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A review by markyon
Bone Harvest by James Brogden
4.0
As I type this, we’re just a few days before Halloween. Although the book is out in November, and therefore missed 31st October, it still has enough creeps to hold out until next year.
In 4 – 5 books James has been developing a little niche of contemporary horror. They’re rather like Phil Rickman’s Merrily Watkins books in that they often use a contemporary setting to envisage rather odd events.
In Bone Harvest we see what happens when a seemingly delightful young couple set up home in a quiet village. However, in the first quarter of the book, mainly set in the years 1915-1968, reveal their dark secret. Despite their friendliness and charm, they are really servants of the ancient Celtic boar god Moccus, with the task of killing then resurrecting their rejuvenated god every 26 years. To do this, they are gifted with slower aging and a longer than normal life expectancy.
To show this, the story begins in 1915 with Everett, a deserter in WW1 who in the No Man’s Land of France is inducted into The Grey Brigade, a group who in order to survive develop a taste for human flesh. Everett is persuaded to become a follower of Moccus. Returning to rural Wales, he discovers what a commitment to the god can mean when he is given the difficult task of butchering the god to allow its reappearance. With his lover Ardwyn, the ‘Mother’ of the group, Everett with Ardwyn and Gar (a devoted child of Moccus) breakaway from the group in Wales and begin to form a new group in rural Dodbury.
The story then moves to the present, where we continue the story mainly through Dennie Keeling. Dennie lives with her Great Dane Viggo in Dodbury. A widower, with her children all grown up and left home, one of her greatest contentments these days is spending time on her allotment, to the point where she often prefers to sleep in her allotment shed with Viggo rather than at home. When a derelict allotment near hers is bought by a young couple, strange things start to happen – people prowling at night, strange noises from the new shed built by the newcomers. Dennie becomes suspicious, and begins to dream about her friend Sarah who used to own the derelict plot. The thing is that Sarah is dead, having murdered her abusive husband and then committed suicide in prison. Are these nightmares revivified guilt, chilling prophesies or a sign of Dennie’s advancing Alzheimer’s dementia?
This one reads fast and well. Its scale is ambitious, managing to blend ancient folklore with Wicker Man-style events in contemporary rural England! The trick is to make these often-bizarre events seem plausible, and James does this by filling in a backstory in the first quarter of the book before showing us events in the present.
Strongest of all though is the characterisation, and especially that of Dennie with her faithful dog Viggo, whose relationship to me equals that of Harry Dresden and Mouse. Dennie is straight out of Midsommer Murders, a likeable if irascible old lady with pin-point accurate observations of what is around her and always with a cup of tea close to hand. (This is a book where tea, and cake, are never far away from the main characters.) The fact that the book is set mainly in the Spring and a warm Summer shows us that creepy things can happen at any time, not just Halloween and the Winter.
The world of nature, as shown by Dennie’s observations on the allotment, are juxtaposed with less mundane elements to show a life that is quite – well, normal. By creating such a recognisable lifestyle, the plot taps into that Fritz Leiber vibe where strange ancient rituals are being obscured by the mundanity of modern society. This can be summed up as “Do you really know what that nice neighbour at Number 17 is like?”
This is James’ biggest and perhaps most ambitious book to date. A story of allotments and ritualistic cannibalism, it read very quickly and easily. Fans of the Merrily Watkins books or the Wychwood series should like this. A great read.
In 4 – 5 books James has been developing a little niche of contemporary horror. They’re rather like Phil Rickman’s Merrily Watkins books in that they often use a contemporary setting to envisage rather odd events.
In Bone Harvest we see what happens when a seemingly delightful young couple set up home in a quiet village. However, in the first quarter of the book, mainly set in the years 1915-1968, reveal their dark secret. Despite their friendliness and charm, they are really servants of the ancient Celtic boar god Moccus, with the task of killing then resurrecting their rejuvenated god every 26 years. To do this, they are gifted with slower aging and a longer than normal life expectancy.
To show this, the story begins in 1915 with Everett, a deserter in WW1 who in the No Man’s Land of France is inducted into The Grey Brigade, a group who in order to survive develop a taste for human flesh. Everett is persuaded to become a follower of Moccus. Returning to rural Wales, he discovers what a commitment to the god can mean when he is given the difficult task of butchering the god to allow its reappearance. With his lover Ardwyn, the ‘Mother’ of the group, Everett with Ardwyn and Gar (a devoted child of Moccus) breakaway from the group in Wales and begin to form a new group in rural Dodbury.
The story then moves to the present, where we continue the story mainly through Dennie Keeling. Dennie lives with her Great Dane Viggo in Dodbury. A widower, with her children all grown up and left home, one of her greatest contentments these days is spending time on her allotment, to the point where she often prefers to sleep in her allotment shed with Viggo rather than at home. When a derelict allotment near hers is bought by a young couple, strange things start to happen – people prowling at night, strange noises from the new shed built by the newcomers. Dennie becomes suspicious, and begins to dream about her friend Sarah who used to own the derelict plot. The thing is that Sarah is dead, having murdered her abusive husband and then committed suicide in prison. Are these nightmares revivified guilt, chilling prophesies or a sign of Dennie’s advancing Alzheimer’s dementia?
This one reads fast and well. Its scale is ambitious, managing to blend ancient folklore with Wicker Man-style events in contemporary rural England! The trick is to make these often-bizarre events seem plausible, and James does this by filling in a backstory in the first quarter of the book before showing us events in the present.
Strongest of all though is the characterisation, and especially that of Dennie with her faithful dog Viggo, whose relationship to me equals that of Harry Dresden and Mouse. Dennie is straight out of Midsommer Murders, a likeable if irascible old lady with pin-point accurate observations of what is around her and always with a cup of tea close to hand. (This is a book where tea, and cake, are never far away from the main characters.) The fact that the book is set mainly in the Spring and a warm Summer shows us that creepy things can happen at any time, not just Halloween and the Winter.
The world of nature, as shown by Dennie’s observations on the allotment, are juxtaposed with less mundane elements to show a life that is quite – well, normal. By creating such a recognisable lifestyle, the plot taps into that Fritz Leiber vibe where strange ancient rituals are being obscured by the mundanity of modern society. This can be summed up as “Do you really know what that nice neighbour at Number 17 is like?”
This is James’ biggest and perhaps most ambitious book to date. A story of allotments and ritualistic cannibalism, it read very quickly and easily. Fans of the Merrily Watkins books or the Wychwood series should like this. A great read.