The Fae: Foreign, Fickle and Fiendish

Books about the Fae: Foreign, Fickle and Fiendish

The Fae are not the cutesy faeries like Tinkerbell. Mostly, they are portrayed as creatures from other worlds, cold, selfish and mysterious, and with not much empathy for human plight. In fact, they care more about their grand designs and long-term aims of their people (and themselves), than for ordinary mortals. You can't blame them, they are immortal -- so even if they are fascinated by the quick burning human souls, they like their plans way better. (I am sure there are exceptions.) 

Sometimes their fascination with the human world -- and their boredom -- spurs them to steal away human children and leave their own "changelings" behind. Some people also depict them as elves, with long ears and long fingers, with a curious hypnotic charm that mortals cannot resist. They do have weaknesses, but they guard those closely -- though, perhaps their most well-known weakness is exposure to cold iron. Iron -- with the age of machines -- is their kryptonite. The Fae also have a tribute system, a "tithe" has to be paid in order for their race to survive, and that tithe has its own kinds of perils. 

In short, the Fae are foreign, fickle and fiendish. Mostly. Here's a book reclist. 

1 / Perilous Gard by Elizabeth Marie Pope

2 / Cry Wolf by Patricia Briggs

3 / An Artificial Night by Seanan McGuire

4 / The Bitterbynde Trilogy by Cecilia-Dart Thornton

5 / Sevenwaters series by Juliet Marillier

6 / Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke

7 / The Iron Fey Series by Julie Kagawa

8 / Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas

9 / Dreamfever series by Karen Marie Moning

10 / Trick by Natalia Jaster

11 / Tithe by Holly Black

12 / Lament by Maggie Stiefvater

13 / Thomas the Rhymer by Ellen Kushner

14 / Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien

15 / Goblin Moon by Teresa Edgerton

List to be updated from time to time.

Last update on: August 28, 2021