2023/041: Oak King Holly King — Sebastian Nothwell

2023/041: Oak King Holly King — Sebastian Nothwell

...even as his rational mind supposed that such an adventure could only end in mugging or murder, his Romantic soul stretched its withered wings and soared at the notion of leaving the suffocating fog of Staple Inn behind to venture out into the wilderness beneath the full moon. Furthermore, if he did end up murdered, it meant he’d never have to copy out another account-book again. [loc. 527]

Shrike is a faerie knight, a mercenary whose prowess in battle attracts the attention of the Faerie Queen. He is not given a choice about becoming the Oak King, destined to die in single combat with the Holly King and thus ensure the turning of the seasons -- but he can attempt magic to save himself. And that magic leads him to the unprepossessing figure of Wren Lofthouse, a clerk in Staple's Inn, a man who dreams of romance between Gawain and his Green Knight( Read more... )