Deep Blue Dark
Two hundred years ago, in a last-ditch effort to escape extinction, the royal fae courts and their unusual subjects set sail across the Atlantic to establish a new home outside of human reach. But their protective magics are slowly eroding after centuries of climate change and human globalization.
When elite swimmer Hanna Frank—who’s on track to be the next Olympic star—finds a magical stone on the beach, she accidentally triggers a freak tsunami and is swept out to sea. Hanna survives the storm only to find herself trapped in the Otherworld: the hidden realm of creatures long believed to be myths and fairy tales. Hanna’s rescued by Merrick, a disgruntled selkie who tells her there’s no getting past the magical barrier she just smashed through.
With no way home, Hanna embarks on a journey to beg help from the royal fae who created the barrier. But Hanna’s arrival draws unwanted interest from the island’s inhabitants. Swept up in a world of fairy pleasures and trickeries, of political schemes and danger in every shadow, Hanna risks being trapped in the Otherworld for good. With the help of her ragtag group of magical friends, Hanna must stop a vengeful fae queen from declaring war and survive the dark perils of the ocean to find her own way home again.
DEEP BLUE DARK is the second novel from Grace Dunn.
Excerpt:
Deep within the wilds of Northern England, at the heart of the old forest, the earth lay ravaged. Gashes of red clay bled out where metal claws raked through once-lush meadow beds. Surrounding trees were splintered or torn away entirely, delicate roots exposed.
In the center of the clearing stood crude rock and stone, stacked into menacing shapes and punctured by shafts of poisonous iron. Men swarmed this clearing, shouting at each other as they continued their destruction. Their voices rang out with each metallic clang of the hammer and anvil, disturbing the deep silence of the forest. Coal-black smoke billowed up from each work station like thunderclouds looming across the skies.
But inside of the forest, at the fringe of those remaining trees, a Queen stood amongst her weeping subjects.
Stats:
Word Count: 103,000
Genre: Fantasy