Earthcast, by Lydia West

[hebethen]

Since it came up when I was thinking up in_a_peartree recs over the holiday, I'd like to take a moment this #fffriday to more broadly rec a lesser-known favorite of mine, Lydia West's web serial Earthcast. It's a dark fantasy saga that digs into history, folklore, and horror -- not to mention the intersection of all three -- as its deuteragonists plumb the depths of the forest and strive against strictures both literal and metaphorical. Dry humor and wry ripostes abound, but it definitely makes our heroines, a contemplative golem and a sharp, trauma-hardened strigoi, Earn Their Happy Ending.

“That heart is broken,” said the Treewitch, succinctly. “My apologies. I should have looked for a fresher one.”

You might like Earthcast if you:

• like explorations of identity and personhood
• enjoyed Uprooted but wished it were queer
• are looking for a hefty doorstopper to wind your way through, getting deeper and deeper and more lost by the hour

My original thoughts-post can be found here.