Routley, Jane
Australian fantasy novelist Jane Routley has won the Aurealis Award for Best Fantasy Novel twice – for Aramaya and Fire Angels. Her story “To Avalon” was nominated for a both an Aurealis and Ditmar Award.
Jane’s new novel, Shadow in the Empire of Light, is Fantasy meets Chick Lit, with a touch of Steampunk. Shine, the heroine of the novel is an orphan without magical gifts in a powerful family of mages. She is stuck in the country managing the family estates with only an eccentric aunt and a telepathic cat for company. The Family are descending on the house for the annual Fertility Festival. While helping one cousin find a compromising letter and rescuing another male cousin from an unwelcome alliance, Shine stumbles on a murderous plot to depose the current Family Matriarch and a smuggling ring that puts her life in danger. Soon she is forced to run for her life through an enchanted forest full of magic and wild cats. It’s the first in a three-book series, and will be published in ebook by Solaris in August 2020 , with the print version following in January 2021.