Author Melina Marchetta has announced the release of a companion short story to her fantasy trilogy, The Lumatere Chronicles, which will be available for purchase next week.
Ferragost – A Lady Celie of the Flatlands mystery, will be released on August 7 through the Review of Australian Fiction, an online Australian literary magazine. The 15,000-word short story will appear in Volume 4, Issue 1, and will retail for AUD$2.99.
Synopsis:
Lady Celie of the Lumateran Flatlands is visiting the Belegonian spring castle on the isle of Ferragost. Cut off from the rest of Belegonia by poor weather, she is confined to the island with four others, including the mysterious castellan of the castle. When the body of one of the guests is discovered on the rocks outside the east tower, Celie is not only considered a suspect, but finds herself embroiled in events that are entwined with her own kingdom’s cursed history, as well as the future of the entire land of Skuldenore.
An extract can be read on Marchetta’s website.
Ferragost will not feature major spoilers from either of the first two books in the trilogy, Finnikin of the Rock and Froi of the Exiles. Marchetta says “the events of Ferragost, however, are happening at the same time as in Quintana so you’ll understand the role Celie plays in the bigger picture when Quintana of Charyn is released.”
Quintana of Charyn, the final book in the trilogy, will be released in Australia on September 26 2012, and is set for an American release in March 2013.