The Wilding by Ian McDonald

I would like to thank Gollancz for a copy of this novel in exchange for a fair and honest review

Publisher – Gollancz

Published – Out now

Price – £25 hardback £5.99 Kindle ebook

Strange things have been happening at Lough Carrow.

Local villagers have told dark rumours about the vast peat bog ever since the huge project to rewild it began.

Strange tracks have been seen leading into and out of the site. Livestock has been mutilated in the area. And on their trek to a camp site in the heart of the bog some of Lisa's group - five teenagers and three teachers she's guiding on a wilderness experience - spot wolves, wolverines, and something that looks older and scarier than either . . . even though Ireland's lost wild animals are yet to be introduced to the park . . .

They have planned one cosy campout in this strange wilderness, where time and space themselves seems to be shifting, but as darkness falls it's clear they have a very different night ahead.

The camp is attacked.

The campers are trapped.

And something out there has only just begun to hunt . . .

Every weekend people love to take a trip from their comfortable homes, heating and enter the countryside? Its beautiful but its also quite different to what city life offers. This was a land a few generations that we were more in balance and on occasion beaten back by in terms of lack of food and we were not always the most dangerous animals around. When fantasy and horror evoke images of dark woods, dangerous moors and crafty rivers I always think authors are reminding us to be wary. In Ian McDonald’s superb horror novel The Wilding we have a tale that explores if our new found love for environment protection has fully removed that fear and danger and it is an exhilarating gorgeous nightmare of a tale that is going to unfold.

Lough Carrow in Ireland is the scene of nature healing. The peat bogs of Ireland have been around thousands of years and severely impacted by industrialisation with bogs destroyed and wider environmental pollution decimating local wildlife. But rewilding has made inroads and a huge, protected space is being nurtured back to full health even with species such as beavers, ponies and deer making a comeback. Those out of towners who are fascinated by nature love it. Other locals se it as a pain I the neck that endangers their livelihoods. But at the visitor centre Lisa who is ready to start university at Dublin and fully move into the new life she craves has the dreaded activity of managing a wildlife sleep over with some teachers and not entirely pleased teenagers. If that is not bad enough pets are missing and there seem to be several mutilated animals being found. Lisa and her little group are about to find the wilderness is not yet tamed.

Horror is often about a flip. Normality turning into a frightening and different world we don’t understand or belong to. Its driving on normal sunny day when someone crashes into you or opening your front door to find it being burgled…and in The Wilderness Ian McDonald does this beautifully. The setting and characters are grounded, there are subtle signs of something wrong and then BAM everyone is in extreme danger. It very quickly shows the magnitude and extent of the danger, and we then spend the rest of the book trying to escape it.

I’m not going to tell you what the threat is as that’s a key part of the mystery. What I can though enormously appreciate is just how well told a story this is. In the first part McDonald fully grounds the world as ours but with mischievous nods towards fantasy creeping in. Ina few chapters we get images of life at the centre a well-run unit of workers who get on, all run on weird nicknames for everything thanks to their magnificent boss Padraig and its filled with banter, groans and mumbles that quickly brings the characters and world to life. All the quirky dynamics from the exercise obsessed to the ones trying to rehome puppies and yet there are nods to something more. Padraig loves to confuse tourists by nailing fairy doors to trees, the Visitor Centre is called the Tower of Power and when Lisa and her group walk into the wilderness even hobbits are mentioned. Throw in the history of a place known for bog bodies and a nearby group of middle-class tourists/incomers fascinated with ancient customs and a whole array of suspects as to what may be going on are laid out but importantly it feels incredibly real.

McDonald has also pulled this with characters who may feel familiar and yet are never stereotypes. Its always lovely to read teenagers done well and Lisa’s group is filled with them. The joker mimic Ryan, the kind but fragile Erin, the really obviously keen to get out of walking but level headed Saorise and the more unusual sullen Artem and the neurodiverse character Firaz who says what he thinks could very easily just be cannon fodder or used to say how bad the youth are but McDonald shows them at their lows and strengths, puts them in danger and also unpeels the backstory. We are firmly on their side throughout. Eve the teachers and co-workers are not two dimensional and all put their wards first but for me the standout is Lisa. A woman we find who loves to drive fast, carries a book of Yeats poetry around and is haunted by her past and battling her desire to lash out and to do the right thing. She becomes the group’s leader, and that responsibility is heavy and extremely stressful. I loved finding out the complexities within her and seeing what she is capable of and again a character you root for throughout.

Yes, gentle reader, I’m still skirting about how wrong things are going to get for people but lets just say its bloody, creepy, disturbing and unsettling horror. Bogs and woods when you’ve no phone signal become something really dangerous and throw in what is after this group and that becomes terrifying. When bad things happen, they are indiscriminate, and a variety of threats have to be navigated and the odds are against them. The vulnerability of an inner-city group of school kids and teachers makes this feel a very unbalanced battle for survival and that keeps the tension running all through to the final pages. McDonald uses the set up well to make us care and then the pace rattles along all the way to keep us on our toes with occasional stops for a breather or to throw something awful and breathtaking at our lost kids.

The other standout in this is McDonald’s narration. I love books where the author even in third person makes the narrator almost a character in their own right. McDonald can be mischievous in descriptions, sarcastic, informative about everything from Ireland’s economic troubles to explaining the natural world and all of that comes alive with language. This is a story that knows when to have a twinkle in its eye and then can jump seamlessly into the dark poetry of horror including the bloody and the atmospheric to create something utterly compelling. Those earlier nods to the fantastical pay off as this lost group of wanderers are in many ways now in a very different world filled with dangers and the final acts are filled with dark, wondrous and epic moments to conclude the battle to survive. The writing really gives this story its pulse and heartbeat that carries you along in its wake.

The Wilding is an excellent slice of modern horror. The unusual setting combined with characters who feel wonderfully humans all work well when the proverbial hits the fan and after that moment we are in an extremely well told roller-coaster of a ride. Perfect for a winter night’s reading but perhaps not what you want on your next camping holiday! It is strongly recommended!