could.
Sex scenes are difficult to write. The authors need to get across the emotional impetus of the scene while ignoring the mechanics beyond a few indicative acts. To give too much detail is boring. To give too little detail is to miss the point at which characters realign their priorities and alligences. Add to this that each reader is interpreting the book in their own way, and sex scenes often come off as unconvincing. The reader of the audiobook then tries to perform both parts, with voices. I felt so sorry for him, because he’s hitting square on the difference between a performance of the book and a person reading a book to themself. He does as well as could be hoped, but he can’t carry the scene, which is problematic, because its seminal to the plot’s development.
This review originally appeared on
book coasters
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 9, 2018
DNF, pg 90-something.
Friends, I am disappointed. I've read Wilkins before & will do so again -- but this one? No thanks.
Other reviewers aptly point out the most major flaw in this, so I'll join the chorus: these characters are passive, selfish, judgmental, whiny, & unlikable. Period. End of story. I'd expected the beginning to feature a somewhat immature MC who would grow into a more adult mindset throughout, but this is too much. I loathe the cast of AUTUMN CASTLE as a unit -- they remind me of those asshats in ELFLAND, only slightly less self-absorbed. :P This lot loafs around 24/7, occasionally having sex and/or making "artwork," whilst shaming the world who isn't attuned to their brilliance & (the single most important aspect of their lives) clubbing at the drop of a hat. They do nothing, earn nothing, feel nothing (though they claim otherwise), & drink booze unto drunkenness. Wash, rinse, repeat. Who cares?? These are people I wouldn't want to be acquainted with in RL, let alone read their whingy splooge for 500 pages...
...Which brings me to the fae stuff. I don't particularly care for modern fairy tales, but I especially dislike the type with no discernible plot arc and/or open-ended magical bullshit. The floaty, ethereal, meandering passivity of this new breed 'urban noir fairy' fiction makes me want to scream. The WICKED LOVELY series -- while far from perfect -- is a notable exception, as the whiny, immature MCs actually grow & change on a concrete plot arc that grounds the ethereal fae strangeness, not only on a personal level, but also a more grandiose, danger-to-the-world level. Grounding is important, y'all -- especially with fantastical storylines. But this book? Yeah. No grounding whatsoever. Why should I care? Who should I care about? What are their goals, roadblocks, or trials to be faced? Simply waving one's hands & glossing over everything that's weird because lol, that's faery! doesn't inspire me to read your masterpiece of dark urban fantasy.
So, yeah...DNF. I'll not hold it against the author; as I said, I've read her before & enjoyed the tale. But I should've known better than to attempt this one. The story type, the character types, the passive plot...too many of my personal red flags. I've had it forever & repeatedly been turned off by perusing random pages, yet I kept it in hopes that Wilkins would make it work. Alas. ;___; At least I can regift it in good conscience, right?
Friends, I am disappointed. I've read Wilkins before & will do so again -- but this one? No thanks.
Other reviewers aptly point out the most major flaw in this, so I'll join the chorus: these characters are passive, selfish, judgmental, whiny, & unlikable. Period. End of story. I'd expected the beginning to feature a somewhat immature MC who would grow into a more adult mindset throughout, but this is too much. I loathe the cast of AUTUMN CASTLE as a unit -- they remind me of those asshats in ELFLAND, only slightly less self-absorbed. :P This lot loafs around 24/7, occasionally having sex and/or making "artwork," whilst shaming the world who isn't attuned to their brilliance & (the single most important aspect of their lives) clubbing at the drop of a hat. They do nothing, earn nothing, feel nothing (though they claim otherwise), & drink booze unto drunkenness. Wash, rinse, repeat. Who cares?? These are people I wouldn't want to be acquainted with in RL, let alone read their whingy splooge for 500 pages...
...Which brings me to the fae stuff. I don't particularly care for modern fairy tales, but I especially dislike the type with no discernible plot arc and/or open-ended magical bullshit. The floaty, ethereal, meandering passivity of this new breed 'urban noir fairy' fiction makes me want to scream. The WICKED LOVELY series -- while far from perfect -- is a notable exception, as the whiny, immature MCs actually grow & change on a concrete plot arc that grounds the ethereal fae strangeness, not only on a personal level, but also a more grandiose, danger-to-the-world level. Grounding is important, y'all -- especially with fantastical storylines. But this book? Yeah. No grounding whatsoever. Why should I care? Who should I care about? What are their goals, roadblocks, or trials to be faced? Simply waving one's hands & glossing over everything that's weird because lol, that's faery! doesn't inspire me to read your masterpiece of dark urban fantasy.
So, yeah...DNF. I'll not hold it against the author; as I said, I've read her before & enjoyed the tale. But I should've known better than to attempt this one. The story type, the character types, the passive plot...too many of my personal red flags. I've had it forever & repeatedly been turned off by perusing random pages, yet I kept it in hopes that Wilkins would make it work. Alas. ;___; At least I can regift it in good conscience, right?
December 4, 2014
The Autumn Castle by Kim Wilkins is the first novel I've read by the author, though I did enjoy a novella collection of hers earlier in the year. I can also definitely state it won't be the last novel I read by the author. I should also note I read it as an audiobook borrowed from the library.
The Autumn Castle is sort of a portal fantasy in that there is the real world (Berlin in the early 00s) and there is fairyland, but a larger part of the action takes place in the real world. It's also more of a character driven story than a lot of the books I've read recently. There's no Quest and the world doesn't need saving from the start. There is a Bad Guy but several of the other characters are of dubious morality at one point or another. There are secrets, lies and conflicting desires. At a few points, I honestly wasn't sure how some issues were going to be resolved.
Christine is probably the easiest character to like. She means well and not in an offensively misguided way like some of the other characters. The chronic pain aspect was also a nice layer and I liked how it was portrayed in the book. It was something Christine was always aware of and something she wanted to avoid having define her.
The other characters were more difficult to like. Mandy, the serial fairy killer, was obviously reprehensible and irredeemable from the start. The sections from his point of view — mostly extracts from his memoires — are suitable icky and I enjoyed the way they were read in a German accent. In fact, most of the accents were pretty good in the audiobook although I was probably least convinced by the US accents of Christine and her boyfriend.
Mayfridh was an interesting character but one I increasingly lost respect for, especially towards the end. Having lived in fairyland for most of her life as a princess and then a queen, she's quite spoiled and, when she first comes to the real world, naïve about how things work. Both traits evolve as the book progresses but there were many reasons I wanted to tell her off towards the end.
The secondary characters all added significantly to the story and I appreciated the layers of complexity which we learnt as the story progressed. Several people turned out to be not quite what they seemed and there were a couple of revelations I really didn't see coming. A well-crafted story. And I liked the fairytale epilogue at the end. That was nice.
I highly recommend The Autumn Castle to fans of character-driven fantasy books. I think readers who usually don't read much fantasy would also enjoy it since, although the fantasy element is inextricable from the plot, the character-driven narrative is the more complex aspect. Assuming you like that sort of thing, anyway. There are some dark elements, so be warned: vicious murder and light torture within (but no rape, if that helps). The Autumn Castle is the first book in a "suite" of three unrelated novels (set in the same universe? I'm not even sure) and I intend to read the next one in the near future (probably as an audiobook as well; I have it in paper on another continent).
4.5 / 5 stars
Read more reviews on my blog.
The Autumn Castle is sort of a portal fantasy in that there is the real world (Berlin in the early 00s) and there is fairyland, but a larger part of the action takes place in the real world. It's also more of a character driven story than a lot of the books I've read recently. There's no Quest and the world doesn't need saving from the start. There is a Bad Guy but several of the other characters are of dubious morality at one point or another. There are secrets, lies and conflicting desires. At a few points, I honestly wasn't sure how some issues were going to be resolved.
Christine is probably the easiest character to like. She means well and not in an offensively misguided way like some of the other characters. The chronic pain aspect was also a nice layer and I liked how it was portrayed in the book. It was something Christine was always aware of and something she wanted to avoid having define her.
The other characters were more difficult to like. Mandy, the serial fairy killer, was obviously reprehensible and irredeemable from the start. The sections from his point of view — mostly extracts from his memoires — are suitable icky and I enjoyed the way they were read in a German accent. In fact, most of the accents were pretty good in the audiobook although I was probably least convinced by the US accents of Christine and her boyfriend.
Mayfridh was an interesting character but one I increasingly lost respect for, especially towards the end. Having lived in fairyland for most of her life as a princess and then a queen, she's quite spoiled and, when she first comes to the real world, naïve about how things work. Both traits evolve as the book progresses but there were many reasons I wanted to tell her off towards the end.
The secondary characters all added significantly to the story and I appreciated the layers of complexity which we learnt as the story progressed. Several people turned out to be not quite what they seemed and there were a couple of revelations I really didn't see coming. A well-crafted story. And I liked the fairytale epilogue at the end. That was nice.
I highly recommend The Autumn Castle to fans of character-driven fantasy books. I think readers who usually don't read much fantasy would also enjoy it since, although the fantasy element is inextricable from the plot, the character-driven narrative is the more complex aspect. Assuming you like that sort of thing, anyway. There are some dark elements, so be warned: vicious murder and light torture within (but no rape, if that helps). The Autumn Castle is the first book in a "suite" of three unrelated novels (set in the same universe? I'm not even sure) and I intend to read the next one in the near future (probably as an audiobook as well; I have it in paper on another continent).
4.5 / 5 stars
Read more reviews on my blog.
January 9, 2010
I talked up The Veil of Gold so much when it came out that my children's librarian friend at work lent me her ARC of this earlier, UK-published book. I had a hard time getting in to it at first because I didn't care for faery May. I never found her as likable as the other characters; she was always too self-involved to be truly sympathetic. Then again, this isn't really a fault with the book, and I enjoyed the ending, where the happiness May imagined and schemed for doesn't quite live up to reality; it's also appropriate that Christine, the other protagonist who has a tough life and strives to stop being a victim, has the true happy ending. Wilkins excels at integrating the modern world with folklore (here a fascinating array of European faery lore) and creating believable, flawed characters. Mandy Z, the faery serial killer who is the third narrator, even had a few sympathetic moments among the horror that he perpetuates. This is an excellent modern fairy tale and highly recommended.
April 15, 2007
This has been on my TBR list for a long while but I finally grabbed it while redeeming some gift cards at Borders. I tore through this book in under two days; I could barely put it down. I have to say that this is the best urban fantasy I've read in a long time. It ranks right up there with War for the Oaks by Emma Bull. For starters, it takes place in Berlin, rather than the usual New York, London, or other big city in the English speaking (excepting Australia, New Zealand, Scotland, and Ireland) world. Wilkins breathed new life into one of my favorite genres and I will definitely be picking up more by her. I can see she wrote another that takes place in Norway. I look forward to reading it.
December 26, 2017
A slow starter but enjoyable tale. I am a big fan of the authors work and this book was a great addition to the European trilogy.
Some of the events were predictable but they were still enjoyable and the pace in the last quarter of the book was thrilling. A little frustrating yes but still had me tearing through the book.
This book is the most like a fairytale rebelling of the group (Giants of the frost, rosa and the golden bear) and I am enjoyed the setting of modern Berlin meets fairytale Germany.
Some of the events were predictable but they were still enjoyable and the pace in the last quarter of the book was thrilling. A little frustrating yes but still had me tearing through the book.
This book is the most like a fairytale rebelling of the group (Giants of the frost, rosa and the golden bear) and I am enjoyed the setting of modern Berlin meets fairytale Germany.
June 8, 2020
I first got drawn into the Europa suite of fantasy novels by its third installment, Rosa and the Veil of Gold, which delves in Russian mythology, but then I decided to read the books in their rightful order.
This first story takes the reader for a ride around the world of (British lore) elves, depicted in their monstrous baby-stealing, eerily beautiful, and cruel form. I liked the fact that the parts of the story taking part in the 'real' (telluric) world are in fact pretty realistic, just as you would expect from books situated in other genres, not fantasy.
This first story takes the reader for a ride around the world of (British lore) elves, depicted in their monstrous baby-stealing, eerily beautiful, and cruel form. I liked the fact that the parts of the story taking part in the 'real' (telluric) world are in fact pretty realistic, just as you would expect from books situated in other genres, not fantasy.
March 29, 2008
What a fantastic story!
Christine lives with Jude in modern day Germany. Christine has lived a tragic life, losing her famous parents in a horrific car accident when she was younger, leaving her with a back injury that causes excruciating pain every moment of her life. One day she accidentally slams her injured back into the corner of the kitchen table causing so much pain that she is rendered unconscious. She wakes seconds later in a wondrous land where she feels no pain. Thinking that she is unconscious and dreaming, she explores this new world only to encounter Queen Mayfridh, the Queen of the Faeries, who also happens to be a girl that Christine once knew in real life.
This trip to Faerie land begins an adventure for both Christine and May that is wondrous, heartbreaking, horrifying and life altering.
I totally enjoyed this book. The characters were fantastic and the storyline was wonderful. I guessed at the ending early on, but was still thrilled with the adventure that lead there.
I have a couple more of Kim Wilkins books on my TBR mountain and plan to pull them out and read them soon.
Christine lives with Jude in modern day Germany. Christine has lived a tragic life, losing her famous parents in a horrific car accident when she was younger, leaving her with a back injury that causes excruciating pain every moment of her life. One day she accidentally slams her injured back into the corner of the kitchen table causing so much pain that she is rendered unconscious. She wakes seconds later in a wondrous land where she feels no pain. Thinking that she is unconscious and dreaming, she explores this new world only to encounter Queen Mayfridh, the Queen of the Faeries, who also happens to be a girl that Christine once knew in real life.
This trip to Faerie land begins an adventure for both Christine and May that is wondrous, heartbreaking, horrifying and life altering.
I totally enjoyed this book. The characters were fantastic and the storyline was wonderful. I guessed at the ending early on, but was still thrilled with the adventure that lead there.
I have a couple more of Kim Wilkins books on my TBR mountain and plan to pull them out and read them soon.
March 19, 2019
Review on my blog at http://smellycelly.strikingly.com/blo...
From when it was given to me and for the next few days, this book was glued to my fingers and I couldn't put it down. I had at least 3 hours less sleep a night and I was happily lost in a world of fantasy, a world with faeries, witches and a shapeshifter, AND they visit our world.
The story centers around Christine Starlight (sole survivor of her family's car accident) who is living in Berlin with her boyfriend. She discovers that her childhood friend (who was abducted when they were kids) was actually stolen by faeries and is now queen of their land (Ewigkreis). It has a very dark twist to it, there's a serial killer and you're lead to visualize some pretty gory details, but there's also lots of beauty and things you can only dream of seeing in reality - that's what books are for!
This book will stay with me for a long time and I really recommend you read it as soon as you can!
From when it was given to me and for the next few days, this book was glued to my fingers and I couldn't put it down. I had at least 3 hours less sleep a night and I was happily lost in a world of fantasy, a world with faeries, witches and a shapeshifter, AND they visit our world.
The story centers around Christine Starlight (sole survivor of her family's car accident) who is living in Berlin with her boyfriend. She discovers that her childhood friend (who was abducted when they were kids) was actually stolen by faeries and is now queen of their land (Ewigkreis). It has a very dark twist to it, there's a serial killer and you're lead to visualize some pretty gory details, but there's also lots of beauty and things you can only dream of seeing in reality - that's what books are for!
This book will stay with me for a long time and I really recommend you read it as soon as you can!
April 15, 2009
This is a really well written modern day faerie story. Set in Germany, Christine and her Boyfriend Jude who is on an art fellowship think they have a fairly normal happy life. Living in Germany many unhappy memories are reappearing for Christine who spent some of her childhood here until her friend was kidnapped.
After an accident Christine ends up seeing her childhood friend but in a strange dreamlike place - faeryland. It turns out Little May wasn't exactly kidnapped but went to live in faeryland and become Queen. The two worlds were currently in line with eachother so Mayfridh decides to spend some time in the Real world making friends and before you know it chaos follows.
This is actually quite dark in places so not quite the happy beautiful tale that I would have expected and I think that is because it is mainly set in the Real World rather than Faeryland where everything is meant to be peaceful. All in all a thoroughly enjoyable read.
After an accident Christine ends up seeing her childhood friend but in a strange dreamlike place - faeryland. It turns out Little May wasn't exactly kidnapped but went to live in faeryland and become Queen. The two worlds were currently in line with eachother so Mayfridh decides to spend some time in the Real world making friends and before you know it chaos follows.
This is actually quite dark in places so not quite the happy beautiful tale that I would have expected and I think that is because it is mainly set in the Real World rather than Faeryland where everything is meant to be peaceful. All in all a thoroughly enjoyable read.
October 30, 2017
For a book I read only once, I sure remember it.
Except for the last chapter, which is kind of apart (and that I read from time to time)
Mostly, I didn't like it. The story, magic and all could be interesting, I guess if....
most of the characters were not so creepy !
I couldn't find one character I liked in the complete story. That left me feeling pretty weird and kind of sorry for it.
I know I read another book from the same writer and it was the same (but I can't seem to remember which it was), so maybe it's her style.
But Diana Whyne Jones succeeds in finding the right equilibrium between imperfect, selfish, gullible, faillible humanity and the small act that reedems the character ... while Kim Wilkins just seem to wallow in it.
And that is creepy. And sad.
Except for the last chapter, which is kind of apart (and that I read from time to time)
Mostly, I didn't like it. The story, magic and all could be interesting, I guess if....
most of the characters were not so creepy !
I couldn't find one character I liked in the complete story. That left me feeling pretty weird and kind of sorry for it.
I know I read another book from the same writer and it was the same (but I can't seem to remember which it was), so maybe it's her style.
But Diana Whyne Jones succeeds in finding the right equilibrium between imperfect, selfish, gullible, faillible humanity and the small act that reedems the character ... while Kim Wilkins just seem to wallow in it.
And that is creepy. And sad.
May 28, 2013
I absolutely loved Wilkins' VEIL OF GOLD. So much that I backordered a few of her older titles, and I'm just now getting to try this one, THE AUTUMN CASTLE. And boy, is it utterly different. There's always a chance that my tastes have changed, but I can't believe this book was written by the same author as VEIL OF GOLD, a book I've enthusiastically recommended to others. The writing is mostly bland and generic, with very little spark and life to it. The plot itself might've interested me ten years ago, but it doesn't grab me now (and if the writing had a little more spark and life to it, I wouldn't care). A shame, but after 94 pages and my peeking at the ending, there's really no need to continue.
For those readers interested in Wilkins' work, I'd highly recommend starting with VEIL OF GOLD instead.
For those readers interested in Wilkins' work, I'd highly recommend starting with VEIL OF GOLD instead.
April 30, 2009
Orphaned Christine returns to Berlin when her artist boyfriend Jude wins a fellowship offered by wealthy but repulsive sculptor Mandy Z. Christine lived in Berlin with her musician parents, years before they were killed by a hit-and-run driver who left Christine with injuries that cause her constant pain. Her best friend in Berlin, a little English girl named May, disappeared at age 8 and was never heard of again. Now that Christine is in Berlin again, the tragedies of her past seem to be reawakening and connecting in unforeseeable ways.
July 19, 2007
Autumn Castle is one of the loveliest fantasy stories I've ever read. Although I've only recently immersed myself in fantasy, this book will stay with me for a long time and I'm glad to have it as part of my collection.
July 29, 2007
This has to be one of my favourite books. I bought it for the terrible reason that I liked the cover and I am so glad that I did. It introduced me to a whole new genre of fiction. I could not stop reading this book it is addictive.
October 6, 2012
i can't rate this from my kindle but would give it 4.5 stars. another emjoyable read Kim
April 9, 2015
3.5 - Really enjoy this author and all things magical and fairy. I did get a little turned off by the characters selfishness and immaturity. By the end it was annoying! Overall enjoyed the book.
December 28, 2020
Fae with fortunately a lot more in common with the works of the Brother Grimm than Disney tales
“The Autumn Castle” by Kim Wilkins is an interesting portal fantasy tale, that mixes a classical high fantasy storytelling with some urban elements, not to be confounded with UF. The protagonist (Christine) of Wilkins’ story is a young woman who has just went back to Berlin to expend the year with her boyfriend, Jude, who is living as an apprentice of sorts to Mandy Z, an eccentric artists, with a very dark secret.
Christine is not stranger to the city, she uses to live there as a child, but left with her parents after the kidnapping of her best friend (Amy), an unsolved cold case until now. Amy’s disappearance was the first link the tragedy chain that is attached to Christine’s life, her parents died in a hit and run, she still suffers from chronic pain due that ‘accident’. Despite her story Christine is a strong, capable, young woman, exciting to be back into her childhood hometown and eager to walk into memory lane. In her first walk through Berlin the reminiscences came back. Short after, by mere accident, Christine finds herself on the other side of the portal, in the Fae lands, face to face with her missed friend, who is now in fact Queen Mayfridh, residing in the Autumn Castle at the moment, as Fae lands move perpetually, approaching and receding the human realm in an non-fixed pattern. From here on the story develops fast, Christine learns to know the Fae realm, with all its wonders and horrors. Wilkins’s Fae are truly dark Fae, with (fortunately!) a lot more in common with the works of the Brother Grimm than Disney tales. A ruthless killer is targeting the Fae, and Mayfridh short of demands Christine help to catch him, after all Christine can move in both worlds, and the killer might be closer than she ever imagined.
Kim Wilkins’ storytelling is sharp, crisp, dark and beautiful, both worlds (Berlin and the Autumn Realm) are very well constructed, real Berlin helps to add a layer of credibility to the Fae world. The characters are credible and logical: Christine is immediately relatable, the Fae are Fae, not fairytales characters on a children book, but exactly the embodiment of myth Fae, with a nice German touch to it. This is a book that lingers in memory, guaranteed I just re-read it for the third time in over ten years, and have never forgotten it in-between.
“The Autumn Castle” by Kim Wilkins is an interesting portal fantasy tale, that mixes a classical high fantasy storytelling with some urban elements, not to be confounded with UF. The protagonist (Christine) of Wilkins’ story is a young woman who has just went back to Berlin to expend the year with her boyfriend, Jude, who is living as an apprentice of sorts to Mandy Z, an eccentric artists, with a very dark secret.
Christine is not stranger to the city, she uses to live there as a child, but left with her parents after the kidnapping of her best friend (Amy), an unsolved cold case until now. Amy’s disappearance was the first link the tragedy chain that is attached to Christine’s life, her parents died in a hit and run, she still suffers from chronic pain due that ‘accident’. Despite her story Christine is a strong, capable, young woman, exciting to be back into her childhood hometown and eager to walk into memory lane. In her first walk through Berlin the reminiscences came back. Short after, by mere accident, Christine finds herself on the other side of the portal, in the Fae lands, face to face with her missed friend, who is now in fact Queen Mayfridh, residing in the Autumn Castle at the moment, as Fae lands move perpetually, approaching and receding the human realm in an non-fixed pattern. From here on the story develops fast, Christine learns to know the Fae realm, with all its wonders and horrors. Wilkins’s Fae are truly dark Fae, with (fortunately!) a lot more in common with the works of the Brother Grimm than Disney tales. A ruthless killer is targeting the Fae, and Mayfridh short of demands Christine help to catch him, after all Christine can move in both worlds, and the killer might be closer than she ever imagined.
Kim Wilkins’ storytelling is sharp, crisp, dark and beautiful, both worlds (Berlin and the Autumn Realm) are very well constructed, real Berlin helps to add a layer of credibility to the Fae world. The characters are credible and logical: Christine is immediately relatable, the Fae are Fae, not fairytales characters on a children book, but exactly the embodiment of myth Fae, with a nice German touch to it. This is a book that lingers in memory, guaranteed I just re-read it for the third time in over ten years, and have never forgotten it in-between.
June 23, 2019
Okay, so first I want to make clear that the length of time it took me to read this book (a day shy of 2 years!) wasn't because it was bad, but rather because it ran up against me immersing myself in a new fandom. I'd already been circling the "Avengers" and "Thor" fandoms, but at this point I entered it, delving into the available fic. In doing so I found a fantastic one I stayed up way too late reading and the next day instead of reading my book on the bus to work, I continued reading it. And then another fic and another...
Come November when I did NaNoWriMo, I started a Loki fic which still isn't finished and which I have taken to writing on the bus to & from work. So my usual reading time vanished, hence I read very few books last year. And, well, though I did get back into this book eventually, the fact that I'd stopped it once meant it was easier to do so again when something else came up.
But as for the book itself, it was enjoyable and had some unique elements to it I've not seen in urban fantasy before, so I did like that. The character of Mandy was quite twisted and yet Kim was able to add something unique to the way his madness developed which set him apart from other serial killer types in fiction.
Christine was also different, being a main character with a disability, though I'm not certain her plotlines and their resolution would be considered well handled by people with disabilities. And speaking of that, I think that particular twist to the ending was too apparent as I was able to guess what would happen to resolve it and some of Mayfridh's problems from quite far out.
Still, a book I overall enjoyed and definitely worth the 1 quid I paid for it at the excess book sale.
Come November when I did NaNoWriMo, I started a Loki fic which still isn't finished and which I have taken to writing on the bus to & from work. So my usual reading time vanished, hence I read very few books last year. And, well, though I did get back into this book eventually, the fact that I'd stopped it once meant it was easier to do so again when something else came up.
But as for the book itself, it was enjoyable and had some unique elements to it I've not seen in urban fantasy before, so I did like that. The character of Mandy was quite twisted and yet Kim was able to add something unique to the way his madness developed which set him apart from other serial killer types in fiction.
Christine was also different, being a main character with a disability, though I'm not certain her plotlines and their resolution would be considered well handled by people with disabilities. And speaking of that, I think that particular twist to the ending was too apparent as I was able to guess what would happen to resolve it and some of Mayfridh's problems from quite far out.
Still, a book I overall enjoyed and definitely worth the 1 quid I paid for it at the excess book sale.
April 11, 2020
I nearly put this book down after the first few dozen pages. Nevertheless, I did continue to the end and I enjoyed it to some degree. I loved Kim Wilkin's Giants of the Frost and The Veil of Gold was pretty good too, but this one doesn't quite measure up.
Why? In part because I didn't find the characters or the faery world convincingly constructed. For example: why does Immanuel hate faeries so much? His aversion to the way they smell seems a fragile motive for serial-killer tendencies. Or how do ordinary faeries enter the Real World and distribute blessings (as described by Immanuel's memoirs) if only the royal faeries possess magic?
Partly too, I couldn't detect any underlying themes or purpose beneath the story. Just as the characters seemed to have no motives, so the larger novel seemed a pleasant but pointless romp through scraps of European faery lore.
I did love the witch, Hexebart, though, with her little rhymes, her foul tongue, and her chaotic mad-faery behaviour. I wasn't convinced by her love for the late Queen Liesebet (who after all had rejected Hexebart's daughter as a suitable heir to the throne), but as an amoral and capricious fay, she was very engaging!
Why? In part because I didn't find the characters or the faery world convincingly constructed. For example: why does Immanuel hate faeries so much? His aversion to the way they smell seems a fragile motive for serial-killer tendencies. Or how do ordinary faeries enter the Real World and distribute blessings (as described by Immanuel's memoirs) if only the royal faeries possess magic?
Partly too, I couldn't detect any underlying themes or purpose beneath the story. Just as the characters seemed to have no motives, so the larger novel seemed a pleasant but pointless romp through scraps of European faery lore.
I did love the witch, Hexebart, though, with her little rhymes, her foul tongue, and her chaotic mad-faery behaviour. I wasn't convinced by her love for the late Queen Liesebet (who after all had rejected Hexebart's daughter as a suitable heir to the throne), but as an amoral and capricious fay, she was very engaging!
September 27, 2025
A brilliant story split into four different perspectives. I quite enjoyed how distinct each perspective was. Christine and Mayfridh, as our protagonists, had the most ‘normal’ perspectives, whereas Hexebart and Mandy’s were formatted quite differently.
Half-way spoilers:
Mandy was very well written. A true narcissist whose egotism and arrogance just made you love to hate them, and whose whole personality just felt so deeply unsettling.
A lot of times books when aiming to make dislikable characters go a bit overboard, but he felt realistic in his malign aspects.
Massive spoilers:
Half-way spoilers:
Mandy was very well written. A true narcissist whose egotism and arrogance just made you love to hate them, and whose whole personality just felt so deeply unsettling.
A lot of times books when aiming to make dislikable characters go a bit overboard, but he felt realistic in his malign aspects.
Massive spoilers:
July 19, 2023
This was the book that introduced me to urban fantasy back 20 years ago. On a whim, I picked it up for a reread yesterday and still found it compelling, gritty, and horror-tinged. Truthfully, I did not remember the fairy hunter being quite so nasty, or the boyfriend so dysfunctional - but the world has changed and so have I.
May and Christine are best friends in childhood until one day when May is abducted. A few years later, Christine is living with her boyfriend, Jude, in a house full of artists when her friend suddenly reappears and claims to be the queen of a mythical kingdom. As their mortal and immortal worlds collide, Christine Starlight learns her friends and acquaintances may be her worst enemies after all.
The book is dark with murder and betrayal, but the characters are extremely well done and it is fast paced. Don't forget to read the fairytale, "The Tale of Silverhand Starlight" at the end - it makes for an incredible epilogue.
May and Christine are best friends in childhood until one day when May is abducted. A few years later, Christine is living with her boyfriend, Jude, in a house full of artists when her friend suddenly reappears and claims to be the queen of a mythical kingdom. As their mortal and immortal worlds collide, Christine Starlight learns her friends and acquaintances may be her worst enemies after all.
The book is dark with murder and betrayal, but the characters are extremely well done and it is fast paced. Don't forget to read the fairytale, "The Tale of Silverhand Starlight" at the end - it makes for an incredible epilogue.
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