Into the windwracked wilds

Avery and Zib, having escaped one peril with their traveling companions the Crow Girl and Niamh, are walking on the Improbable Road, across the Saltwise Sea. An ill-advised moment of frustration drops our intrepid heroes into the sea, where they are swallowed by a mososaur. As rescues go, it's a bit frightening, but certainly better than drowning for those who aren't already drowned. The Crow Girl has lost so many of her crows, though, she is sorely diminished. The mososaur ejects them near land, and although it turns out to be a place they would rather not have landed, at least they can look for a way back to the Improbable Road. As is the way of the Up-and-Under, a cascading series of coincidences and split-second choices leads them into the castle of the Queen of Swords. Now they must navigate the perils of her hospitality, fortunately with the help of her son Jack Daw. The intricacies of the Up-and-Under (first explored in Over the Woodward Wall, 2020) continue to be compelling and satisfying in the way of a beloved childhood fable, and the twisting paths Avery and Zib travel lead through a world of marvels to the Impossible City and hopefully home.

In this enchanting third installment (after Along the Saltwise Sea) of the metafictional companion series to 2020's Middlegame, Seanan McGuire, writing as Baker, continues to mix alchemical and metaphysical themes with tropes from early 20th-century children's literature, presenting a darker, weirder, more mature take on the fantasies of Frank L. Baum and Edith Nesbit. Still lost in the magical world of the Up-and-Under, young Avery and Zib continue their journey along the improbable road toward the Impossible City, accompanied by their new friends, Crow Girl and Niamh. Their quest to find the missing Queen of Wands--who they hope can help them return to their own world--takes yet another unexpected turn when the improbable road drops them off in the Saltwise Sea. Surviving that, they wind up in the Land of Air, where wishes come true--but at a bitter price. There, the children get trapped at the court of the terrifying Queen of Swords, and must find a way to escape her enforced hospitality. There's an episodic quality to this entry, though the protagonists do make some progress in their series-spanning trek and, while the self-aware omniscient narrative voice is occasionally a little too intrusive, the story remains fascinating and provocative. It's a worthy series addition. Agent: Diana Fox, Fox Literary. (Oct.)