Booklog 51/2021: Juliet E McKenna: The Green Man's Challenge – Green Man #4

I was lucky to get a review copy of this, thanks to the publisher, Wizard's Tower Press. I loved the three earlier outings for Daniel Mackmain, son of a dryad and a mortal man, who can see the supernatural and has been directed more than once by the Green Man to get involved in dealing with a threat from the unseen world which exists alongside our own. Dan lives and works at Blithehurst, a stately pile owned by the Beauchene (pronounced Beechen) family and more or less run by Eleanor. As the book opens, he's actually living in the house itself to keep the insurance company happy, but on the Green Man's warning about an ancient menace, and information from his girlfriend, Fin, a swan maiden, he dashes off to Wiltshire to deal with something that turns out to be a giant. The story is set in the early autumn of 2020 with the covid crisis and all that entails. Dan and Fin hardly know where to start, but when they connect with a wise-woman (who is a part-time hare and cryptozoologist) and a bunch of hamadryads (some friendly, some not) things become clearer.

 Ms McKenna has a glorious sense of place, amazing because as she explains in the afterword, she had to do most of her research on a computer since travelling in these covid times is not a good plan. However she did it, her research is excellent. Her extensive knowledge of English folklore comes to the fore as the chalk hill figures (giants and horses) and Wayland's Smithy weave in and out of the story. She really gets under the skin of main character, Dan, too. He's doggedly determined to complete this task the Green Man has given him. The book is tight, exciting, and in places genuinely scary. Highly recommended.

There's a bonus short story at the end—a ghost story. Luck is Where You Find It is told from Eleanor's point of view, and covers what's happening at Blithehurst while Dan is hunting giants.

 

 

 

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