The Green Man’s Challenge
 ISBNs Paperback: 978-1-913892-23-4 Hardcover: 978-1-913892-24-1 EPUB: 978-1-913892-20-3 MOBI: 978-1-913892-21-0 |
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Description
A while back, Daniel Mackmain’s life took an unexpected turn. Now the Green Man expects him to resolve clashes between those dwelling unseen in wild places and the ordinary people who have no idea what’s out there. Dan’s father is human and his mother’s a dryad, so he sees what’s happening in both these worlds.
Once upon a time, giants walked this land. So says everyone from Geoffrey of Monmouth to William Blake. This ancient threat is stirring in the Wiltshire twilight, up on the chalk downs. Can Dan meet this new challenge when he can only find half-forgotten fairy tales to guide him? Will the other local supernatural inhabitants see him – or the giant – as friend or foe?
A modern fantasy rooted in the ancient myths and folklore of the British Isles.
The book also features a bonus short story starring Dan’s boss, Eleanor Beauchene.
Awards
Finalist for Best Novel in the 2022 British Science Fiction Association Awards.
Reviews
“I don’t usually review every book in a series, but I’m so taken by this one by McKenna that I want to keep touting its virtues so that people will, I hope, buy each one of them.” — Charles de Lint in Fantasy & Science Fiction
“Wowee! That was one hell of a ride. A fantastic ride, both the main tale and the bonus short story at the end.” — Pers at Goodreads
“It is also a delight to read a novel written by someone who knows her genre so well and works at finding different ways to exploit its tropes. The threat in The Green Man’s Challenge is a giant: the hero doesn’t have the strength to match the foe, so other ways must be found, ancient knowledge must be discovered again. By doing so, McKenna consciously subverts the expectations of a certain kind of fantasy: no lone hero, no unbelievable physical prowesses, no amazing powers (political or supernatural).” — The Middle Shelf
“Ms McKenna has a glorious sense of place” — Jacey Bedford
McKenna has brilliantly utilised the likes of the giant figures cut into chalk hillsides and some of the numerous folk stories around hares to add to her intriguing Brit rural fantasy tale. — S.J. Higbee in Brainfluff