Catherine Webb is an extraordinary young writer. Under her own name she’s published several popular YA novels, including four novels in the Carnegie Medal-nominated Horatio Lyle mystery series, featuring a scientist and occasional sleuth in Victorian London. She writes science fiction under the name Claire North, including the Campbell Award-winning The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August (2014) and the World Fantasy Award nominee The Sudden Appearance of Hope (2016), among many others. And under the name Kate Griffin she writes fantasy for adults.

It’s her Kate Griffin novels that interest me most — especially her Magicals Anonymous novels about an apprentice shaman (and Community Support Officer for the Magically Inclined) in London. SciFi Now said the opening volume Stray Souls (2012) “Flawlessly balances horror and humor to… pull off a funny yet frightening read about the supernatural-induced demise of London.”

So far there has only been one sequel, The Glass God (2013), but I’m hopeful there will be more. Here’s the descriptions for both novels.

For Stray Souls.

LONDON’S SOUL IS MISSING

When Sharon Li unexpectedly discovers she’s a shaman, it’s not a moment too soon: London’s soul is lost. Using her newfound oneness with the City, she sets about saving London from inevitable demise, but the problem is she has no clue where to start. Meanwhile, a mysterious gate has opened, and there are creatures loose that won’t wait for her to catch up before they go out hunting. Now Sharon and her motley crew of magical misfits must find a way to save the world…

And for The Glass God.

Sharon Li: apprentice shaman and community support officer for the magically inclined.

It wasn’t the career Sharon had in mind, but she’s getting used to running Magicals Anonymous and learning how to Be One With The City.

When the Midnight Mayor goes missing, leaving only a suspiciously innocent-looking umbrella behind him, Sharon finds herself promoted. Her first task: find the Midnight Mayor. The only clues she has are a city dryad’s cryptic message of doom and several pairs of abandoned shoes…

Suddenly, Sharon’s job feels a whole lot harder.

Both books were published in trade paperback by Orbit. Here’s the publishing details.

Stray Souls (464 pages, $14.99 in trade paperback, $9.99 digital, October 30, 2012) — cover by he-parish.com. Read Chapter One here.
The Glass God (447 pages, $15 in trade paperback, $9.99 digital, July 9, 2013) — cover by TheHandMadePress. Read Chapter One & Two here.

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