Ksenia Anske

The Badlings by Ksenia Anskeis a young adult horror/fantasy story. Anske was born in Moscow, Russia, and came to the US in 1998. She is the author of dark fantasy short fiction and 7 novels, and the winner of Amtrak Residency Program 2015. I was lucky enough to meet the author at the Dallas stop in her Amtrak Residency.

Back in the early 1970s when Saturday Morning cartoons were still a thing, there was a live action show called Lidsville by Sid and Marty Kroft. The storyline is about a boy, Mark, who falls into a magicians hat and ends up in a land of living hats. A very weird show for kids from the creators of H.R. Pufnstuf (It's rumored that the H.R. stood for Hand Rolled if that offers a hint). I nearly forgot about that show until I started The Badlings.

Belladonna wants to be a scientist much against her mother's wishes for her daughter to follow in her footsteps as a opera singer. Belladonna prefers Bells as a nickname and keeps an analytical mind. She and her three male friends Rusty, Grand, and Peacock find themselves pulled into an adventure. After meeting at the duck pond, Bells finds a book half buried, digs it up, and flings it at some nearby duck as stress relief from an argument with her mother. However, like Mark in Lidsville, Bells and her friends find themselves pulled into a world they could never imagine. Well, actually, they could imagine because it's a world of books they started but did not finish.

Anske writes intriguing fantasy and horror fiction. The stories, for the most part, seem to be for the young adult crowd with teen characters. These stories, however, can also be enjoyed by adults. Although there is an air horror in portions of the story, it is not something that is graphic or intense but a good old-fashioned scare. For those, parents and others, worried about language or adult situations, there are none. A well told and well thought out story for fans of fantasy of all ages.… (meer)