The Green Man’s Holiday by Juliet E McKenna
I would like to thank Wizard’s Tower Press for an advance copy of this novel in exchange for a fair and honest review
Publisher - Wizard’s Tower Press
Published - Out Now
Price - £17 paperback £4.99 ebook
When your mother’s a dryad and you’re an only child, you don’t have much experience of big family events. But Daniel Mackmain’s girlfriend, Finele, has a whole load of relatives. They’re all coming to her sister Iris’s wedding. Frankly, Dan’s dreading it. At least plenty of other guests will have connections to the supernatural. The bride and groom can turn into swans, for a start.
Since Dan’s still a loner at heart, he and Fin have planned a few days away together afterwards. Just the two of them in a quiet country cottage should be nice and relaxing. Dan should have remembered what folk wisdom says about making plans.
In the U.K. there was a tradition for particularly comedy shows to have a holiday themed special. The cast are taken to an exotic location (often just another studio) and while there would no doubt be comedic is understanding the usual level of jokes was expected. Hence I may have fallen for Juliet E McKenna’s tricking titled new fantasy novel The Green Man’s Holiday and just when I was expecting a relaxed adventure managed to instead read one of the tensest stories in the series to date! Gentle Reader prepare for a rollercoaster ride!
Dan Mackmain being the son of a human and dryad has the ability to see supernatural beings and in the U.K. most of that folklore has turned out to actually exist from Black Shucks to shapeshifting cats. It’s meant for Dan he has also become the champion of being known as The Green Man who ensures nature is allowed to thrive. Dan though for now is more focused on attending the family wedding that his girlfriend Fin needs him to usher at. An unusual mix of human and supernatural beings not all of whom know the family secrets (Fin and her sister are but one of many swan maiden shapeshifters). For Dan and Fin the real benefit is after the wedding they get their first long holiday away in The Mendips near Cheddar. All looks peaceful until knock at the door brings chaos, danger and a very powerful threat to battle.
This is a little swim of a book to review because that knock on the door really starts the rollercoaster. The first few chapters are wedding focused with McKenna’s very accurate portrayal of a U.K. wedding tension made up of family rows, long standing arguments and people thinking a piano should be played. After the many battles and dangers of the Green Man’s War the previous book this felt like a series breather. I should have known authors are tricksy things! A false sense of security was the plan and it works.
What McKenna instead delivers is a very well told tale that really underlines the power of making the stakes real and for the reader ones you invest in. In another book what arrives in the door would be funny, and indeed the fish out of water experience for Dan in particular does have a lot of moments of humour and Dan’s swearing but when we realise which folklore McKenna is suing this story gets very dark quickly. We we know the supernatural is real we are on Dan’s side but if you just heard on the news what Dan and Fin are doing and why you’d have a very different view of them and that really puts our duo in danger. Things then go from bad to worse for the couple and when our foe reveals themselves there is a a realisation they are up against a very very dangerous foe. Long term readers of the series will be gulping but a new reader will be in no doubt very quickly that Dan has a match in terms of intelligence, strength and magical ability this is not going to be easy at all!
McKenna uses The Mendips landscape really well from the mundane - the lack of phone or internet to the many strange caves and rocks that dot the landscape. Thee wise a feeling of a plea that very much mixes the weird and the human world together. It all combines with the main plot to create huge tension, very innovative magical battle scenes and throws in some interesting questions about where the supernatural forces sometimes go. It’s a fast flowing story with moments to breathe and let the story reset and its got great scenes of tension and it’s always good to see Dan actually stretched but at the same time here is a main character who although is strong is often more using his brain to get him out of situations. Not afraid to ask for help and this story also helps remind us and he and Fin are a good pairing for one another.
Long time readers will enjoy the callbacks but also this book sets up some potential new directions for the series. I sense there may be some consequences to come. If you’ve heard me tempt The Green Man series and wondered if there is a good new jumping on point then this would be a good place to sample McKenna’s storytelling as it doesn’t rely too much on the past and indeed what you will learn will just make you want to read all the other books (and that is the right decision). Dan’s holiday may be sadly ruined but readers wanting a dramatic supernatural contemporary fantasy novel will find this is a very good tale to settle down into and enjoy. Highly recommended!
