Very enjoyable modern fantasy. I may well pick up the next in the series. ( )

A fast-reading supernatural crime turned quest story with an authenticity to its depiction of rural communities that I appreciated. It’s lovely to see a distinctly rural fantasy rather than another wisecracking urban fantasy. That said, it's weirdly mundane at times for a story about a dryad’s son facing down mythical monsters - which isn't necessarily a bad thing (although your mileage may vary); I found it unexpectedly grounding.

However, I got a little tired of the (for me) awkward oversexing, however earthily appropriate. I also found the structure weirdly felt like two novellas had been bashed together into one volume and makes this a rare instance of ‘I wish it had been shorter’ (or longer, I suppose, as two novels; but it didn’t work for me as a one-two punch).

Still: would recommend; will read the sequel (may get grumpy if it doesn’t feature Eleanor); but it’s fine rather than my new favourite thing.

Full review ( )

https://tamaranth.blogspot.com/2019/07/201975-green-mans-heir-juliet-mckenna.htm... ( )

Another Kindle book that was 99p, but this time as a promotion. The author tweeted the book was reduced, and since I’d never read anything by her – she mostly writes fantasy, which, er, Wheel of Time reread above aside, I don’t normally read – and The Green Man’s Heir is urban fantasy, which I definitely don’t read… But the plot sounded interesting so I thought it worth a go. And I’m glad I did give it a punt. The narrator is Daniel Mackmain, a jobbing carpenter who happens to be the son of a dryad. Which means he is plugged into the mythological world based on landscape. So when a woman is brutally murdered near where Mackmain lives, and a dryad gives him enough to clues so he thinks he might be able to solve the case… The Green Man’s Heir is a mashup of mystery novel and fantasy novel but it works because it’s centred on its hero and not focused on its central crime. The story moves on from the murders and pulls in romance, but it all ends in a place that feels entirely a consequence of what has gone before. This is clearly a book by someone who knows what they’re doing. And if their earlier fantasy series have not made the big time, I hope this one does – there’s a sequel – because it’s good stuff. It may be a bit Mythago Wood meets Midsomer Murders, but it does it well and it certainly does it a great deal better than the last of those two. ( )

If urban fantasy is defined as a fantasy set in a modern day city setting, then this book is a rural fantasy.

Set in modern Derbyshire, Daniel Markmain is a dryad’s son making a living as a carpenter. Born of a dryad and a mortal man, as a male he partakes of his father’s mortal heritage but can see the otherworld, specifically other supernatural beings.

The book seems to be a fix-up of two novellas: the first details his battle against a wood wose which has a delight in torture and rape, the second details his battle against a wyrmling and the wyrm that’s trying to protect it.

Running through both sections is the Green Man himself, a shuck, dryads and naiads, and Daniel’s struggle to make his way in the modern world without tipping off mundane authority about his supernatural inheritance.

Recommended