At OwlCrate, we work with fantastic authors whose books we feature as special or limited editions. The books featured in our monthly boxes are always new releases from a range of diverse authors.
This article is a spotlight on Alix E. Harrow, the author behind the book in our October 2023 Adult Fantasy box. Read on to find out more about her!
Alix E. Harrow’s Bio
New York Times bestselling author Alix E. Harrow (She/Her), who also publishes under the pen name Alix Heintzman, is an American author born in Kentucky and currently resides in Virginia with her husband and children. Her work has been nominated for many awards, including the World Fantasy Award and the Hugo Award. She has written novels across fantasy, science fiction, and speculative fiction genres since 2014.
In 2021, she won the British Fantasy Award for Best Fantasy Novel for her book The Once and Future Witches. Her debut novel, The Ten Thousand Doors of January, was published in 2019, but she had written and published many short stories prior to this. Beyond writing, Harrow is passionate about history and has worked as an academic historian.
Alix E. Harrow’s Books
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To date, Alix E. Harrow has written three novels, a two-novella series called Fractured Fables, and a range of short stories. Her books and stories range from YA fantasy to adult fantasy, and science fiction.
Ten Thousand Doors of January
Her debut novel, The Ten Thousand Doors of January, was nominated for the Goodreads Choice Awards for Best Debut Novel in 2019. This YA historical fiction novel is full of magic and adventure.
This book follows January Scaller, a ward in a mansion full of treasures. After finding a book that talks about love and adventure, she discovers that different worlds can be accessed through secret doors, and soon she begins to find out new truths about the world.
The Once and Future Witches
The Once and Future Witches, published in 2020, takes place in a world where people have forgotten about the existence of witchcraft. Now, in 1893 New Salem, women fight for suffrage, and when the Eastwood sisters— James Juniper, Agnes Amaranth, and Beatrice Belladonna — join the movement, they introduce the use of witchcraft to change history.
However, things take a turn for the worse when they begin to be hunted by forces, which become a threat not only to their lives but to the future of the women's movement.
Fractured Fables
Both A Spindle Splintered (published in 2021) and A Mirror Mended (published in 2022) are award-nominated illustrated YA fantasy novellas that make up the Fractured Fables series. This series is made up of queer and feminist-focused retellings of "Sleeping Beauty" and "Snow White."
A Spindle Splintered follows Zinnia, a terminally ill young woman who loves Sleeping Beauty so much that for her 21st birthday, her friend puts together a Sleeping Beauty-themed party. During the party, Zinnia pricks her finger on a spindle and finds herself in the fairy tale where she meets Primrose, a princess cursed to fall into a century-long sleep, and together, they search for the fairy who placed the curse so they can find out why she did it.
In A Mirror Mended, Zinnia finds herself in the world of Snow White! After coming across an unhappy Evil Queen, they use a magic mirror to travel through different versions of Snow White's story, searching for a better ending.
OwlCrate Edition of Starling House
Starling House by Alix E. Harrow was our October 2023 ‘The Monsters Among Us’ adult fantasy book choice. This book is equal parts horror, romance, and mystery.
This book is set in the small town of Eden, Kentucky, where Arthur Starling resides in the Starling House, an uncanny mansion that was home to a nineteenth-century author and illustrator, E. Starling, who was known for writing The Underland before she disappeared.
In search of a way to help her brother leave the town, Opal takes a job at Starling House, despite people warning her against it. Soon she finds herself entangled with the owner, and Starling House begins to feel like home.
When sinister forces appear, Opal and Arthur confront their fears and try to figure out the secrets of the past to save Eden from being taken over by nightmares.
Features for this OwlCrate Edition:
- Exclusive cover designed by @rosdottir
- Digital author signature on tip-in page designed by @divineliterary
- Reversible jacket illustrated by @spookgeist
- Foil hardcover case designs by @divineliterary
- Foiled end pages illustrated by @anta_arf
- Author letter bound into the book
- Bonus content bound into the book
- Ribbon bookmark
- Sprayed edges
“They averted their eyes from evil, and in doing so, became complicit in it.” ― Alix E. Harrow, Starling House
