At what appeared to be the end of the Forest Kingdom series in Beyond the Blue Moon, Prince Rupert and Princess Julia, also known as Hawk and Fisher, the only honest City Guards in the corrupt city of Haven, have saved the Forest Kingdom from falling to the rule of Demon Prince and all the other creatures of the longest night.
So what happens to them? Well they could have taken their places as rightful rulers of the Forest Kingdom, or they could return to Haven (not likely, given what they did to that city before leaving). Instead they decide to ride off in search of adventure. So, as the author puts it at the very end of Beyond the Blue Moon when they ride off before anyone knows they’ve left:
Let’s just go out into the world and see what’s there.” Hawk said finally. “Go adventuring again. Help people where we can. Kick the bad guys where it hurts. Because that’s what we do best.
“Sounds good to me,” said Fisher. “Who knows? Maybe we’ll win another Throne along the way.”
“God, I hope not,” said Hawk. They both laughed and urged their horses on.And so they rode out of Forest history once again, and back into legend, where they belonged.
Fair warning: spoilers follow as I can’t discuss this book without doing so!
It’s been a hundred years since the events in the last novel. We’re introduced to the Hawk and Fisher Memorial Academy, more commonly known as the Hero Academy. There’s always a husband and wife who run the Academy who, by long-standing tradition are known, as you might have guessed, as Hawk and Fisher. And who, not surprisingly, actually are Hawk and Fisher, apparently immortal due to the Wild Magic they were exposed to many, many years ago.
(Digression here. They had in their possession an alien device that confuses everyone. They might have picked it up when they visited the Nightside. Or not. That’s the nature of that device. Possibly.)
Content in their stewardship of the Academy, things turn sinister when they are told that the Demon Prince, one of the transient beings who very nearly brought his version of Hell to the Forest Kingdom, has returned to this reality to bring back the Long Night. So they reveal who they are and start out for the Forest Kingdom once again.
Word of warning: the synopsis on the back of this novel is absolutely wrong, as neither of their children, Jack, now a monk and once the Walking Man, the Living Wrath of God in The World of Men, and Jillian, leader of a training house for the Brotherhood of Steel, are kidnapped by the Demon Prince. Why it says this is a mystery. Hawk and Fisher will visit their children who will join them in the journey back to the Forest Kingdom.
If you’ve read any of the author’s works, you know what you’re getting here, a pulp sensibility, tongue in cheek (very firmly) dialogue and references to other series he’s done. Oh, and a breakneck pace designed to make sure that you don’t think too much about the logic of the story, such as the fact the Hawk and Fisher Academy exists within a really big and probably self-aware magical tree. Not to mention a sleeping dragon who once upon a time didn’t hoard gold, but instead hunted and collected butterflies, and a unicorn who comes back one more time to help fight the Demon Prince.
No, you should not start here. Go read Blue Moon Rising and its sequel, Beyond the Blue Moon before reading this, the latest book in this series. The Hawk and Fisher series, set between the first two books in the trilogy, has been collected in two volumes, Guards of Haven and Swords of Haven, but there’s no need to read them first. If you’re still in need of a Forest Kingdom fix, there are two more books, neither of which involves Hawk and Fisher, Blood and Honour and Down Among the Dead Men.
I should note that the full cast GraphicAudio adaption of this novel is fantastic listening. And the voice actors here have played Hawk & Fisher for the entire Forest Kingdom series as done by this company. (I think Chappie the dog is voiced by the same actor too.) Indeed I’m listening to it right now as intend to every few years.
(Roc, 2014)
