Dennis Mahoney’s previous novel was Fellow Mortals (2013), the tale of a small community struggling to recover from a fire. Bell Weather is a significant departure, an adventure fantasy set in a strange world not quite our own, where a mysterious young woman, rescued from a flooded river, is brought to an isolated settlement where dark forces terrorize the surrounding woods. Katherine Dunn (Geek Love) says, “The time is far off, the place is charming strange, and this is rollicking, jaw-clenching adventure.” And Kirkus Reviews gives it a rave, saying:

A young woman’s past catches up with her in a magic, recently colonized new world in this historical fantasy… The real strength of this novel is its stunning worldbuilding, which merges the aesthetic of the Colonial Americas with Márquez-style magical realism.

This one sounds hard to qualify… but if you enjoy historical fantasy, magic realism, or adventure fantasy, Bell Weather definitely sounds worth a shot.

Bell Weather was published by St. Martin’s Griffin on August 9, 2016. It is 384 pages, priced at $15.99 in trade paperback, or $9.99 for the digital version. The cover was designed by Willco (click the images above for bigger versions).