The west passage / Jared Pechaček.

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

THE LADIES REIGN. THE PALACE ROTS. THE BEAST RISES.

" The West Passage is a dangerous book of secrets." --Travis Baldree, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Legends & Lattes

"A weird and wonderful tale, rich with imagination and utterly unique." --Sunyi Dean, author of The Book Eaters

"One of the finest fantasies of this decade, a sweeping swarm of fiercely human creativity." --Indrapramit Das, author of The Devourers

When the Guardian of the West Passage died in her bed, the women of Grey Tower fed her to the crows and went back to their chores. No successor was named as Guardian, no one took up the fallen blade; the West Passage went unguarded.

Now, snow blankets Grey in the height of summer, foretelling the coming of the Beast. The too-young Mother of Grey House and the Guardian's unnamed squire set out to save their people.

Their narrow shoulders bear a heavy burden. Before them lies the West Passage, home to horrors and delights that defy imagining. None can say if they'll reach their destinations, but one thing is for sure: the world is about to change.

Reviews provided by Syndetics

Library Journal Review

DEBUT Stories are dangerous. They can impart strength, guidance, and belief, but as stories pile upon stories, they can degrade understanding of the past and hide vital knowledge. They can bind people together, but they can also isolate them. In the five-towered sliver of Pechaček's world, everything, not just stories, is in a state of decay. Buildings are falling apart, lineages have vanished, crop yields are sparse, and magic is diminished. Even when omens of a great Beast appear, competing stories keep Kew and Pell, Pechaček's teenage protagonists, apart, though they've lived in the same Grey Tower for years. They embark on their own quests, giving readers a thorough tour of their surreal world. While there is urgency to save their home, events happen in fairy-tale time--just when they should--allowing side adventures that deepen the protagonists' understanding of the world. Pechaček (a host of the Tolkien podcast By-the-Bywater) is unafraid to mix sweet whimsy with horror, which keeps readers' tension high as they're immersed in this fearsomely lovely realm. VERDICT This fascinating debut nestles in the intersection between T. Kingfisher's whimsicality and Premee Mohamed's far-too-local old gods.--Matthew Galloway

Publishers Weekly Review

In this overwrought debut, visual artist Pechaček crafts a medieval fantasy with shades of Alice in Wonderland and The Tombs of Atuan. Pell is an apprentice from the Black Tower, whose wimple-wearing women attend all births and deaths in a strange, four-cornered land ruled by ancient houses. When the guardian of the West Passage dies in her sleep, Pell steals a book from her room, triggering a sudden, endless Winter. As crops fail and serfs starve, she embarks on a quest to repair her misdeed. Meanwhile, young Kew, who was the guardian's next-in-line but was never officially appointed, sets out on a parallel quest to warn the great houses that the mythical Beast is planning a return through the unguarded passage. The narrative alternates between Kew's and Pell's adventures, including encounters with bizarre creatures (such as an owl schoolmaster who keeps awkwardly laying eggs) and the giant, ancient ladies of the houses whose old vendettas form fault lines in the land's jagged history. Pechacek uses broad brushstrokes to paint a world in decay. Though he provides plenty of asides explaining the complex lore, the worldbuilding gets in the way of plot and character development, leaving the protagonists feeling thin despite some quirky Canterbury naturalism. Through all the clutter, it's hard to connect to the story. (July)

Booklist Review

There is a castle comprised of four towers. Though physically connected, the spaces between the towers span the distance of a city and communication between them has lapsed, creating distinct, independent entities. Each tower is ruled by a grand Lady, and each citizen works only to serve their Lady. Grey Tower is tasked with guarding the West Passage, and its population awaits the arrival of a new Lady after many years without. Kew is training as apprentice guardian, the one who will stand guard at the gate and fight any monsters who seek entrance from beyond. When the guardian dies before naming Kew as successor, there is no one to take over this role. With no guardian and no Lady to protect the Grey Tower--or the castle itself--Kew must venture out to appeal to the Ladies of the other Towers in hopes that they can help him fight the beast demanding entrance. Pechaček's fantastical world building and mind-blowing mythos will entice the reader into a high-fantasy world of giant ladies, monsters, bee husbandry, and a knight's quest. Certain to entice fans of Neil Gaiman, Erin Morgenstern, and Stuart Turton, The West Passage is a spellbinding debut that cannot be missed.

Kirkus Book Review

Two hero(ine)s journey through a vast, crumbling palace that houses a surrealistic, decaying civilization. Kew serves as apprentice to Hawthorn, the elderly Guardian of the West Passage. When Hawthorn dies, she tells Kew to warn Black Tower that the Beast will rise again, but she unfortunately fails to officially name him her successor, despite the fact that the Beast must be confronted by the Guardian. Kew therefore must leave Grey Tower and deliver the message to Black Tower, hoping that in return he will be named the next Hawthorn. The Beast's slow emergence brings on a dangerously early winter; perhaps Black Tower could give the wheel of seasons a turn? Hoping to save the struggling people of Grey and to recover Hawthorn's funeral mask (which Kew has taken), young Mother Yarrow of Grey House sets off in ineffectual pursuit. These two have separate adventures wandering through the crumbling, nearly uninhabited areas of the palace, where the remaining people engage in meaningless ritual: trying to teach apes to speak, concocting elaborate feasts that no one eats, issuing endless, pointless pronouncements that no one obeys, and so on. Meanwhile, the gigantic ruling Ladies of the palace are too self-involved to truly confront the crisis or to rule in general, having either gone mad or become more concerned with fighting the other Ladies for scraps of power. This is a vividly depicted, decidedly peculiar world governed by an inexplicable logic, where the seasons are determined by a vast wheel; people have animal, plant, or even inorganic characteristics; and rising up in the ranks of one's profession might mean switching genders or undergoing other physical alterations. Its fablelike but off-kilter qualities and architectural setting will likely appeal to fans of Susanna Clarke's Piranesi, Angélica Gorodischer's Kalpa Imperial, and Josiah Bancroft's Books of Babel series. A curious, but curiously charming, allegory of a world in crisis. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.