Winner of the 2020 World Fantasy Award! From Astounding Award and Crawford Award Finalist Emily Tesh An ALA RUSA Reading List Selection “A true story of the woods, of the fae, and of the heart. Deep and green and wonderful.”–New York Times bestselling author Naomi Novik There is a Wild Man who lives in the deep quiet of Greenhollow, and he listens to the wood. Tobias, tethered to the forest, … he listens to the wood. Tobias, tethered to the forest, does not dwell on his past life, but he lives a perfectly unremarkable existence with his cottage, his cat, and his dryads.
When Greenhollow Hall acquires a handsome, intensely curious new owner in Henry Silver, everything changes. Old secrets better left buried are dug up, and Tobias is forced to reckon with his troubled past–both the green magic of the woods, and the dark things that rest in its heart.
Praise for Emily Tesh’s Silver in the Wood
“A wildly evocative and enchanting story of old forests, forgotten gods, and new love. Just magnificent.”–Jenn Lyons, author of The Ruin of Kings
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A true story of the woods, of the fae, and of the heart. Deep and green and wonderful.
WOW! What a book!
I love fantasy books, but this book deserves it’s own genre.
This short stunning debut novel is an unbelievable gripping and exciting story about the hidden world in the woods and their old gods.
It’s so so beautiful written and fascinating, that I read it in one sitting and couldn’t stop my unexpected fascination with the creatures that live in the strange world of flora and fauna.
The story of Henry and Tobias, and the magic of a myth they’ve always known, is something no one who loves fantasy should miss.
And don’t let me start about the cover. One of the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen.
I don’t know who recommended it to me, but thank you so much
Drowned Country is a sequel to Silver in the Wood, Emily Tesh’s lush, folkloric debut book and will be published on August 18th.
I can’t wait to read it
T;LDR: A fairytale novella set in a forest, Silver in the Wood features beautiful prose, interesting characters and is an enchanting read.u2060u2060
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u2060u2060A novella set in fairytale style, with old magic, some explained and other parts not, The Silver Wood is written from the point of view of Tobias, a giant but gentle soul called the Wild Man, who lives and is tethered in a magical forest. His usual existence is thrown into chaos as a newcomer, Henry Silver, purchases the local hall and investigates the folklore surrounding the Wild Man.u2060u2060
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Overall, it is a well-written book. The world is engaging, the magic telling has a light touch, the prose is gorgeous and the characters have depth. For this reason, it gets my top rating – 5 out of 5 stars.u2060u2060
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What I liked:u2060u2060
The prose is beautifully crafted. It’s not flowery or overly complicated.u2060u2060
The worldbuilding is lightly present – enough to understand what’s happening w/o bogging down the plot.u2060u2060
Backstory is smoothly weaved in.u2060u2060
Mrs. Silver cares too much and knows more than she should.u2060u2060
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What I liked less:u2060u2060
Main villain wasn’t as scary or powerful as expected or he could’ve been.u2060u2060
Maybe just a smidge more worldbuilding to flesh it out the world in my brain u2060u2060
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To Sum Up (Too Late!):u2060u2060
Overall, I really enjoyed this book. I reached, a bit, for what I didn’t like, because it had a lot of what I do like – fairytale-esque format, fun and diverse characters, mystery, twists, and a little lighthearted LGBTQ+ romance. u2060u2060
3.5/5
This is my first time reading something by this author, and I had fun!
While this wasn’t a perfect read, it still had plenty of redeeming qualities.
In a nutshell, this novella centers on a being named Tobias. For 400 years he’s lived a relatively solitary existence in the Greenhollow with his cat and dryads. That is, until a beautiful young man enters his life one rainy day and changes everything.
The best thing about this book was the setting and concept for me. We get a lot of great detail throughout, and you can really imagine each beautiful, verdant scene in your mind’s eye as things unfold. I also loved the paranormal aspect of things. Tobias was an enigma with some paranormal abilities, and things got even more interesting in the later half of the book. Why have I never noticed how amazing dryads are? I’ve seriously got to find more fiction centered around them!
The characters were great. Tobias had a lot of progression throughout. He’s less human at the beginning, but over time you get to see his human side emerge and it’s a wonderful thing. I also liked how practical and smart he was, despite being illiterate. There wasn’t a single time where his actions didn’t make sense to me.
Silver was a beautiful young man with a great personality. But I have to say, Bramble was a favorite of mine (Pearl too!). I just loved how different she was and how protective she was of Tobias. She was also something of an enigma, much like him.
The plot felt simple in nature, and I enjoyed that. The romance element was subtle throughout and definitely worked for me. Less is more with romance if you ask me.
Given all this praise, there were some parts throughout that really confused me. Mainly, the folklore around the central character and the world itself. There’s a lot of extra information that’s shared throughout the book sporadically, but there wasn’t enough knowledge given to complete the picture if you’re an average reader. That didn’t work for me. I wanted a solid explanation of things by the end, but we got tiny bits here and there. It felt like a mystery that I never quite solved, and that left me feeling unfulfilled.
That being said, this was still quite the epic gay fantasy novella, and I’m definitely not going to forget this experience anytime soon.
This is Book 1 of a duology (Book 2 is Drowned Country). I don’t usually go in for fantasy about the fae world or romance with understated sex BUT these books are too gorgeous not to recommend. The 2-book arc unites, tears apart, and reunites two men in an otherworld-England setting, with big nods to Green Man legend. Book 1 ends with an implied HFN. Book 2 begins 2 or 3 years later, during which something went down to threaten the relationship, and that book’s events reunite the heroes and explore the obstacles they need to overcome. Incredibly romantic, especially if you enjoy one gruff, silent, protective hero and one gregarious, impulsive, certain-he’s-broken hero.
I was instantly absolutely in love with the gorgeous language of this tale, and not gorgeous in that overthought pretentious way, but gorgeous in the the I must devour it all as the beauty washes over me way. This story overflows with personality, myth, history, regret and longing. I adored Tobias and Silver, but the true hidden gem of this story was Mrs. Adela Silver, it only took a page for her to steal the show with her no nonsense fix it ness. More words would give too much away without doing it justice, so just read this, now!
This was a re-read! It’s still and absolutely enchanting and beautiful story. I loved Tobias and Henry and Bramble and Pearl so very much. The setting was fantastic (I need more ancient Woods in my life).
Looking forward to re-reading the next book and reading any other books that this author writes in the future!
Beautiful first volume in a duology. Magnificent writing!
Silver in the Wood is the first book of the Greenhollow Duology and is a different take on a ‘Green Man’ tale. It’s full of wonder and fascination. Packed into a slim 105 pages, is a world of magic. The follow up, Drowned Country is already on my TBR.
I loved everything about this novelette. A story of the green man, it’s full of ancient magic and peopled with charming characters. The voice and worldbuilding feel cozy and familiar to me, probably because I’m such a woods dweller and folklore lover myself. Looking forward to reading the sequel!
Loved this story, and definitely moving right along to the second half of the duology. It was beautifully fantastical, with fairy tale vibes, and perfectly, gently queer. Didn’t know how much I needed to read this, I had picked up the free copy when Tor offered it, and I couldn’t put it down. Recommend this for fans of The House in the Cerulean Sea and The Starless Sea
A wonderful story of ancient magic and strange supernatural powers with a touching queer romance between two well-drawn characters. I cried at the end,
I really enjoyed the story. It’s a bit like the fairy stories I listened to and read as a child. Its not a full blown romance , but the bones are there.
The narration made for an excellent experience! It’s the best way to enjoy the story.
Something new in a not so always new genre.
Some authors just leave you a bit breathless. And for me, Emily Tesh is one of those authors. This is a novella, and I wish it had been a giant tome so I didn’t have to leave this world. Original fantasy brought to life so magically.
Lovely writing, unusual and interesting characters, and a nice twist on a folk legend.
Silver in the Wood was a dreamy journey into the trees where secrets, love, magic, and tragedy all lie beneath the idyllic surface. If you’ve been looking for a lovely Victorian fantasy escape-read, this is the book for you!
This novella presents a new take on the Green Man.
A wildly evocative and enchanting story of old forests, forgotten gods, and new love. Just magnificent.
Emily Tesh’s Silver in the Wood is a Green Man story, a little bit fairy tale and a whole lot of magic wrapped up in a writing style that flows like poetry off the page. This isn’t a story of man vs. nature as much as it is a story of man is nature, and though I don’t have synesthesia in any form, this story made me feel the color green and sense the divinity of the forest in the way we know things from instinct.
Tobias Finch is the forest. For four-hundred years he’s been its keeper and caretaker, living like a hermit in his little cottage protected by the ancient giant oak as well as his friend Bramble, a dryad. Tobias is the Wild Man the villagers have been taught about through their oral and written traditions passed down over the centuries. When a curious human by the name of Henry Silver lands on Tobias’s doorstep one rainy day, Henry sets in motion a series of events, including an awakening in Tobias. And in time, as the seasons change, Henry also unwittingly invites the unwanted attention of a connection from Tobias’s past to the little cottage in the Greenhollow.
The forest has long been a harbinger of the dangerous and a guardian of the mystical in fairy tales. It’s the shadowy hallowed place in which the natural and the metaphysical coalesce, and it is a place of abstraction and self-discovery for those who wander through the dark and the light. Tesh incorporates these elements into her story while inviting readers into an arcane realm that reads like a dream we have the good fortune to be a part of. There is an evolution that takes place on the parts of both Tobias and Henry over the course of their story which figures prominently into the theme of a life well lived being the life that one is best suited to rather than the life which appears is the only option. The story culminates in a lovely way, ending on a bittersweet note, and I’d be lying if I didn’t admit that it left me a bit heart-heavy. Tesh’s delivery hits all the right notes.
For lovers of fairy tales, this short novel is a treat.