Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Anderson (Something in the Woods Loves You) delivers a haunting and atmospheric urban fantasy populated by quirky human characters and fabulously weird mythical creatures. It kicks off with protagonist Green dying and coming back to life, his death having been stolen by a giant crow. After this bizarre encounter, he feels an inexplicable call to the Catskill mountains, where he's determined to camp while seeking fulfillment. On his first night at the remote Candle-Fly Camp, he barely survives a strange encounter with a glowing, translucent deer and a partially skinned horned wolf that addresses him as "not-man" before vanishing. Fortunately, Green's new, reclusive neighbor, Valentina, is a cryptonaturalist and expert in such unusual phenomenon and agrees to take him on as an apprentice. Thus begins Green's education in the unseen and unexpected, as Valentina introduces him to all manner of cryptids and helps him investigate why these creatures are appearing to him. She also reveals that the glass fawn, the technical name for the translucent deer, is said to bring death to all who see it, meaning Green's time may be running out. Anderson's worldbuilding is wonderfully bizarre, and there's an introspective bent to the ecologically minded narrative that gives Green's journey an intimate feel as he finds new friends, purpose, and home. The result is a wholly captivating tale of magic and nature. (Feb.)
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Review by Library Journal Review
DEBUT Just as a bus tire begins to roll over Green's head, his life rewinds mere moments to leave him standing safely on the sidewalk staring at a giant crow. Green is then gifted a demanding acorn and has a compulsion to leave the city behind. As Green travels into forested mountains, Anderson uses his precise prose to muse about modern life and nature. This increases as Green meets his new neighbors; every one, from the teenager at the gas station counter to his new cryptonaturalist mentor, speaks in riddles and koans. Green has yet to find balance in his new life, however, and it becomes more difficult when he spots a translucent glowing deer and runs afoul of the partially dead giant wolf tracking it. As Green investigates a series of uncanny deaths, the story feels akin to classic philosophical fiction texts such as Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert M. Pirsig. This novel's messages focus more on being present and allowing the natural world to show what it truly is, rather than allowing assumptions to turn nature into something to be feared. VERDICT Anderson's (Something in the Woods Loves You) rural fantasy, his fiction debut, will be a blessing for fans of classic Charles de Lint.--Matthew Galloway
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