Friday Reads: Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries, by Heather Fawcett

I’ve read fantasy from Tolkien to Jim Butcher. But lately I’ve been reading romantasy and cozy fantasy, and Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries, isn’t either really. It combines some of the “usual tropes” in some very different ways. This curmudgeonly scholar, in an unfamiliar setting, is female. The gorgeous love interest is male, and not entirely what he seems, although totally taken with the scholar. Its set in historical time period roughly early 1900s. The Fae, low and high, are both more dangerous, exotic, earthy, than usually portrayed. Definitely with agendas that don’t remotely line up with human agendas or logic. Not to mention, the setting. Its set on an island far north of England, in winter with Scandinavian type inhabitants.

Emily Wilde researches the Fae, both the folklore, and the actual, dangerous entities. She’s a Cambridge professor of Dryodology—The Fae/Faery. She’s introverted, and by a guess, Neurodivergent, far more comfortable with reading books, interacting with her dog, Shadow, and the dangerous Fae she has met, than with human beings, no matter where she meets them. Her hair is dark, always escaping whatever confinement it is put into. She cares nothing about her clothes, as long as she is covered.

Wendell Bambleby is a colleague of hers who has gotten into some scholarly hot water in his last expedition. And is smitten with Emily. So, he follows Emily to Hrafnsvik, Ljosland, to see if he can, um, aid with her research for the encyclopedia. He is tall, gorgeous, charismatic, Dressed to perfection even in the North, every hair in place, with a faint Irish accent. He’s Emily’s friend, and her only friend, although she thinks of him as a rival.

The journal entries do help give a sense of place, not only of the village, her cottage, but the terrain, which is steep, rocky, mountainous, with wetlands. It also gives a clear insight into how her mind works, which is methodical. And it would have remained dry, and descriptive, except that she has to interact with the villagers. Not only are they human, they have a few stressing things going on, and are trying to understand her. Unfortunately, they don’t. Things get difficult for city born Emily—sheep are let into the cottage and destroy provisions while she’s out. At the same time Wendell arrives, with his two graduate students. They set about tidying up the cabin, eventually working out the difficulties with villagers. Emily and Wendell learn that children and young people have been kidnapped from the local villages very regularly, and returned mindless or dead, or not at all, by the local High Fae. They learn this may be because the former High King of Winter has been imprisoned in a tree, and his queen murdered, and his vengeful ex-wife has taken the throne.

While Emily Wilde’s Encyclopedia of Faeries is a fun read, and generated a lot of snickering, both over Emily’s asides, and the banter between Emily and Wendell. I enjoyed it, especially after having gone through several cozy fantasy books, this was worth reading twice. The Booklist review stated: “The full cast of characters, well-developed faerie lore, and pervasive sense of cold add depth to the delightful proceedings, which include scholarship, yes, but also danger and a hint of romance.”—Booklist (starred review).

Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries, by Heather Fawcett, 2023, Del Rey, 9780593724729, Trade paperback. Rest of the series, Emily Wilde’s Map of the Otherlands, and Emily Wilde’s Compendium of Lost Tales.