I received this book for free from the Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Drowned Country by Emily Tesh Series: The Greenhollow Duology #2
Published by Tor.com on August 18 2020
Genres: Adult, Fantasy
Pages: 176
Format: eARC
Source: Publisher
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The nitty-gritty: Emily Tesh revisits the strange world of Greenhollow in this atmospheric and otherworldly sequel.
There was no one. Black earth and a pink sky; an apple tree all poisonous bright; the stench of rotten meat; and in every direction flat empty land, broken up only by scattered upright stones arranged in discomfiting patterns which almost, almost, suggested a grand design. Silver had a dreadful feeling the monoliths were moving when he was not looking. He had no idea why this should fill him with anxiety, but it did.
Last year I discovered the gorgeous writing and imagination of Emily Tesh in Silver in the Wood, and at the time, I don’t believe it was intended to be a series. Fast forward to the release of Drowned Country, which continues the story of Henry Silver and Tobias Finch perfectly as if the author had intended it all along (and maybe she did!). Drowned Country is a lush, dreamy fairy tale that isn’t big on plot, but it does have charm and ambiance to spare.
The story takes place two years after the events of Silver in the Wood. Henry Silver is now Lord of Greenhollow, having taken over after Tobias Finch—the previous Lord—left abruptly after a disagreement. Silver has been languishing in his crumbling mansion and pining for Tobias, lying on the floor and surrounding the walls of his house with brambles and thorns. His lassitude is interrupted by his mother, Mrs. Silver, who insists that she needs Silver’s assistance in finding a lost girl named Maud Lindhurst. Mrs. Silver hunts monsters, and she suspects Maud has been kidnapped by an old vampire and may already be dead.
Silver agrees to help her, especially since Tobias works with Mrs. Silver and he desperately wants to see him again. But his excitement turns to annoyance when he finds out they want him to act as bait in order to draw the vampire out and follow it to its lair. Things don’t go quite as planned, though, and both Silver and Tobias find themselves in a rather interesting situation with Maud Lindhurst.
The story takes off after that as Silver, Tobias and Maud go on a strange adventure into, of all places, Fairyland. I’m sure you’re wondering, what’s become of the vampire? You’ll discover that too if you decide to read this. Drowned Country is written in absolutely lovely prose, and I have to say Emily Tesh uses her writing skills to great effect, especially since the heart of the story revolves around the characters’ emotions and the fantastical descriptions of this odd world. One of my favorite things about Silver in the Wood was the relationship Tobias had with the Wood and the trees and plants that lived there, and once again we see how Silver now has the ability to wave his hand and make an apple tree grow, or cover his mansion in thorny branches with a simple gesture. We also get a couple of short scenes with Bramble, the dryad who lives in the Wood, who was a favorite of mine in the last book.
I also really enjoyed Henry Silver in this story. He’s a bit of a mess and doesn’t deal with his feelings very well, but he’s a vibrant, energetic man who makes mistakes but then learns from them. Many of the book’s humorous moments revolve around Silver and his complicated emotions. Tobias, on the other hand, is more of a rock. He barely speaks at all and appears to be mad at Silver for a ridiculous reason. In this sense, the romance in this story was a bit on the YA overly dramatic side, with Tobias refusing to speak to Henry and Henry desperately trying to connect with him. Luckily, the Wood itself intervenes, and the romance ended up in a very sweet place at the end.
Tesh includes some flashback chapters that explain exactly what happened between Tobias and Silver two years ago (events that were not included in Silver in the Wood), and I loved these sections, especially since I was confused in the beginning about why the two lovebirds split up.
As for the plot itself, I found it rather fractured, but in a dream-like, fairy tale way. Usually this would bother me, but the strangeness of the story charmed me and I found the plot to be almost secondary to the atmospheric quality of Tesh’s writing. There are quite a few elements here, including a vampire, a fairy, an overbearing monster hunter, a dying Fairyland, and of course, the magical but dangerous Wood that seems to be the center of everything. I often find novellas to be too short for their ambition, and this is no exception, but I loved the ending so much that I can forgive the length this time. I can easily imagine more stories set in the world, and I hope that Emily Tesh returns to it someday.
Big thanks to the publisher for supplying a review copy.
Nice review. I get frustrated sometimes with novellas, too, but better too short than too long! Henry Silver sounds like the kind of character I could really cheer for.
Priscilla Bettis recently posted…Never Have I Ever, Writer Edition
Henry is a fun guy:-)
That is a really creepy cover, I didn’t realise this was part of a series, I’d better go and read that first.
Heather recently posted…Book Review | The Guardians by John Christopher
I love this cover! Yes, you should read Silver in the Wood first.
I will have to check out the first book because it and this sequel sounds both amazing.
Stephanie @ Bookfever recently posted…Review: Blood Water Paint by Joy McCullough
Definitely start with the first book:-)
This was a great review! I don’t really know if this series could be my cup of tea, but you made me curious, that’s for sure!
Thanks Susy:-)
That little excerpt at the beginning of your review sounds delightfully ominous! 🙂
Maddalena@spaceandsorcery recently posted…TOP TEN TUESDAY: Books that should be adapted into Netflix shows/movies
Yes, I chose that excerpt because it gives you a good sense of the ambiance:-)
I still need to read Silver in the Wood, but this sounds great!
It’s such an interesting series. I recommend it!
I just picked up Silver in the Wood as a freebie recently so I hope to get here at some point. Fantastic review!
Oh cool! I hope you enjoy.
I suspect I’ll skip over this series. I’ve recently read a couple books with the overly dramatic YA romance and it grated on my nerves. Not looking for any more of that anytime soon. But the series does appear to have a really interesting mix of characters and elements and I’m really glad to hear you enjoyed it.
I’m glad I read the series. I thought this second book was a little better, at least for me.
I’m looking forward to picking this one up so really pleased to see it worked for you.
Lynn 😀
Lynn recently posted…Friday Face Off : Twist the bones and bend the back.
Hope you enjoy it!
Oh wow there looks like there’s sooo much packed into this novella!
I’m aching to read this, but after a wee little shopping spree I’ve put myself on a book buying ban, it’s tough
Ha ha well maybe when your ban is over? 🙂
Yes, I thought this one had a lot more “energy” and “personality” than the last one, all thanks to Silver! He was such a sulky manchild, but you just gotta love his voice.
It was hard not to like him:-)
Henry is a bit of a mess! I love that little drama queen, he reminds me of one of my friends hahaha. Glad you enjoyed this one, Tammy!
I liked Henry in the first book but I really liked him in this one:-)
What a fabulous cover! And I’m now curious to meet these characters and explore this world. Great review!
Laura Thomas recently posted…The Key Lime Crime ~ A Key West Food Critic Mystery by Lucy Burdette
Thanks Laura!
Same here. I was confused until the flashback where we learn why they broke up and then I understood Tobias’s reaction to Silver. I liked seeing Silver as master of the wood because a lot of the stuff we see him do, we didn’t see Tobias do in the first book, so we get a better idea of the abilities the master of the wood has.
I agree, that second perspective from Silver really made me love him more:-)
Wonderful review! I really enjoyed how the magic was the same but different between Tobias and Silver, which sort of reflected their personalities a bit. I felt like Silver used it with much more dramatic flair, which totally fits. xD I have the same struggle with novellas, but I would love to see this go the way of Murderbot and get a series of novellas, culminating in some sort of full-length novel. Maybe it’s a pipe dream, but hey, a girl can dream, can’t she?