Ledge

McEwan debuts and launches her Glacian Trilogy series with a gritty fantasy of betrayal and vengeance set against a clever bit of worldbuilding. In a human village controlled by the winged Glacians and trapped on a sliver of land between an unclimbable cliff and a bottomless chasm, Dawsyn Sabar struggles to hold onto her family’s tiny allotment and to grab her share of supplies when they are dropped onto the Ledge by the Glacians, who often “cull” their human herd. When Dawsyn herself is selected, the Glacians give her a choice: allow them to mystically steal her soul, turning her docile, or retain her personhood and allow them to hunt her for sport. She chooses the later. With the aid of rebel half-human Ryon, she escapes the Glacian’s mountain prison and discovers the secrets behind the exile that put her village at the mercy of the Glacians in the first place. McEwan follows a well-worn “slap/kiss” path as Dawsyn and Ryon grow closer, but she stokes the flames of Dawsyn’s anger nicely and holds focus on the thirst for revenge and the bitterness of betrayal, right to the cliffhanger ending. Readers looking for a bloody Kill Bill fairy tale (and not a “Beauty and the Beast” charmer) will be more than satisfied. Agent: Amy Collins, Talcott Notch Literary. (July)