ScreenRant Presents An Exclusive Excerpt From Holly Black's A Conspiracy of Charming Monsters (Coming November)
Here is a stunning exclusive excerpt from Holly Black's upcoming Elfhame novel, A Conspiracy of Charming Monsters, that fans won't want to miss.
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Holly Black is returning to the dangerous, dazzling realm of Faerie with A Conspiracy of Charming Monsters, a new illustrated short-story collection set in the worlds of The Folk of the Air and Modern Faerie Tales. The book brings readers back to Elfhame, where power is rarely simple, affection comes with risks, and even the most captivating characters can be frightening.
Published by Alvina Ling Books and Hachette Book Group, the hardcover arrives November 3, 2026, with 272 pages and full-color illustrations by Solenne Songer of Frostbite Studios. The collection gathers six stories, including two previously unpublished tales: one exploring Madoc’s life after exile and another tracing the moment High King Cardan understands what he truly wants. ScreenRant is sharing an exclusive excerpt from the upcoming release, offering a closer look at Madoc’s difficult new circumstances.
A Conspiracy of Charming Monsters: Illustrated Tales from Elfhame (The Folk of the Air) is available to pre-order now through this link
A New Collection Returns to Holly Black’s Faerie Worlds
Holly Black’s collection revisits familiar corners of her fantasy universe while exploring fresh angles on its complicated inhabitants. Across the six stories, a reluctant king faces upheaval when the Undersea takes the girl he cannot stop resenting; an exiled redcap struggles to reconnect with his monstrous nature; and a mortal girl makes a painful sacrifice for a faerie lover who may not deserve it.
Another tale follows a tiny sprite whose determination threatens the safety of the High Court. Together, the stories lean into the series’ blend of dangerous bargains, sharp humor, shifting loyalties, and romance that rarely follows a predictable path. The full-color artwork gives the readers stunning visuals, complementing Black’s detailed setting and the unsettling beauty of Faerie with illustrations throughout the collection.
The book expands the wider Elfhame reading experience, which includes The Cruel Prince, The Wicked King, The Queen of Nothing, and How the King of Elfhame Learned to Hate Stories, as well as the newer duology The Stolen Heir and The Prisoner’s Throne. The collection offers returning readers additional glimpses into characters whose complicated lives extend beyond the main novels.
Exclusive Excerpt Follows Madoc in Mortal Exile
The excerpt, titled “The Fall of the Willowbrook Apartments at 700 Winsome Way,” focuses on Madoc after his attempt to seize Elfhame’s throne ends in defeat. Banished to the mortal world and forbidden to wield a weapon, the formidable redcap finds himself in a shabby apartment, far from his army, his former power, and the people he once commanded.
Madoc’s humiliation is complicated by his feelings about Jude, the daughter who outmaneuvered him in the Folk of the Air series and claimed the crown for herself. He resents losing to someone he raised, yet cannot completely hide his pride in her victory. Meanwhile, mortal life wears on him in small, undignified ways, from noisy neighbors and empty cupboards to holes punched into his apartment walls.
A message from his wife, Oriana, forces Madoc to confront how precarious his new existence has become. With her planning to visit the following evening, he worries that she will see how little he has made of exile. He turns to his eldest daughter, Vivi, for help, and she proposes using a faerie contact to furnish his home. Her solution, however, involves an unexpectedly mundane shopping trip: Costco. A Conspiracy of Charming Monsters by Holly Black will be available wherever books are sold on November 3, 2026.
KioskNews shows a cleaned-up reading view extracted from the publisher’s page — the original always lives on their site, not ours.