Legendary Beings: Spectacular Water Spirits

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Legendary Beings is a series in which I'll talk about beings from folklore, mythology and legends that I haven't read about yet, and the books I discover that feature them.

This time, I'm looking at specific stories of water spirits/nymphs or similar. Regular readers will know I'm a huge fan of The Little Mermaid by Hans Christian Andersen, and all of the following creatures/characters I discovered through reading Hans Christian Andersen's The Little Mermaid: From Fairy-tale to National Monument by Christopher Bo Bramsen, which I bought when in Copenhagen, Denmark last year. They are all so fascinating, and I loved reading the little we're told about them in the book, but would absolutely love to read retellings of these these legends/folktales/stories.

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Once Upon a Retelling: The Boneless Mercies by April Genevieve Tucholke

Welcome to Once Upon a Retelling! I'm a huge fan of retellings, and I'm really interested in hearing about authors' own love of the original stories, and what inspired them to retell those stories. And so Once Upon a Retelling was born, a feature in which I interview authors about their versions of well-loved tales.

Today, I'm really excited to have April Genevieve Tucholke stopping by the blog to discuss her retelling of Beowulf, The Boneless Mercies.

Can you tell us a little about The Boneless Mercies? What kind of a retelling of Beowulf is it?

The Boneless Mercies is a reimagining of Beowulf, with four female warriors taking the place of the one male main character of Beowulf. It is a book about death-traders--female mercenaries who are doomed to roam Vorseland killing the old or the sick. Frey and her band of Mercies dream of a bigger life...so when Frey hears that a beast is slaughtering people in a northern jarldom, she decides that killing it is the Mercies’ one chance at fame and fortune.

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Mini Review: A Girl Called Owl by Amy Wilson

A Girl Called Owl by Amy Wilson (eProof) - It's bad enough having a mum dippy enough to name you Owl, but when you've got a dad you've never met, a best friend who needs you more than ever, and a new boy at school giving you weird looks, there's not a lot of room for much else.

So when Owl starts seeing strange frost patterns on her skin, she's tempted to just burrow down under the duvet and forget all about it. Could her strange new powers be linked to her mysterious father? And what will happen when she enters the magical world of winter for the first time? From Goodreads.

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