Saturnalia

Doors open at 7. The sacrifice is at 9. The dress code is, as usual, black tie.

It's the winter solstice in a Philadelphia that has been eroded by extreme weather, economic collapse, and disease-carrying mosquitoes. The Saturnalia carnival is about to begin, an evening on which reality is suspended, and troubles forgotten.

For tarot reader Nina, Saturnalia is simply a cruel reminder of the night that changed everything for her - the night she walked away from the elite Saturn Club, with its genteel debauchery, arcane pecking order, and winking interest in alchemy and the occult.

But when she gets a chance call from Max, her last remaining friend from the Saturn Club, Nina will put on a dress of blackest black and attend the Club's wild solstice masquerade, the biggest party of the year, on a mysterious errand she can't refuse.

Before the night is over, she will become the custodian of a horrifying secret - and prey to a mysterious hunter.

'A heady mix of the most terrifying elements of our troubled past and inevitable future; an eerie, propulsive novel' - Carmen Maria Machado

'What a stunner of a book! I couldn't put it down! If an elegy was a song of hope, it might be this book, and it's haunted me in all the best ways since I finished it' - Hazel Beck, author of Small Town, Big Magic

'Tense and suspenseful, Saturnalia features strong world-building and a fully realized heroine...It will appeal to fans of Leigh Bardugo's Ninth House, while the book may also draw in readers of climate horror such as Omar El Akkad's American War or Jeff VanderMeer's Southern Reach trilogy' - Booklist

'A twisted, ethereal dispatch from a climate change point of no return...It exposes the dark sides of glamour and the blind spots of dark magic...A piquant, eerie, and alarming tale' - Foreword, starred review

'The story features moments of bizarre, distressing cruelty and occasional gore, but it's grounded in themes of belonging, friendship, and the potential costs of ambition. Feldman brings impressive richness and depth to both Nina's emotional evolution and the masterful worldbuilding. This is sure to win the author many fans' - Publishers Weekly

'Bewitching...The novel's pacing is electric, its world-building seamless, and the magic that slowly reveals itself feels truly strange and captivating - a considerable feat. A propulsive fantasy thriller about fortune-seeking at the end of the world that will leave you wanting more' - Kirkus Reviews

An unusual blend of thriller, alchemical fantasy and climate apocalypse, it's a wild, entertaining ride Guardian
Part horror, part dystopia, part magical realism and part social commentary, Saturnalia defies genre, but it is dark, disturbing and totally perfect for a winter read. I'd defy anyone not to be intrigued. You might not like it. You might be terrified by it. You might love it, but you won't be indifferent to it My Weekly
October demands that gothic, autumnal read and Saturnalia is it... This has it all: magic, mystery, a fierce female protagonist, and a fast paced plot that will keep you turning the pages Glamour (Best New Books for October 2023)
A propulsive mystery-thriller, with Nina pursued by both a creepy man-shaped critter and her own past, but also a portrait of a terrified city slowly losing its collective mind. Future Philly falls somewhere between steampunk and cyberpunk - baroque, pungent, stratified, crumbling - and Feldman gives its plight considerable emotional charge by making it feel real and lived-in. Like her home, Nina is broken and bitter - but not without humanity and hope SFX Magazine (SFX LOVES, 5 STAR REVIEW)
'An intoxifying mix of genres... you enter Saturnalia feeling like it is a Bacchanalia dreamscape and exit in a similar fashion' SFBook Reviews

Stephanie Feldman is the author of the debut novel The Angel of Losses, a Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers selection, winner of the Crawford Fantasy Award, and finalist for the Mythopoeic Award. She is co-editor of the multi-genre anthology Who Will Speak for America? and her stories and essays have appeared in Asimov's Science Fiction, Catapult Magazine, Electric Literature, The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, The Rumpus, and Vol. 1 Brooklyn. She lives outside Philadelphia with her family.

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