The Lights of Prague

Jarvis debuts with a refreshing historical fantasy about class and the hunger for power. In 19th-century Prague, Domek Myska is part of the Lamplighters’ Guild, which keeps the city’s gas lamps burning—and protects citizens from supernatural predators. After killing a pijavica, the Czech cousin of the vampire, Domek discovers that the creature was carrying something unheard of: a captive will-o’-the-wisp. Hoping to make a name for himself in the Lamplighter’s Guild, he pursues the mystery of the wisp’s origins—and befriends the scene-stealing wisp along the way. Meanwhile, Lady Ora Fischerová, a wealthy, glamorous pijavica who has forsworn human blood, investigates rumors that some pijavica are developing a cure for their sunlight allergy. Jarvis’s Prague is steeped in history and shadows, mourning its recent fall from power and teetering on the edge of modernity, and her wearily well-intentioned characters feel like old friends. Domek and Ora are delightfully sensible, even as they are sucked into byzantine conspiracies. The action-packed plot sometimes requires them to make nonsensical decisions, but readers will be too entertained to mind. Fantasy fans will gobble up this moody, philosophical adventure. (Sept.)