Strange Animals: A Novel

An ordinary man discovers a hidden world of supernatural creatures-and an unexpected home-in this enchanting contemporary fantasy debut. "Unique, haunting, riveting, and beautifully magical."-Sarah Beth Durst, New York Times bestselling author of The Spellshop "Anderson has conceived of such a rich world, and such a textured mythology. I can´t remember a time when cryptids felt more . . . real."-Justin McElroy, #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Adventure Zone series Green trips on the curb, falls flat into the street, and sees the city bus speeding toward him. And then . . . blink. He´s back on the curb, miraculously still alive. A five-foot-tall crow watches him from atop a nearby sign, somehow unseen by the rushing crowd of morning commuters. Desperate for answers and beset by more visions of impossible creatures, Green finds his way to a remote campsite in the Appalachian Mountains, where he meets a centuries-old teacher and begins an apprenticeship unlike anything he could imagine. Under his new mentor´s grouchy tutelage, Green studies the time-bending rag moth, the glass fawn, and the menacing horned wolf. He begins to see past hidden nature´s terrors and glimpse its beauty, all while befriending fellow misfits-and finding connection and community. Along the way come clues about the forces that set him on this path-and, most incredibly, a sense of purpose and fulfillment like nothing he´s felt before. But Green´s new happiness promises to be short-lived, because alongside these marvels lurks a deadly threat to this place he´s already come to love. Creepy, cozy, and beautiful, Strange Animals is a fantasy about home, belonging, and the fearfully wonderous nature all around us.