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Supernatural Gift
The Skull of Wenceslas follows a gifted New York medieval literature scholar who visits Prague for an academic project that takes a dangerous and paranormal turn. What draws you to the historical fantasy genre?
In Prague, the history is always present, especially to an American (and in my case, Australian-born). The Charles Bridge alone, with its cobblestones and ancient towers, never lets you forget it. Every Czech child knows the legend of the founding of the city, when the Slavic princess Libuše looked out over the river valley and made her prediction that she saw “a great city whose glory would touch the stars.” It’s almost impossible to write a story about Prague and not include the history!
What made you want to give Kat both an academic mind and a supernatural gift?
I have some of Kat’s interests myself – languages and ancient manuscripts in particular. I’ve always been intrigued by the skills of calligraphy and illumination (lots of books about it on my bookshelf). The story started with bringing Bruncvik to life, and Kat’s supernatural gift was a way to explain it. It grew from there, with the idea that she could step back in time into the mind of someone in the past and see the world through their eyes.
Many of the ghosts in the novel feel like characters with their own motivations rather than simple supernatural threats. How did you develop their personalities and roles in the story?
Their stories just grew. A line from the Oprah show always stuck in my mind. “Everyone has a story.” If we could communicate with someone in the past, what could they tell us? Turned out, quite a lot! But like everything else, they don’t tell you their story in neat chronological order; they tell you what is important to them. Which lends itself to a tale of mystery.
If readers finish The Skull of Wenceslas wanting to visit Prague, what are a few places from the novel that you would encourage them to see first?
A lot depends on how much time they can spend there. Too often, it’s “three days in Prague,” which mostly limits you to what the guides call “the Castle, bridge and clock tour.” Starting at the castle and the St. Vit Cathedral, crossing the Charles Bridge, and following the crowd along the King’s Way to Old Town Square and the Astronomical Clock. You’ll want to see all of those, but I have my own favorites. I love to start at the Strahov Monastery, which is Kat’s first stop. The restaurant with the view, where she meets Mike, is gone now, but there are plenty of others. If you climb the stairs to the Library (it’s magnificent), you’ll also see the weird little museum, full of odd sea creatures (remember, the Czech Republic is land-bound, so these must have seemed exotic). There is also a Museum of Miniatures, which is fascinating – everything is viewed through microscopes. From the monastery, you can walk down to the castle. My other favorite place in Prague is the Letná Beer Garden, where you can sit under the chestnut trees and gaze at an amazing view.
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Kat Schneider, a New Yorker and medieval literature scholar, arrives in Prague to translate a centuries-old manuscript. The first night, she sees the ghosts of a knight and a lion patrolling the ancient tower outside her window.
In Prague, her hidden gift of Sight pulls her into a world where history is alive, and the past collides with the present. On the Charles Bridge, Kat inadvertently summons a fourteenth-century prince into the modern world, forcing her to navigate a realm where the supernatural and human desires intertwine. With a mysterious local man and her charismatic client, she uncovers hidden truths, explores new powers, and discovers that love and loyalty are never straightforward.
Yet danger looms: a vengeful outsider plots to devastate the city on St. Wenceslas Day. To protect her friends, the city of Prague and even the Czech nation, Kat must embrace the Sight she has long hidden—and confront betrayal, ancient magic, and the haunting shadows of history.
The Skull of Wenceslas
The Skull of Wenceslas, by Marion Deland, is a paranormal mystery with a strong historical fantasy thread, set in a Prague that feels both lived-in and haunted. The story follows Kat Schneider, a New York medieval literature scholar with the Sight, as she comes to Prague to help translate an old manuscript tied to the legendary Prince Bruncvík. What begins as an academic project soon turns into something stranger and more dangerous, involving ghosts, Czech legends, a possible terrorist threat, and Kat’s growing sense that the city’s past is not finished speaking.
What I enjoyed most was how grounded Kat feels, even when the story steps into the supernatural. She’s smart, funny, guarded, and sometimes too quick to trust her own logic, which made her feel believable to me. I liked that Deland lets Prague do more than sit in the background. The city becomes part of the book’s pulse, with its bridges, statues, trams, old stones, and layered history all pressing in on Kat’s choices. The paranormal elements work best when they feel tied to place, and here they do. Bruncvík and his lion are not just spooky figures. They feel like part of a city still carrying its myths in the cracks of the pavement.
I also appreciated the author’s choice to let the book be messy in relatable ways. Kat’s relationships with Freddie, Mike, Queenie, Susie, and even the ghosts are not simple. People misunderstand each other. They get defensive. They bring old fears into new situations. That gave the story more weight than a straight adventure would have had. The plot takes its time getting where it is going, especially when Kat is absorbing the culture and history around her, but I didn’t mind that much. The slower moments help build the feeling that Prague is opening itself to her one street, one legend, and one uneasy revelation at a time.
I recommend The Skull of Wenceslas to readers who enjoy paranormal mysteries that lean into history, atmosphere, and character more than nonstop action. It should especially appeal to anyone drawn to haunted cities, old manuscripts, folklore, and stories where the past keeps reaching into the present. If you like your supernatural fiction with a thoughtful narrator, a touch of romance, and a deep sense of place, this book is easy to settle into.
Pages: 332 | ASIN : B0H26T1RLZ
