Gorse
By Sam K. Horton
Blurb
Cornwall, 1786.
For years, the villagers of Mirecoombe have turned to their Keeper, the old and battle-scarred Lord Pelagius Hunt, mediator between the worlds of men and fey, for help. But this is a time of change. Belief in the old ways, in the piskies and spriggans, has dimmed, kindled instead in the Reverend Cleaver’s fiery pulpit. His church stands proud above the mire; God’s name is whispered, hushed, loved. And now, death stalks Mirecoombe on the moor. There are corpses in the heather. There is blood in the gorse.
Nancy Bligh is determined to do what Pel will not: maintain the balance between the fey and the human world, be the Keeper that he refuses to be. Blessed with natural sight, friend to spriggans, piskies and human locals of Mirecoombe, Nancy has power that Pel never had and never lets her use. But as Mirecoombe falls into darkness, perhaps her time has come.
A poignant and lyrical examination of faith, love and grief, Gorse asks what do we choose to believe, and how does that shape who we are?
Our Review
Spirits, Masters of truth and deniers of falsehoods, hear me. Children of gorse, of peat and decay. Tor-Spillers, cave dwellers. In this ink the world's reflection, in it's darkness the abyss. Show me the answers."
Gorse is my favourite book of the year so far, and I have read over 100. In fact, it is one of my all-time favourite books. It reminded me of The Bear and The Nightiingale and The Name of the Wind but Sam K. Horton also has a writing style that is wholly his own. Gorse contains all my favourite elements of a fantasy book but I can't describe what they are, just that this book most definitely contains them.
Gorse is about a small village torn between the old and the new world, between offerings given to appease the Underfolk, and the teachings of the church. It begins with the villagers uneasy after yet another unexplained death on the Moor.
"The boy lies in the morning sun, his shirt muddied and crumpled from the peat and grass he was found in."
This death is a turning point for the balance between the believers and the non-believers, a point at which loyalties begin to make themselves known.
"Five of our own are dead.Killed out on the moor. And where is our glorious protector, our 'keeper'? Where is the man who takes your money? Who gives you bundles of sticks to pin to your breast? Nowhere!"
Lord Pelagius Hunt is Keeper of the moor. He keeps the balance between the Underfolk and the villagers, offers tithes when needed and reprimands those who need it. Recently though Pel has taken a step back, irked at those who are turning away from the old ways. His ward Nancy is determined to keep the peace where he will not.
"He is a Keeper. A person chosen to watch the line, the fragile one that seperates us from Them, one from the other. The magic from the man. There is more in this world than many people know there is plenty in the world we've forgotten."
This dark fantasy so lovely to read, I couldn't stop thinking about it, even when I was not reading it. I loved every flawed, imperfect character in it.
Gorse captipulted me through it and if I could read it all over again I would. Gorse hooked me instantly and still hasn't let me go.
"There is magic in the gorse."
Our Final Rating...
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