Newt's Emerald: A Regency Romantasy

Written by Garth Nix

Narrated by Faye Adele

Inspired by the works of Georgette Heyer and Jane Austen, Garth Nix's Newt's Emerald is a Regency romance with a fantasy twist. New York Times bestselling author Gail Carriger calls it "charming; quite, quite charming." 

After Lady Truthful's magical Newington Emerald is stolen from her she devises a simple plan: go to London to recover the missing jewel. She quickly learns, however, that a woman cannot wander the city streets alone without damaging her reputation, and she disguises herself as a mustache-wearing man. During Truthful's dangerous journey she discovers a crook, an unsuspecting ally, and an evil sorceress—but will she find the Emerald?

• Language: English
• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Release date: Oct 13, 2015
• ISBN: 9780062395771

Garth Nix

Garth Nix is an award-winning and New York Times bestselling author whose beloved Old Kingdom fantasy series begins with Sabriel. His many other novels include Shade’s Children and A Confusion of Princes, and he has written such children’s series as The Seventh Tower and the Keys to the Kingdom, as well as co-writing TroubleTwisters and Have Sword, Will Travel with Sean Williams. His work has been translated into forty-two languages and has sold more than seven million copies. 

Reviews for Newt's Emerald

[Susanne Burgstaller · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

Very bad audio quality - impossible to listen to unfortunately. Can you repair this

[Sheila Panegasser · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

The audio quality is awful. I can’t even listen. Is this something recent? I don’t see how there could be any positive reviews. Non stop halting, clicking and hitching in the narrators voice.

[Nichole Smith · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

What is wrong with this audio?! Clicking, skipping, pausing. Absolute torture to listen to.

[flightmom · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Wonderful! Loved every minute. Caused me to laugh out loud in spots.

[wealhtheowwylfing · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

One the night of her eighteenth birthday, the ancient emerald that is Lady Truthful Newington's birthright disappears mysteriously. Concerned that worry for the missing emerald is damaging her elderly father's health, Truthful sets off for London with her old maid in tow, hoping to find the emerald when the thief pawns it. With all her male relatives gallivanting about on their own silly plans, there are no men Truthful can trust to undertake the search, and so, with her great-aunt's glamour carefully applied to a fake mustache, she dresses as a man and searches London herself. Her not entirely convincing disguise rapidly draws the attention of the British intelligence service, who fears that "he" is a French agent. From there Truthful becomes embroiled in a magical plot against Britain that includes nefarious maids, death curses, and pirates.

In some ways this book is very charming. It is written in the style of Heyer's regency romances, with much of the annoying classism and sexism taken out and replaced with fantasy. Magic in this 1820s England is fairly commonplace and unremarkable, but to my eyes was delightful. I loved the way magic was sprinkled casually throughout the story, like how many people use plated jewelry to avoid touching metals that are hurtful to their fey ancestry, or when Truthful wonders aloud why Napoleon was immured in rock instead of executed, and is told, '"Can't kill him," said Leye shortly. "Hang a master of death magic, that's like giving a thief the key to your front door."' But the writing is sometimes a bit clumsy, as in the climactic scene " Truthful's arrow sped true, sprouting shockingly from Lady Plathenden's eye, the azure fletching no longer the only piece of color, a sudden scarlet spreading down the shaft.". And Truthful herself didn't seem entirely coherent or believable: sometimes she's incredibly prissy and incapable, and then other times she's punching out pirates. I also wish her romance had been built up more (although to be fair, the romance here is at least as fleshed out as most of Heyer's). Basically, I enjoy the premise and overall effect of this novel, but Nix usually writes with far more skill.

[kmartin802_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

NEWT'S EMERALD was a delightful Regency romp with magic. It reminded me of the best of Georgette Heyer. Lady Truthful Newington has grown up in the country with the company of her cousins and the supervision of her Admiral father. Now she has reached the age when she will be sent to London to make her presentation to Society and find herself a husband. However, before she can embark, her father shows her the Newington Emerald which will be hers when she reaches age 21. The emerald is a magical object which has been in the family for many generations. But a sudden storm and an unknown intruder arrive and, when things settle down, the emerald is missing. Her father is taken ill and in moments of lucidity he tells Truthful that he fears the loss of the emerald will destroy the family's luck.Truthful travels to London to stay with her Great-Aunt Ermintrude and locate the emerald. Her great-aunt reveals hidden depths and encourages her to dress as a man to search for the emerald. Luckily, her great-aunt is a talented sorceress who places a spell on Truthful's false mustache to encourage the deception. Truthful, now Henri de Vienne, runs into Major Charles Harkness who is convinced that Truthful is a French spy. Having been disappointed in love, Charles says some rude things about Truthful which makes her eager to live down to his opinion of her. However, the two of them need to work together to defeat the evil sorceress who stole the emerald and along the way, and despite many misunderstandings, the two fall in love. What I especially enjoyed in this story was the Truthful saves Charles's life at least three times. She is no fainting, helpless heroine.The characters were engaging, the plot was fast-paced, and the setting was intriguing. Other similar books include Georgette Heyer's Regency romances, Jane Austen's novels, and, for readers who want some magic with their Regency story, SHADES OF MILK AND HONEY by Mary Robinette Kowal or SORCERY AND CECILIA by Patricia C. Wrede and Caroline Stevermer.

[Abigail Salinger · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This is a delight—reminiscent of Georgette Heyer and Diana Wynne Jones, all in Nix's lovely prose

[jessika.c · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

GAH THIS WAS AMAZINGTruthful Newington is the spitting image of her long gone mother at the tender age of 19. When she gets the amazing opportunity to show off the coveted Newington Emerald stone to her friends it makes her giddy with joy until everything goes very wrong. In a series of seconds it's gone. At first her well intentioned cousins the Newington-Lacy's place blame on a storm-sprite and her father accuses her cousins but Truthful goes on her own quest to return the emerald back to its rightful place and make her father happy again. Since she has not been officially introduced into society she can't do sleuthing on her own and must be accompanied by a male relative which makes matter difficult since her only available ones are off looking for a stone on their own. What will Truthful do?This was so good! I didn't know what to expect. Truthful is spunky and clever a sure fire way to get me to keep reading about such a posh girl when I'm normally so turned off by these period stories. Once she makes it to her Aunt Lady Badgery's house she decides to take on the disguise of one of her aunt's distant relatives and it just makes for a fun adventure. Sprinkle in a dash of magic, a teaspoon of romance, half a cup of mystery, and fill the rest with thrills and adventures this book made me not want the journey to end.The beginning was set up so quickly it was a bit jarring at first but when I quickly reread them I realized that a long intro simply wouldn't have worked and I love the set up more for it. Charles Otterbrook Colonel the Viscount Lytchett is bae spoiler because this is his real name revealed in 80%

[sammelsurium-831072 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

A delightful romp that unfortunately loses its charm towards the end. While the premise is attractive and the prose is easy to read, the characters are unremarkable and the resolution of the romance is so simplistic and predictable that it flattens any tension or excitement out of the last quarter of the book.

[jennybeast · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Magical regency romance, a la Georgette Heyer and Mary Robinette Kowal -- not what I ordinarily expect from Garth Nix, but oh, he did a wonderful job with it!

Lady Truthful's father is felled when their family heirloom, a powerful emerald, is stolen. She immediately springs into action to get it back, while honoring the convoluted society rules that govern plucky young ladies. She is aided in her quest by an unconventional Great-Aunt, a bewitched moustache, and a spy-hunting undercover agent. I particularly like that when feats of derring-do are called for, it's Truthful who wins the day, with quick thinking and quicker action. Very well done!

If you like The Finishing School series, this is a great book for you.

Advanced reader's copy provided by Edelweiss.

[caedocyon · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Nothing special. I wanted this to be better than it was.

The awkward exposition and the classism both jumped out. Oh, of course it's the surly maid's fault, duh, nothing more to it. Of course Truthful is beautiful and happens to be fabulously wealthy and has a huge pack of suitors, and the one she picks is the most fabulously wealthy of them all. Also, the book calls her Truthful about 30x as much as it calls her Newt, which is really stretching the definition of a nickname.

[rivkat_2 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Regency-ish fantasy about a young woman who masquerades as a man so that she can join the hunt for her family’s stolen emerald, which apparently has powers great enough that they might even be able to help Napoleon out of the stone in which he’s been immured. Experience diminished by bad recording quality; seemed slight overall.

[amberwitch · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Regency fantasy romance about a debutante who is investigating a crime during her coming out season. Truthful's father is distraught by the theft of a magical family heirloom, and so she sets out to recover it, encountering danger and finding love underway.
Classical, lightweight and charming regency romance, now with magic.
I might prefer Half a soul by Olivia Atwater for another take on the same genre and plot, but this an easy and cozy read.

[annieseiler-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Regency, magic, and a cute storyline? Yes please!

[turrean_1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Meh. Cardboard characters: the plucky heroine, the dashing love interest, the wicked villain. There was a fast-moving plot, of the kind called "rollicking," and plenty of Regency detail that had to make up for the curious lack of information on the supernatural elements of the society. (My mouth dropped open when the author airily explains that one of the bad guys was some type of creature never mentioned in any other place in the text.) There isn't much in the way of character development--the story is rather like a fairy tale in that respect. You know the wicked witch is wicked because it says so, right there on the page! Instead of having readers understand the villain's nature from her actions, it's so much easier to simply have the heroine observe a Disneyesque evil leer on the character's face. Color me unimpressed.

[klarsenmd · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

a silly fun take on the Victorian romance

[fred_mouse · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This was a captivating romp with a captivating protagonist, a nicely paced mystery, and a competently handled romance. Highly recommended.

[herenya_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Newt’s Emerald is a Regency fantasy inspired partly by Georgette Heyer’s novels, and it certainly reminded me of some of Heyer’s more madcap stories.

After a family heirloom is stolen, 18 year old Truthful sets off early for her Season in London, hoping she can retrieve the emerald before the season gets properly underway. With the help of her aunt, she adopts a disguise - and meets some people who agree to help her. But Truthful isn’t the only one who isn’t being entirely truthful about their identity...

Newt’s Emerald is very lighthearted and occasionally predictable, but it’s fun.

[hawaiianmermaid701 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This was a fun and engaging read about Lady Truthful's escapades to recover her stolen emerald!

This was full of excitement and laughs, with a lovely backdrop of regency England that had magic. Basically it fulfilled all of my requirements for a good book and it did not disappoint!

Happy reading!

[acargile-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This novel is a lovely light fantasy novel to read one afternoon.

Truthful, known as Newt, will inherit the Newington Emerald when she comes of age. On her eighteenth birthday, her father shows the emerald to Newt and her three male cousins with whom she has been grown up. A strange storm arrives at the exact moment the emerald is being admired. When the storm knocks out the window, there is a small amount of chaos until Newt’s father orders the storm to abate. Upon looking around, they all discover that the emerald is missing. Her father immediately collapses. When he is able, he explains that the family is tied to the emerald and bad luck will ensue if it’s in another’s hands. He suspects the cousins, but Newt knows it isn’t them. Newt decides to go early to London to find her emerald, for someone may be trying to sell it.

Newt arrives in London and determines that she can only go about her investigations freely if she is a man, so her aunt helps glamour her. She quickly finds a man who knows how investigations work: Major Harnett. Newt and Harnett with the help of Truthful’s aunt follow clues and face dangerous people and situations as they hunt for the thieves and the emerald.

I found the novel to be entertaining to listen to. It’s a mystery, romance, and dangerous investigation all rolled into one. I especially like that Truthful never has to be rescued; she is quite capable on her own and, in fact, saves many lives. Is this a great novel? No. Is it worth reading for a nice, tightly written mystery? Yes.

[foggidawn · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Lady Truthful Newington -- Newt, to her rowdy crew of male cousins -- is looking forward to her first London season, but everything changes one dark and stormy night when the Newington Emerald, the family's most precious (and magically powerful) jewel disappears. Determined to track down the thief, Truthful disguises herself as a man and searches London for clues. During her quest, she meets Major Hartnett. She can't deny her attraction to him, but he's of the firm opinion that all women are heartless and deceitful -- what would he say if he learned of her disguise?

This is a terrifically fun read inspired by Austen, Heyer, and O'Brian. It's different from anything else Nix has ever written, but in no way inferior. Recommended to readers who enjoy both fantasy and Regency romances.

[fyrefly98 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Summary: Lady Truthful Newington has grown up as a bit of a tomboy, with her three older (male) cousins egging her on, despite the fact that she's supposed to be a young lady. But when the emerald that is tied to her family's fortunes is stolen during a storm and Lady Truthful's father falls into a mysterious illness, it's up to her to journey to London to do her best to recover the jewel. But a young lady traveling on her own, even with a maid, is far too improper, even for Lady Truthful, so she disguises herself as a young man, with the help of her great-aunt Lady Badgery. She soon meets Major Harnett, who offers to help Truthful (in her disguise as the Chevalier Henri de Vienne) find the jewel, for it is an artifact of far more power than a mere emerald. But it's not long before they both find themselves caught up in danger and intrigue - not only magical, but societal and romantic as well!

Review: This was a very fun read, full of Regency romance mixed with fantasy adventure. The characters are generally likable without being particularly complex - Truthful, Major Hartnett, and Lady Badgery hue pretty close to type (the sassy young woman who chafes at the restrictions put by society on the feminine sex, the charming but slightly roguish hero and love interest, the older woman who doesn't entirely care what society thinks and still has a few tricks up her sleeve, etc.). The plot is fast moving and with plenty of action, and a few twists that I wasn't expecting, although the general outline of a Regency romp/romance is pretty familiar to most readers, I'd wager. The worldbuilding isn't outstanding or particularly detailed (at least on the fantasy front; the historical detail is certainly present), but it doesn't need to be: it's a Regency novel with magic, and the point isn't to worry too much over how the magic works. (And I *always* want to know how the magic works, but in this case, I was being swept along by the story too much to really bother with it.)

It's very similar to Shades of Milk and Honey, Sorcery and Cecelia, but I think it reads as somewhat younger than either of those two, due to the relative simplicity and straightforwardness of the characters and the plot. It's also quite similar to Kat, Incorrigible, although aimed somewhat older than that one. (I'd say late mid-grade to early YA?) It's a fun romp, a sweet (if predictable) love story, and a nice Regency set piece, and when you throw in girls dressing as boys to get something done (one of my go-to favorite literary tropes), mistaken identities, and a little bit of naval adventure, I can't ask for much more than that. I'm not sure if this is meant to be the start to a series (it works perfectly fine as a one-off), but if it is, I'll happily read more of Truthful's adventures. 4 out of 5 stars.

Recommendation: Fans of the "fantasy of manners" subgenre will find this book a charming addition, and those who like Jane Austen or Georgette Heyer but find them insufficiently magical should check it out as well.

[jbd1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Nix writes that his new novel, Newt's Emerald, was inspired by the works of Georgette Heyer, Jane Austen, and Patrick O'Brian, and—not surprisingly—that combination works well. With Nix's fantastical elements added (in this Regency world Napoleon is magically imprisoned in Gibraltar and the crown employs sorcerers), you've got a real page-turner on your hands. I wished for a bit more world-building and explanation here, but on the other hand, it was also neat to get dribs and drabs of background information as the book went on. Good fun, and I hope Nix will invite us back to Newt's world again soon.

[brendaklaassen · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

I read this book to offer a review. This book was hard reading for me because it jumped from character to character and setting to setting. In the past I have tried to read the writing of this author but always have difficulty because his stories are not smooth reading. This story did end the way I thought it might, so that was a positive. I rate this book, just "okay".

[keristars_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This may contain some spoilers.

Newt's Emerald is a fun little mash-up of popular genres set in the English Regency - there's the fantasy with magic, a little comedy of manners, the romance, and even some sea-faring adventure. It has several farcical elements which I enjoyed a lot, and which gave it over all a fluffy, classic sort of tone.

Honestly, the story is a little disjointed, probably because of how the plot stretches to include cross-dressing by the heroine, a case of mistaken identity, an escape to sea and rescue thereupon, an evil enchantress, and through it all the heroine's introduction to London society, all in the short space of a novella. The book itself suffers from a lack of copy-editors, with lots of noticeable doubling of words, missing words, spots where sentences appear to have been reworked but not completely fixed, and even inconsistent spelling or punctuation. (ETA: I have since spoken with Garth Nix himself and he says that he is working on fixing these errors and plans to have a new file available for download before too long. Awesome!)

But because the plot elements all appeal directly to me, I enjoyed the ride, bumpy as it was. And, really, everything did tie up nicely and make sense along the way (that's where I feel the farce comes in to play), and it was a lot of fun to read. I think that if the book had left out some of the magic plot or left out the mistaken identity/Regency romance plot, it wouldn't have been as interesting to read. There's a distinct spot about halfway through where I felt the plot and mood shifting more towards the fantasy side than the Regency romance side, and it was just about the same time that I started to grow tired of the complications in the romance/manners stuff.

I greatly enjoyed the way the story is told by an third-person narrator who points out where our heroine Truthful (aka Newt) doesn't have a full understanding of what's in front of her, whether because she's ignorant (innocently or willfully) or because of her own biases. It doesn't happen a lot, but often enough to give Truthful's character a bit of depth. The narrator is then also free to comment about things Truthful wouldn't be aware of, though it is an otherwise limited-perspective narration tied to her. In other instances, such a narration might annoy me or feel lazy, but I liked the way it is used here.

In fact, the only thing that really didn't work for me with Newt's Emerald is the copyediting oversight that missed the errors scattered through - things I'm used to from self-publishing authors, but not so much from such a big name as Garth Nix. Luckily, they weren't so many or so egregious that they ruined the story, just occasionally stopped me short as I noticed and paused to determine how they happened.

This novella isn't going to be everyone's cup of tea, but it is definitely mine, and I recommend it for anyone else looking for a fun, Regency romance fantasy adventure story.