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Sarah Rees Brennan

New York Times Bestselling Author of the Demon's Lexicon Trilogy

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IN OTHER LANDS NOW OUT IN THE LAND!

August 15, 2017 by Sarah

So, IN OTHER LANDS is out today!

The book has received two starred reviews, one from Kirkus and one from Publishers’ Weekly, which is a shedload of starriness! I have already bragged on the Kirkus review on twitter, but please run your eye over this Publisher’s Weekly review!

‘Elliot Schafer is a small-for-his-age 13-year-old who is prone to being bullied—largely due to his personality, which slots somewhere between insufferable know-it-all and sarcastic jackass. When Elliot’s class travels to a “random field in Devon, England” for a supposed scholarship test, he instead winds up in a strange world known as the Borderlands, which are filled with elves, mermaids, and other creatures. So begins Brennan’s hilarious, irreverent, and multilayered coming-of-age fantasy, set over several years. Elliot quickly befriends (and falls for) Serene, a fierce elven warrior, and arranges a reluctant truce with Luke Sunborn, the son of one of the Borderland’s founding families. All three—along with every young person there—are training in war or as councilors, charged with protecting the fragile barrier with the human world. Amid shifting relationships, the threat of war, and substantial growth among the characters, Elliot’s razor-edged wit and general inability to keep his mouth shut make for blissfully entertaining reading. Smart explorations of gender stereotypes, fluid sexuality, and awkward romance only add to the depth and delight of this glittering contemporary fantasy.’

Bullied due to his personality! Inability to keep his mouth shut! I love how the reviews so far have been like: the hero is a terrible pill, but we are willing to buy this pill and take him home.

Also, here is an excerpt of the review in Locus magazine.

‘I have rewritten the first paragraph of this review a half-dozen times, trying to find some way to make clear that Sarah Rees Brennan has created a nearly perfect YA fantasy without gushing. I can’t do it. In Other Lands is brilliantly subversive, assuredly smart, and often laugh-out-loud funny. It combines a magic-world school setting with heaps of snark about everything from teen romance to gender roles, educational systems and serious world diplomacy. The protagonist, Elliot, directs his often peevish analysis and jaded perspective on everyone he meets and everything he sees, but his evolution from bratty 13-year-old to soulful 17-year-old is a thing of beauty to witness. Elliot’s transformation, along with his deepening relationships with friends Serene (Serene-Heart- in-the-Chaos-of-Battle!) and Luke, are the book’s heartbeat. As you can tell from my gushing, the characters are impossible to resist and, combined with the engaging plot, Brennan has worked a miracle with In Other Lands. Mark my words, folks; this author has written what must be considered one of the best books of the year.’

I share this with you because I share it with everyone. I am stitching it on a tapestry to hang on my wall. I note Elliot being called bratty with great delight.

I am humbled and amazed to see a book that was never meant to be a book be received so kindly. I hope not to let down my awesome publishers! I am so thankful to those of you I have heard from, who like the book so far! This is a strange and lovely experience, which I feel books should be.

And for your delectation, dear readers, I have written an essay on Tor (most delightful to have written a piece for Tor!) on wings. On some of my favourite books with winged characters. On wingfic. There’s some discussion of wingfic. Our Winged Brains.

GREAT AND TERRIBLE THINGS I HAVE WROUGHT.

Filed Under: General Blog

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Bee says

    August 16, 2017 at 8:14 pm

    Hi sarah, I just wanted to tell you your book was amazing and bisexual main characters are so rare to find and as a bisexual girl it seriously meant so much to me to have a character like Elliot. I also really love elliot and luke please tell me they live happily ever after??
    Anyways thank you for this wonderful book!

  2. Pam says

    September 12, 2017 at 3:32 pm

    I SO LOVE THIS BOOK!!!!

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The rarely seen baths and puffy coats picture! ...

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The rarely seen baths and puffy coats picture! Gellért thermal baths and its Art Nouveau decor, only one of the aquatic delights offered by Budapest. We also saw the Parlament from a trip down the Danube river. My brother & sister put up with me mentioning Jonathan and Mina Harker of #Dracula got married in Budapest, and my insisting on eating chicken paprika like Jonathan. That and soup in a bread bowl comforted me when I was made to walk 300 steps at the Basilika and even more around Buda Castle while protesting I am a potato who sits on the sofa and writes the novels. Budapest was beautiful and so was seeing it with my sibs: I will remember this trip a long time. #draculadaily #budacastle #gellertbaths #danuberiver #ststephensbasilica #hungary🇭🇺

Writing to you live from Budapest! My gorgeous ...

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Writing to you live from Budapest! My gorgeous little sister surprised me with the amazing birthday present of a city break - and our baby bro came too. This is us at Szimpla Kert, the original of Budapest’s ruin bars: repurposed dilapidated buildings, filling old places with plants and art and music. More from Budapest soon… #szimplakert #budapest #ruinbar #bettyandbiddy

With changes over on twitter, I see many people ...

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With changes over on twitter, I see many people stressing over where and how they can talk up their writing and art. It reminded me of the difficulty I’ve had talking about a project dear to me. I’d see other writers talking about their word count or their plans, and be lime green jelly that I couldn’t, because it was so dear that talking about it felt weighted, because I didn’t have any confidence after being sick, because hope and fear pin down the tongue and keys. There are always challenges when talking about art, whether they come from within or without. But I do believe one of the hardest and most necessary things is to make art with faith it will speak to people when the time comes. So I wanted to put this up here as a way to say: be hopeful, fearful and courageous with your voice. When you can. The time will come. #authorsofinstagram #writing #sarahreesbrennan #srbrennan

Well beloved fairy folk and fans, I know you got ...

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Well beloved fairy folk and fans, I know you got sad news last week and I am so sorry! I also know @straffiiginio and Rainbow do have glorious plans for much in the Winx franchise. For now, I offer signed books as a little comfort! @Soraseilyn, @dutchwinxer and @blindchannxl on Insta, and ladygeeke & subtle-skipping on tumblr, please email me sarahreesbrennan at gmail to collect your winnings. My other cat (about whom more soon!) has been guarding them for you. For myself, I feel lucky to have been part of the journey to Alfea, to write fun books with great characters and to get to know you all: you’ve been so welcoming and kind to me. Thank you and I hope we stay friends. Who knows what is to come? 💕🧚#winxclubforever #fatethewinxsaga #abigailcowen #bloompeters #winxstella

For the end of spooky season! Cancer is about ...

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For the end of spooky season! Cancer is about loss: of hair, teeth, friends… and words. For a couple years before I was diagnosed with late stage lymphoma, I watched my writing go off a cliff in terms of quality and speed - sentences turned to nonsense, and I couldn’t finish anything. It was terrifying. So was trying to come back to writing and publishing after having a traumatic time with chemo. ‘Where was she last year?’ ‘Who’s that again?’ ‘Oh, I thought you were…’ My confidence was shattered, and being approached for Sabrina was a life raft to cling to: being remembered, having fun with writing again, falling for a wild strange fantasy world. It opened the door to other worlds I was honored to be invited into, their lovely fandoms, and to courage that I could perhaps write my own books again. Here’s #chillingadventuresofsabrina and #fatethewinxsaga in Feltrinelli in Rome, and me, because fantasy opens all the escape doors. Happy All Hallows’ Day, and hope you had a great #Hallowinx and you find the doors you’re hoping for 👻🖤. #feltrinelli #romeitaly #cancersurvivor #writersofinstagram #writing #fencecomic

I see many photos where the ‘after’ shows ...

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I see many photos where the ‘after’ shows someone thinner than the ‘before.’ Here’s a different version. When I’m feeling vulnerable, I cover it with jokes. ‘Hey, at least I was skinny!’ ‘Dr: Any unexplained weight loss? Me: I wish!’ It’s safer than saying: When people were telling me I looked great, I felt lousy, scared, and sad they thought I looked better when I felt worse. Once I was in recovery people kept telling me how bad I’d looked. That doesn’t help either. We all have uncomfortable relationships with our bodies, because of society, ideas about what health is, and the fact our outside self is all most people can perceive of us! I was diagnosed late: I kept being told it was bronchitis, pneumonia, a kiwi allergy (that one was weird…), I’d be fine, I was clearly healthy. I often think about what my life, relationships and health would be like if I was diagnosed earlier, if people hadn’t assumed I was lying and secretly dieting or exercising a lot. But I get why they did: I get why I didn’t want it to be a warning sign. Weight is a weighted topic. I wish it wasn’t, for all of us. I love and find beautiful (not that my opinion matters) people of a hundred shapes and sizes, but we always have the most tangled relationship to our own bodies. The body is a vessel that carries us through our lives. If we’re happy with however that vessel looks, I think that’s awesome—but sometimes positivity is difficult. Here are 2 full-length pictures of me, during chemo and a couple years after. Honestly, I’m not happy with how I look in either. But in one, I’m trapped at home with medicines around me. In the other, I’m outside with my sister, on her wedding day. In the end, it’s about where the vessel takes you. #twweightloss #cancersurvivor #wedding #twweighttalk #milestonecountdown

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