Scan barcode
A review by justins52books
The Wood Wife by Terri Windling
4.0
I'll freely admit that I would've passed this book by under normal circumstances. The setting, the premise, and the subgenre of "Urban Fantasy" (whatever that means - this takes place in a desert), are all things I would typically avoid under normal circumstances, but this book's inclusion in the TOR Essentials made me set those concerns aside and I am so glad I did. This will be the 6 1/3 TOR Essentials book and I have found them very much to my liking.
What I loved most was Windling's venue for her fairy story. Going in, I figured there would be no end to the constant description of desert flora and fauna and there is plenty, but she does it well enough and ties the description to the action of the story that it's not just pretty words about pretty things. Ultimately this results in a new space to explore old stories.
The pacing, mystery, reveals, and technique were all spot on for me and I was very happy to have picked this one up. I got to the last few chapters thinking, "There isn't enough of this book left to tie all this up," but I liked how it all ended and all wrapped up.
One thing though, and others have spoken on this as well: there are times where the book veers into 90's-style moral judgement on the things we have all come to know as problematic: suburban sprawl, government-run animal population control programs that outlive the problem, the loss of individual place in our society. I don't have an issue with any of these themes, but they took me out of the story more than I would've liked. Especially that bit about using shepherds. I'm the grandson of a sheep man and that part made me chuckle a bit. This book kept reminding me of [b:Today I Baled Some Hay to Feed the Sheep the Coyotes Eat|7384498|Today I Baled Some Hay to Feed the Sheep the Coyotes Eat|Bill Stockton|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1328813309l/7384498._SY75_.jpg|9237258] by Bill Stockton though I'm not sure the either author would 100% appreciate the comparison.
What I loved most was Windling's venue for her fairy story. Going in, I figured there would be no end to the constant description of desert flora and fauna and there is plenty, but she does it well enough and ties the description to the action of the story that it's not just pretty words about pretty things. Ultimately this results in a new space to explore old stories.
The pacing, mystery, reveals, and technique were all spot on for me and I was very happy to have picked this one up. I got to the last few chapters thinking, "There isn't enough of this book left to tie all this up," but I liked how it all ended and all wrapped up.
One thing though, and others have spoken on this as well: there are times where the book veers into 90's-style moral judgement on the things we have all come to know as problematic: suburban sprawl, government-run animal population control programs that outlive the problem, the loss of individual place in our society. I don't have an issue with any of these themes, but they took me out of the story more than I would've liked. Especially that bit about using shepherds. I'm the grandson of a sheep man and that part made me chuckle a bit. This book kept reminding me of [b:Today I Baled Some Hay to Feed the Sheep the Coyotes Eat|7384498|Today I Baled Some Hay to Feed the Sheep the Coyotes Eat|Bill Stockton|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1328813309l/7384498._SY75_.jpg|9237258] by Bill Stockton though I'm not sure the either author would 100% appreciate the comparison.