12 new science fiction and fantasy releases to get chills with this October
By Lacy Baugher
October 2021 release: A Spindle Splintered – Alix E. Harrow
A Spindle Splintered is a dark Sleeping Beauty reimagining from the bestselling author of The Thousand Doors of January and The Once and Future Witches. And while it may be a novella, its story still packs an outsize punch.
The book follows Zinnia Gray, a young woman with a disturbing condition that means she’s fated to die when she’s twenty-one. To celebrate what will be her last birthday, her friends set up a special Sleeping Beauty-themed party with all the important trappings, including a spinning wheel. But when she pricks her finger, something unexpected occurs.
Turns out she’s not the only young woman trying to change the ending of her story. And if they’ve found their way to one another across time and different worlds, perhaps together they’ll be able to do just that.
The official synopsis describes the story as follows.
"It’s Zinnia Gray’s twenty-first birthday, which is extra-special because it’s the last birthday she’ll ever have. When she was young, an industrial accident left Zinnia with a rare condition. Not much is known about her illness, just that no one has lived past twenty-one. Her best friend Charm is intent on making Zinnia’s last birthday special with a full sleeping beauty experience, complete with a tower and a spinning wheel. But when Zinnia pricks her finger, something strange and unexpected happens, and she finds herself falling through worlds, with another sleeping beauty, just as desperate to escape her fate."
A Spindle Splintered is available on October 5.