Emily Wilde's Encyclopedia of Faeries

Emily Wilde's Encyclopedia of Faeries
by Heather Fawcett
Recommended Ages: 14+

In the wee years of the 20th century, Emily Wilde, Ph.D., etc. is a professor of dryadology at Cambridge University, still awaiting tenure, but full of ambition and scientific curiosity. Her aims are modest enough: to collect evidence of the existence of fairies – excuse me; faeries – into a comprehensive tome, and bring world folklore onto a scientific footing. To that end, she travels to the remote, Nordic island of Ljosland (I'm sure you've heard of it) to beard the Hidden Ones in their den.

But a perilous outing it proves to be! First, she receives the undesired assistance of a fellow professor whose academic bona fides aren't equal to his charm. Second, she struggles to ingratiate herself to the local villagers. Third, there are the fair folk themselves: capricious, cruel and breathtakingly dangerous, from a changeling who brings misery to his supposed parents to a vicious Winter King whose subjects betrayed him and sealed him up inside a tree. And in between, more and more young villagers are being taken by the faeries, some of them coming home hollowed out. A nasty business all around.

Emily is a prickly heroine, but an honest one: openly admitting her own character flaws, including her cold-blooded curiosity in the face of the villagers' very personal hurts and dangers. But she has the perfect sounding board in Wendell Bambleby, a perhaps rival scholar who proves to be both less and oh, so much more than he appears to be. She also enjoys the company of a dog whose Grim nature is well concealed (alert Harry Potter fans may spot some other Care of Magical Creatures subjects as well).

I'll put out an Adult Content Advisory in consideration of Christian families, who may not find the book's lesbian romance (involving two supporting characters) particularly heartwarming, and of course an Occult Content Advisory because, like, magic, dude. The Hidden Ones of Ljosland could easily be mistaken for the animating spirits of nature and the environment, especially viewed out of the corner of your eye. Having salt in your pockets, or an old coin in the palm of your hand, seems to be a good idea when you venture into the highlands above Hrafnsvik, rather as though one were dealing with djinni or demons. And as pretty as the Tall Ones are, they have a mean streak that'll chill you to the bone.

This is the first book of a trilogy and, you bet, I've already picked up Book 2: Emily Wilde's Map of the Otherlands. Book 3 is Emily Wilde's Compendium of Lost Tales. Canadian author Fawcett has also put out the novels Even the Darkest Stars and its sequel, All the Wandering Light, as well as such titles as Ember and the Ice Dragons, The Language of Ghosts, The Grace of Wild Things, The Islands of Elsewhere and A Galaxy of Whales; a further title, Agnes Aubert's Mystical Cat Shelter, is due out in February 2026.