The Green Man's Heir by Juliet E McKenna
Publisher – Wizard’s Tower Press
Published – Out Now
Price – £14.99 paperback £4.99 Kindle eBook
A hundred years ago, a man with a secret could travel a few hundred miles and give himself a new name and life story. No one would be any the wiser, as long as he didn’t give anyone a reason to start asking questions. These days, that’s not so easy, with everyone on social media, and CCTV on every street corner. So Daniel Mackmain keeps his head down and keeps himself to himself.
But now a girl has been murdered and the Derbyshire police are taking a closer look at a loner who travels from place to place, picking up work as he goes. Worse, Dan realises the murder involves the hidden world he was born into. When no one else can see the truth, who will see justice done?
A modern fantasy rooted in the ancient myths and folklore of the British Isles.
Fantasy immediately tends to create big wild landscapes in our minds. Fields, mountains, and rivers to cross. Folk lore begins in the villages and early settlements; and it makes sense that those places fit the tales. As we moved into cities and suburbs that still looks wonderfully exotic but these days contemporary fantasy such as Kate Griffin’s Matthew Swift series or N K Jemisin’s The City We Became move the action to the streets and electric lit home of our world and that contrast of magic and our ways of life poses many issues to explore. A modern countryside setting has tended to be abandoned but reading the extremely entertaining The Green Man’s Heir by Juliet E McKenna I was introduced to a lead character and setting that certainly proves there is life outside urban landscapes for fantasy for a good while yet!
Daniel Mackmain is a carpenter who wanders the UK for jobs that need his skills. But he is also the son of a dryad as well as a human male and that means he can see the ethereal world that sits behind ours and gets visions of a powerful entity of nature known as The Green Man. Recently Dan felt a pull to Derbyshire and while working on a building site he finds himself getting involved in investigating the brutal murder of a young woman and a local dryad named Tila asks him to help investigate and Dan finds out there was an earlier victim no one yet knows about. This leads Dan dangerously close to getting himself investigated by the police as a loner, constant traveller and workman fits the profile they’re looking at and on top of this Dan finds that older and darker powers are at play trying to strike back at humanity and get their own lands back.
A big draw of this book is Dan’s voice and he’s already a fascinating character. Rather than the standard wisecracking detective we often get Dan is a builder and craftsmen first and that makes him comes across as both level-headed and tends to plan ahead yet still keeps a dry subtle sense of humour as he tells us his tale. McKeena writes him in short-measured sentences without overloading us with exposition just giving us enough to understand the world as much as we need to at any point. Its nice to see someone plan in case something very obvious goes wrong and how he works around the police gives the tale an interesting twist as a working-class hero comes up against more establishment forces. He comes across as someone wanting a place to settle rather than a gallivanting adventurer but when he sees a wrong to right or someone in danger, he does the right thing and feels guilty when he fails. Overall, despite his magical sight and healing powers he comes across as human rather than near super-hero; still trying to find out more about this magical world so more likely to be visiting the local library or go online than just have magical school training in ancient lore to call upon at a moment’s notice.
The story is gritty and quickly dispels ideas of the country being just yokels and Agatha Christie style villages. We see a harder world of drugs, businesses struggling to make ends meet and where violence against humans or even nature are common. The murders being investigated are nasty; but McKenna reminds us of the women are victims with lives of their own not just plot devices for heroes. The story fleshes out though to reveal a larger storyline of which these crimes are but just one part. This build up is organic and takes us in an unexpected direction. This allows McKeena to weave in a host of British folklore creatures and legends and these are not the type to be found in a long running children’s series. Here Boggarts, Dryads, Black Shuck and worse can be found and they have bite, guile, and minds of their own that are more than a PG certificate. This darker hidden world gives the story lots of texture and leeway to make these creatures not what the legends tell us. Surprises and a sense of a bigger battle underway hint the direction this series may go.
Lastly, I really liked the action sequences. Dan gets himself into scrapes and these creatures are not easy to stop. McKenna gives the fights and battles with lots of energy and a sense of pain and capture the desperation of a fight. It’s the little details such as the weight of weapons or armour tiring someone that make you see these scenes have been well plotted out. The finale is visceral and bloody as the main opponent and Dan plus a really interesting woman named Eleanor who shares some of Dan’s powers have to battle to literally save the land against a pretty powerful being. Its only then you realise how far the story has shifted from a ‘simple’ murder investigation.
The downside of this book is I wish I’d read it earlier as I’ve been hearing great things from readers I trust for ages. The bright side is I can now catch up on a series already on its fourth novel. Fair to say the Green Man’s Heir was a refreshing piece of contemporary fantasy and it’s nice to meet a male investigator of supernatural crimes who feels like a grown up. Action filled, funny and never loses your attention this was a delight to read. And if you too are late to the party this is a great time to join me. Highly recommended!
