Hemlock & Silver
#3294.01 of 664 ranked universes · full ranking
Books 1 book Status Complete 2025 Reading commitment Low T. Kingfisher Last reviewed 2026-08-15
Overview
A 2025 standalone dark reimagining of Snow White: Anja, a poison-specialist healer, is summoned by the king to investigate his daughter Snow's mysterious illness, and finds a mirror world on the other side of Snow's own reflection, whose queen wants to become real by consuming Snow's heart. A slow-burn romance with a palace guard, a sarcastic talking cat, and Kingfisher's usual blend of dry humor and genuine dread run alongside the investigation.
Fairy-tale retelling, Dark fantasy · For Adult
Core Canon: Reading Order (1 work) counts toward ranking
Hemlock & Silver T. Kingfisher
| Work | Year | Canon | Rating | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Hemlock & Silver | 2025 | core | 4.01 (41,341 ratings) |
One continuous standalone novel; no internal volume structure.
Quick answers
- How many books are in Hemlock & Silver? Hemlock & Silver's Core Canon is 1 book.
- Is Hemlock & Silver finished? Complete (2025).
- How much reading does Hemlock & Silver take? Low reading commitment (estimated from 1 Core Canon book · ~368 pages).
- How is Hemlock & Silver ranked? #329 of 664 ranked universes on this site, based on 41,341 reader ratings across 1 Core Canon book. See the full ranking for how this is calculated.
Why is it ranked #329?
Ranked #329 of 664 ranked universes.
- Average reader rating of 4.01 across 1 core book.
- A smaller readership (41,341 ratings), so the score carries less weight of numbers.
- Less than 0.01 behind #328, The Ten Thousand Doors of January (a finer tie-break level decides the order).
- Below the top-10 average of 4.45.
- A single standalone novel: ranked on that one book alone.
Why explore this universe?
Well rated · 1 book · Complete · 41k ratings · Ranks #329 overall
Good choice if you want a quick, low-commitment fairy-tale retelling fantasy universe that's already finished, so there's no wait for the next book.
Reading order
A single Core Canon work: no sequencing question to resolve.
Awards (verified)
- Locus Award (Best Fantasy Novel), 2026: finalist: Hemlock & Silver; 3rd place (tie) in the 2026 Locus reader poll, per the no-cutoff Locus-poll convention. The award body's own full ballot page could not be reached directly; registered on two independent cross-checks (sfadb's per-author record and Wikipedia's own dedicated article) that agree on a finalist placement, plus direct confirmation the actual winner was a different book (Alix E. Harrow's The Everlasting), ruling out a false 'won' claim.
Related universes
- Same author The Saint of Steel: Both by T. Kingfisher (Ursula Vernon), confirmed separate continuities -- no shared characters, setting, or continuity across her admitted standalone/series universes.
- Same author Nettle & Bone: Both by T. Kingfisher (Ursula Vernon), confirmed separate continuities -- no shared characters, setting, or continuity across her admitted standalone/series universes.
- Same author Thornhedge: Both by T. Kingfisher (Ursula Vernon), confirmed separate continuities -- no shared characters, setting, or continuity across her admitted standalone/series universes.
- Same author A Sorceress Comes to Call: Both by T. Kingfisher (Ursula Vernon), confirmed separate continuities -- no shared characters, setting, or continuity across her admitted standalone/series universes.
- Same author A Wizard's Guide to Defensive Baking: Both by T. Kingfisher (Ursula Vernon), confirmed separate continuities -- no shared characters, setting, or continuity across her admitted standalone/series universes.
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Suggestions computed from what Hemlock & Silver and each of these worlds have in common on record (subgenre, audience, shape, reading commitment and score), not a documented narrative connection.
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- Weaveworld Dark fantasy · Complete · Low commitment · 4.13
- Stardust Fairy-tale retelling / Portal fantasy · Complete · Low commitment · 4.09
- Asunder Dark fantasy · Complete · Low commitment · 4.08
Official resources
Research details
Ranking metrics: weighted average 4.01 across 41,341 ratings on 1 Core Canon book. See Why is it ranked here? above for the full breakdown, or the full ranking.
How do we know this?
Admission: Hemlock & Silver admitted; single-work Core Canon accepted 2026-08-15
Sources: (see source tier definitions)
- Wikipedia: Hemlock & Silver Tier 2
- Rating-platform listing: Hemlock & Silver Tier 1
- sfadb: T. Kingfisher Awards Tier 1
- SFFWorld: 2026 Locus Awards Winners Announced Tier 3
Related universes: see the Related universes section above.
Last reviewed: 2026-08-15
Rule: Rule: single-work: a genuinely one-off novel, registered per this canon's Once and Future King/LOTR-analogy precedent. Confirmed separate continuity from T. Kingfisher's other admitted universes; no shared characters or setting.