Ormeshadow

A young man and his parents must relocate to the family farm in a desolate land home to a sleeping dragon in this coming-of-age fantasy.Winner of the 2019 Shirley Jackson Novella AwardWinner of the 2020 BFS AwardAcclaimed author Priya Sharma transports readers back in time with Ormeshadow, a coming-of-age story as dark and rich as good soil. Burning with resentment and intrigue, this fantastical family drama invites readers to dig up the secrets of the Belman family, and wonder whether myths and legends are real enough to answer for a history of sin.Uprooted from Bath by his father’s failures, Gideon Belman finds himself stranded on Ormeshadow Farm, an ancient place of chalk and ash and shadow. The land crests the Orme, a buried, sleeping dragon that dreams resentment, jealousy, estrangement, death. Or so the folklore says. Growing up in a house that hates him, Gideon finds his only comforts in the land. Gideon will live or die by the Orme, as all his family has.Praise for Ormeshadow“A welcome, complex road.” —Josh Malerman, author of Bird Box“A gorgeous fantasy in the tradition of Ursula K. Le Guin’s Earthsea books, grounded in emotional honesty and agrarian realism. . . . Orneshadow shows us exactly why Priya Sharma is one of the most exciting new writers in the field.” —Nathan Ballingrud“If you like graceful writing in your fantasy fiction, depth off character, and a connection to real-life issues, this is a perfect read.” —Jeffrey Ford“Sharma’s . . . combination of dragons and sorrow set against a brutal country backdrop separates itself from the pack with a combination of solid writing and original mythology.” —Kirkus Reviews

Aurealis Magazine

"This novella reads like something torn out of the pages of Charles Dickens or Thomas Hardy―a dark coming-of-age saga set in the pastoral, pre-modern English countryside."

Jeffrey Ford

"I love the structure of Ormeshadow―each chapter a kind of story unto itself and yet all flowing smoothly together. If you like graceful writing in your fantasy fiction, depth of character, and a connection to real life issues, this is a perfect read."

Tade Thompson

"This is exactly the kind of book that I enjoy. The skillful creation of atmosphere, the touching and painful interaction of characters, the sense of creeping dread, and the sheer beauty and skillfulness of Sharma's prose prove what I thought when I read her short stories: that she is one of the most powerful writers of fantastical fiction working today. The complexity of Ormeshadow's narrative is underscored by Sharma's use of THE telling detail, but not much else. This is a fully-realised world populated with living, breathing characters whose emotions positively seethe."

About the Author

Née en 1971, Priya Sharma grandit dans le Cheshire. Médecin généraliste, elle débute sa carrière littéraire à l'aube des années 2000, publiant ses premières nouvelles dans divers supports, revues et anthologies, d'Interzone à Tor.com. Son premier recueil, All the Fabulous Beasts, a été salué par le prix Shirley Jackson - tout comme Ormeshadow, sa première traduction en langue française.

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