11 exciting SFF book releases to kick off your New Year right this January
By Lacy Baugher
Into the Heartless Wood – Joanna Ruth Meyer
The latest novel from the author of Beyond the Shadowed Earth, Into the Heartless Wood is a dark fantasy centered around an impossible love story between a monstrous tree siren and the boy that lives at the edge of her wood.
The story follows Owen Merrick, a young man who keeps star charts for the king and does his best to raise his sister on the outskirts of a dangerous forest. In it lives a mysterious power known as the Gwydden, who has turned eight birch trees into her human-like siren daughters and uses them to kill and steal souls from humans.
When Owen is lured into the dangerous would, one of the tree siren girls, Seren, saves his life instead of taking it. And as their relationship deepens, she more than ever longs to be human. But is that possible in a world where war is looming closer between their kind?
The official synopsis describes the story as follows.
"The forest is a dangerous place, where siren song lures men and women to their deaths. For centuries, a witch has harvested souls to feed the heartless tree, using its power to grow her domain. When Owen Merrick is lured into the witch’s wood, one of her tree-siren daughters, Seren, saves his life instead of ending it. Every night, he climbs over the garden wall to see her, and every night her longing to become human deepens. But a shift in the stars foretells a dangerous curse, and Seren’s quest to become human will lead them into an ancient war raging between the witch and the king who is trying to stop her."
Into the Heartless Wood is available on January 12.