SFFWORLD Exclusive Extract: The Lord of Stariel by A.J. Lancaster

We are pleased to offer you another exclusive extract – this time from The Lord of Stariel by A J Lancaster, which is out next week in hardback!

The Lord of Stariel is the first book in the Stariel Quartet, a romantic cozy fantasy series about fae, magical estates and complicated families.

From the publisher: “The Lord is dead. His grand estate is sentient. And enemy Fae are knocking at the door.

Welcome to Stariel: where the land chooses its master, and the family is far more magical than they let on.

Everyone knows who the magical estate will choose for its next ruler. Or do they?
Will it be the lord’s eldest son, who he despised?
His favourite nephew, with the strongest magical land-sense?
His scandalous daughter, who ran away from home years ago to study illusion?

Hetta knows it won’t be her, and she’s glad of it. Returning home for her father’s funeral, all Hetta has to do is survive the family drama and avoid entanglements with irritatingly attractive local men until the Choosing. Then she can leave.

But whoever Stariel chooses will have bigger problems than eccentric relatives to handle. Winged, beautifully deadly problems. For the first time in centuries, the fae are returning to the Mortal Realm, and only the Lord of Stariel can keep the estate safe.”

A. J. Lancaster grew up on a farm in rural Aotearoa New Zealand, and her first job was finding lost people in a corn maze. Since leaving the farm, A. J.’s activities have included a geography degree, environmental planning and editing maths exams. Now, she lives in the Manawatu and writes romantic, whimsical fantasy books while investigating how many plants you can fit in one house. Results so far suggest that the limit does not exist. In 2021, A. J. Lancaster received the Sir Julius Vogel Award for Best New Talent, New Zealand’s preeminent awards for science fiction, fantasy and horror. She is best known for the Stariel novels, a series about a country estate that chooses its own ruler, beginning with The Lord of Stariel.

Like what you read?

Here’s our exclusive extract for you: The Lord of Stariel Ch2

Thank you to Chloe @PanMacmillan for helping us sort this one out.