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 starsRead more reviews on my blog.
As a child, Christine's best friend was abducted; as an adolescent, Christine's parents were killed in a car crash that left Christine with chronic pain. Now, autumn in Berlin, living with her lover in an artist's hotel, Christine is confronted by the return of her childhood friend--who has spent the intervening years as a faery queen. The Autumn Castle is an urban fantasy-cum-portal fantasy with a gleeful sense of the grotesque, and could easily be too frivolous for my tastes--but to my surprise, I loved it. It's far from perfect: the writing is often only serviceable, characters are often immature, the star-crossed romances are deeply heteronormative and a bit boring, there's a sizable dose of fat-shaming, and the plot has a distinct sense of inevitability--the reader waits to see not what will happen, but when and how. Yet that discovery is a joy because the book has such depth. The worldbuilding is sufficiently unique as to be refreshing, characters are often aware of their flaws and offer distinct voices and emotional complexity, and the book digs deep into each moment while seeming always to offer one more, and so feels longer than it is in the best possible way; combined with a readable lightness of tone, it's a book to get lost in for hours at a time as escapist but resonant, fulfilling entertainment. Even Christine's chronic pain is handled well--not with so much depth as to slow the book, but with relative grace. I picked up The Autumn Castle on simple whim, and it has its limitations, but the truth is that I enjoyed every page and will probably seek out more by the author. It's not exceptional, but if you have the chance to try it I recommend that you do.
What do You think about The Autumn Castle (2005)?
This was the last I read of the Europa suite (if only because it took me forever to find a copy) and I was kinda surprised at how it wasn't as dark as I'd expected it to be. Not that the part with Mandy wasn't dark, but I read The Veil of Gold before this and it chilled me to the bone, so... it's different. But it's okay.I like the relationship dynamics and how they're all wounded. I especially had soft spots for Christine and my favorite wolf. ;) And as usual, Kim Wilkins delivers... fairytales and folklore have never been this good. :)
—Gayle
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.
—Dannii (lilbob1980)
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 awa
—Timothy Ferguson
