What do you think?
No Man's Land
The Great War was supposed to be the war to end all wars-and maybe it would have been, had an even greater, otherworldly foe not arisen to extinguish the conflict. Overnight, as guns blazed away in France and Flanders, village after village in the quiet British countryside were swallowed by the Forest. And within the Forest lurk the Huldu ‒ an ancient fae race, monstrous in their inhumanity, who have decided that mankind's ascendency over the world can endure no longer.
Enter Duncan Silver. Scarred by the war, fueled by a rage deeper than the trenches in which he once fought, Duncan is determined to show the Huldu that the world is not theirs for the taking. Armed with a cut-down trench gun filled with iron shot and a deadly iron knife, Duncan will stop at nothing to return the children the Huldu have stolen from the arms of their families. No matter how many Huldu he may have to slaughter along the way.
But when he is hired by a mother to return her four-year-old daughter, Miriam ‒ taken by the Huldu six months past and replaced with a Changeling ‒ all hell breaks loose. Miriam is a pawn in a much bigger game for dominance than Duncan ever expected, and several long-buried secrets from his past are about to be violently resurrected.
Enter Duncan Silver. Scarred by the war, fueled by a rage deeper than the trenches in which he once fought, Duncan is determined to show the Huldu that the world is not theirs for the taking. Armed with a cut-down trench gun filled with iron shot and a deadly iron knife, Duncan will stop at nothing to return the children the Huldu have stolen from the arms of their families. No matter how many Huldu he may have to slaughter along the way.
But when he is hired by a mother to return her four-year-old daughter, Miriam ‒ taken by the Huldu six months past and replaced with a Changeling ‒ all hell breaks loose. Miriam is a pawn in a much bigger game for dominance than Duncan ever expected, and several long-buried secrets from his past are about to be violently resurrected.
478 pages, Hardcover
First published March 24, 2026
About the author
Richard K. Morgan
71 books5,767 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.
Richard K. Morgan (sometimes credited as Richard Morgan) is a science fiction and fantasy writer.
Richard K. Morgan (sometimes credited as Richard Morgan) is a science fiction and fantasy writer.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 232 reviews
May 12, 2026
Filled with bone-crunching action, grit, and pathos in equal measures, this grimdark historical fantasy barely lets you catch your breath once it gets started. As I have come to expect from Morgan, the world-building and atmosphere are incredible. He has a way of describing a scene with vivid detail that still feels like it comes from the characters, never floating above them. For me this makes his environments feel immersive and real, jagged edges and all. The setting, a post Armistice England that had contact with and understanding of the fae world before the world but a relationship that has exploded with violence as a result of the Great War shaking something loose, was interesting and put to good use. This story didn't have to be a historical fantasy; more or less the same story could have been a second world fantasy and it would be details only to change… and yet the setting adds a whole lot. Firstly, it just imposes on the reader's sense of reality, which is always welcome. But more than that it adds an emotional tension to the characters that would be hard to do otherwise, gifting us a shorthand to understand the levels of desperation that people were feeling after the war. The main character, Duncan, felt a little anachronistic in just how rough around the edges he is, and his wildly graphic language, but most grimdark anti-hero protagonists don't fit quite right into the world they find themselves in, so this didn't bother me. Overall, the world and atmosphere and the writing style that forces you into these spaces are compelling and encompassing.
The writing is very muscular. It will lean into emotion and pathos as needed, often using flashbacks as a chance to insert emotional weight, and it also isn't afraid of thick description, flirting with the literary and poetic on occasion, but those both only serve to highlight how unrelenting it is overall. It has a destination and it is constantly plowing forward, and the reader gets to come along for the ride only if they can hold on. At least, that is how it feels. The writing is graphic, in describing both violence and sexuality, and doesn't turn away from the blood being spilled. All the characters feel like they have a depth to them, even if they are fitting neatly into expected roles in this kind of story. Morgan's protagonists are almost always antiheroes, only their level "anti" does change here and there, and Duncan has more of a heart than expected under his broken glass, bomb blast exterior. The various ancillary characters don't feel phoned in at all, all feel like they have rich histories and complicated realities, even if they serve convenient or expected narrative purposes. Duncan's anger and violence come from trauma, of course, but it feels earned here. His time in the war yes, but also his childhood before the war both serve as welcome depths to a character that responds with his fists first. None of his trauma is wildly inventive or unexpected, but again it is a place where Morgan uses the WW1 setting to really allow for a resounding characterization that feels grounded in a dirty, painful reality. None of the character work feels easy, and while nothing feels as cutting edge as some of the ideas you may find in some of Morgan's cyberpunk stories this tory still feels like it is pushing boundaries and wringing the most out of every character, every page, and it works for me.
I really enjoy the writing style and narrative style, though it is not any sort of wild departure for Morgan. The narrative is filled with broken histories, characters that are meta-human/augmented and then discarded by the powers who commissioned them, political intrigue and double-crosses, money and power serving o subvert the best interests of the public as it is a ravenous beast interested only in its own proliferation, and so on. The introduction of the fae world, and the various creatures that come from it, is inventive and definitely a different look for Morgan, but they really just serve as a different weapon, a different obstacle, for our protagonist to overcome. He is following similar narrative trajectories to what you will find in some of his other stand-alone works, but there is enough new and intriguing here that it doesn't feel repetitive, and it is definitely never boring. If you have read his other novels then you might be able to anticipate where things are going, but that doesn't take away from the quality of this book on its own, which is propulsive and hard to put down. There are a number of action scenes that are breathtaking, both in choreography and in brutality, which is on its own a delight to read. That they work as character moments as well, propelling the character and story forward in meaningful ways, is like icing on the cake. There is a relentlessness to the pacing, with the action set pieces serving to push it along, but there are a few moments of stillness, moments of observation and reflection, which work just enough to make sure there is more than just spectacle on these pages.
This story is gritty, vulgar, and violent. It has genuine emotional depths, but you have to wade through barbed-wire trenches filled with the blown-apart bodies of your comrades to get there. The story leans into conventional grimdark tropes and sentimentality, with sex and violence being the most common languages to express the brutal desperation and weary hostility of the world. The historical setting adds an interesting spin to those expected grimdark fantasy tropes, and the story feels fresh and inventive as a result. I enjoyed it from the very first page, and if vicious fae and sympathetic brutes with violence in their eyes and vulgarity in their mouths are in your literary wheelhouse then this novel is a wonderful feast.
(Rounded from 4.5)
The writing is very muscular. It will lean into emotion and pathos as needed, often using flashbacks as a chance to insert emotional weight, and it also isn't afraid of thick description, flirting with the literary and poetic on occasion, but those both only serve to highlight how unrelenting it is overall. It has a destination and it is constantly plowing forward, and the reader gets to come along for the ride only if they can hold on. At least, that is how it feels. The writing is graphic, in describing both violence and sexuality, and doesn't turn away from the blood being spilled. All the characters feel like they have a depth to them, even if they are fitting neatly into expected roles in this kind of story. Morgan's protagonists are almost always antiheroes, only their level "anti" does change here and there, and Duncan has more of a heart than expected under his broken glass, bomb blast exterior. The various ancillary characters don't feel phoned in at all, all feel like they have rich histories and complicated realities, even if they serve convenient or expected narrative purposes. Duncan's anger and violence come from trauma, of course, but it feels earned here. His time in the war yes, but also his childhood before the war both serve as welcome depths to a character that responds with his fists first. None of his trauma is wildly inventive or unexpected, but again it is a place where Morgan uses the WW1 setting to really allow for a resounding characterization that feels grounded in a dirty, painful reality. None of the character work feels easy, and while nothing feels as cutting edge as some of the ideas you may find in some of Morgan's cyberpunk stories this tory still feels like it is pushing boundaries and wringing the most out of every character, every page, and it works for me.
I really enjoy the writing style and narrative style, though it is not any sort of wild departure for Morgan. The narrative is filled with broken histories, characters that are meta-human/augmented and then discarded by the powers who commissioned them, political intrigue and double-crosses, money and power serving o subvert the best interests of the public as it is a ravenous beast interested only in its own proliferation, and so on. The introduction of the fae world, and the various creatures that come from it, is inventive and definitely a different look for Morgan, but they really just serve as a different weapon, a different obstacle, for our protagonist to overcome. He is following similar narrative trajectories to what you will find in some of his other stand-alone works, but there is enough new and intriguing here that it doesn't feel repetitive, and it is definitely never boring. If you have read his other novels then you might be able to anticipate where things are going, but that doesn't take away from the quality of this book on its own, which is propulsive and hard to put down. There are a number of action scenes that are breathtaking, both in choreography and in brutality, which is on its own a delight to read. That they work as character moments as well, propelling the character and story forward in meaningful ways, is like icing on the cake. There is a relentlessness to the pacing, with the action set pieces serving to push it along, but there are a few moments of stillness, moments of observation and reflection, which work just enough to make sure there is more than just spectacle on these pages.
This story is gritty, vulgar, and violent. It has genuine emotional depths, but you have to wade through barbed-wire trenches filled with the blown-apart bodies of your comrades to get there. The story leans into conventional grimdark tropes and sentimentality, with sex and violence being the most common languages to express the brutal desperation and weary hostility of the world. The historical setting adds an interesting spin to those expected grimdark fantasy tropes, and the story feels fresh and inventive as a result. I enjoyed it from the very first page, and if vicious fae and sympathetic brutes with violence in their eyes and vulgarity in their mouths are in your literary wheelhouse then this novel is a wonderful feast.
(Rounded from 4.5)
May 29, 2026
Worthy of all of its award nominations, No Man's Land is the Fae "high" (sorta) fantasy I have always wanted. If there were a classification for medium fantasy, this would be an example. Much of it is nearly urban fantasy. Whatever the appropriate classification, it reads so smoothly--no overly complicated info dumps, no bizarre names you can't remember, beautifully sculpted prose and structure. The story is refreshingly original (not easy to accomplish with this subject), and the suspense never falters. Folks, this is literature.
As with many extremely well written books, you may encounter mixed reviews here simply because this one has no intention of spoon feeding readers. If you want a quick, thrilling fix for a plane ride (and yes, I read and enjoy those too as they have their place) this novel is not your jam. If you want to be submerged in a new fantasy world, not fully unlike our own, with fae mythology and high stakes conflicts with a hero to match, get it immediately.
The premise: In a world not entirely unlike our own, the wards which once held back the Fae have collapsed, and now their forests encroach on human cities. A well reputed "fixer" begins his journey to enter the fae woods to retrieve a stolen child who had been replaced by a changeling, but before his journey can get underway, he is pressed into service by a human army preparing for war. Oh the many complications which ensue as he attempts to meet both obligations!
What I love most is that this is a novel that explores fae mythology very seriously, dark and dangerously. I don't pretend to know for certain, but I would bet money on the fact that Mr. Morgan has probably read, internalized and been partially influenced Patrick Rothfuss' The Name of the Wind. There is a weightiness to No Man's Land--a sense that you are reading a definitive work on this subject matter. But the prose is actually quite reader friendly--it is not dense. There's no filler. I effortlessly got lost in this story, and I would have happily stayed there if only I could have read more slowly.
I sincerely look forward to more from Mr. Morgan! This is one of my favorite fantasies this year.
As with many extremely well written books, you may encounter mixed reviews here simply because this one has no intention of spoon feeding readers. If you want a quick, thrilling fix for a plane ride (and yes, I read and enjoy those too as they have their place) this novel is not your jam. If you want to be submerged in a new fantasy world, not fully unlike our own, with fae mythology and high stakes conflicts with a hero to match, get it immediately.
The premise: In a world not entirely unlike our own, the wards which once held back the Fae have collapsed, and now their forests encroach on human cities. A well reputed "fixer" begins his journey to enter the fae woods to retrieve a stolen child who had been replaced by a changeling, but before his journey can get underway, he is pressed into service by a human army preparing for war. Oh the many complications which ensue as he attempts to meet both obligations!
What I love most is that this is a novel that explores fae mythology very seriously, dark and dangerously. I don't pretend to know for certain, but I would bet money on the fact that Mr. Morgan has probably read, internalized and been partially influenced Patrick Rothfuss' The Name of the Wind. There is a weightiness to No Man's Land--a sense that you are reading a definitive work on this subject matter. But the prose is actually quite reader friendly--it is not dense. There's no filler. I effortlessly got lost in this story, and I would have happily stayed there if only I could have read more slowly.
I sincerely look forward to more from Mr. Morgan! This is one of my favorite fantasies this year.
November 22, 2025
Thank you to NetGalley and Del Rey for this ARC! All thoughts are my own!
This is going to be a DNF for me sorry. All the swearing and the writing style just isn't working for me and life is just too short to read a book I'm not enjoying. Also, it's oddly sexual and I've read in other reviews that it only gets worse so that's a no from me.
If those things don't bother you then this one could work for you!
🤍
This is going to be a DNF for me sorry. All the swearing and the writing style just isn't working for me and life is just too short to read a book I'm not enjoying. Also, it's oddly sexual and I've read in other reviews that it only gets worse so that's a no from me.
If those things don't bother you then this one could work for you!
🤍
October 4, 2025
This was very very very difficult to rate.
No Man's Land is a historical fantasy following Duncan, a WWI veteran, who returns home to discover that an ancient, magical Forest has erupted all over England, bringing myths back into stark reality and transforming home into just another war zone.
Duncan becomes a woodsman, one of the few who have the skills to enter the Forest and make it back alive. He makes a living tracking down children abducted by the malicious, capricious fae and returning them to their families. However, when he is hired to rescue four-year-old Mimi Rush, he stumbles into a plot much bigger than just a simple changeling.
This plot concept is unmatched. The minute I read "WWI/fae hunter" I was on board. The possibilities are endless, the setup so fresh and interesting. And the bones of a fascinating story ARE there.
The worldbuilding is one of the high points of this book. We are very familiar with the concept of deadly, malevolent semi-sentient forests, and this one delivers pretty well. It's creepy, mostly relying on gore rather than suspense to drive home the necessary fear, and plays by its own strange rules. The Huldu, a race of sinister fae creatures, had their own interesting lore as well, although we only really got a tiny glimpse into it. I was fully hooked by Duncan's mission to rescue Mimi, and the pieces of his secret past we got to learn along the way.
The second half of the book, dealing more with real-world issues of scheming government agencies and national intrigue, was less gripping to me. But it was still full of action and should have been plenty for me to enjoy the reading experience, and probably end with a 3.5- or 4-star rating.
Unfortunately, I am rating this book 2.5 stars, and that is for one reason.
There are nine* women in this book with speaking roles and actions that matter to the plot.
There are TWO of them that:
1) Haven't had sex with Duncan
2) Aren't portrayed as wildly lascivious and horny to the point it becomes weird
3) Aren't described using words like "an air of ribald arousal" "crinkly but still quite remarkable cleavage" "voluptuous" "nubile, seductress air" and constant focus on breasts
"Jeez, okay, but you just said the book was good otherwise. Can't you just look past the sexual content if that's not your thing?"
No. I can't. It's like trying to read while somebody sits next to you and continuously stabs you with large needles. Like sure, maybe the plot is interesting, but I can't really focus on or enjoy it because I'M BEING STABBED WITH NEEDLES.
This story is like if a Tarantino movie (gory, wild careening violence) was crossed with a low budget porn film (awkward, off-putting, gross).
There are only a few real sex scenes, but that doesn't stop the book from incessantly flashing back to sex memories, telling you about Duncan's masturbation habits, his state of arousal at all times, making passing comments on everyone's breasts, and just adding a weird, off-putting sexual tone to literally every interaction:
• A dryad heals Duncan's wound by using her bodily fluids.
• The Fae Queen shows up naked almost every time she's onscreen, and at least half of those times it makes sure to tell us that her genitals are visible. She seems to be the only female fae we meet in the whole story, and the relative state of undress of the male fae is NEVER once mentioned, much less their genitals.
• Niamh, Duncan's situationship girlfriend, reacts to violent trauma (including sexual assault) and a diagnosis of terminal cancer by begging Duncan to have sex with her. She's awake and onscreen approximately three times: 1) having sex with Duncan, 2) being rescued by Duncan, 3) having sex with Duncan.
• Duncan remembers an elderly woman he met in Europe during the war and describes her "outrageously flirtatious girlishness" as if there was "still a young French sexpot" inside her, despite her age.
Can you see what I mean?
In addition, there's a repeated theme of sexual coercion that shows up, with men as the victim and women as the aggressor:
• The Fae Queen makes sexual advances to Duncan when he's an eleven-year-old boy.
• Belle D'Or coerces Duncan into having unpleasant sex that he didn't want to have in exchange for room and board.
• Annie and Sal essentially date rape Jerry by casting a loyalty spell on him and then having a threesome with him.
• Annie's every action continues to be lustful and sexually suggestive even after Duncan reacts with discomfort multiple times.
• Annie explains how she prefers to take on male apprentices because she enjoys having sex with them more than female apprentices.
The ONE time a woman is the target of sexual assault is the one I mentioned above, where vague "things" happened to Niamh off-screen and afterward she begs Duncan to make it all better by having sex with her.
The vulnerability of men to sexual coercion could be an interesting theme to explore, but it's not really explored. The twisted nature of Duncan's experience as a child and Annie and Sal's actions with Jerry is acknowledged by the text, but that's it. We quickly move on to more important things, like killing a bunch of people. It's odd because, while I do find unnecessary sexual content gross in general, the TONE of all this explicit content is half the time so twisted, creepy, and sinister that it's hard for me to even figure out what the purpose of its inclusion is.
What are we saying? That at least 78% of women think of nothing but sex at all times and want nothing more in life than to lie down with every breathing creature they cross paths with? I can't speak for every woman, and I'm sure there are some lascivious women out there, but it's SO pervasive and SO indiscriminate that it becomes overwhelming and makes it impossible to enjoy the story.
PLEASE STOP STABBING ME WITH NEEDLES.
This was not at all what I was expecting from the blurb, but I would have enjoyed it anyway if it weren't for all of the aforementioned stuff. I wish I could have enjoyed it, because there were a lot of very interesting concepts here.
*I did not include in my count of women Mrs. Crammond, the random French grandma, or the water monster.
No Man's Land is a historical fantasy following Duncan, a WWI veteran, who returns home to discover that an ancient, magical Forest has erupted all over England, bringing myths back into stark reality and transforming home into just another war zone.
Duncan becomes a woodsman, one of the few who have the skills to enter the Forest and make it back alive. He makes a living tracking down children abducted by the malicious, capricious fae and returning them to their families. However, when he is hired to rescue four-year-old Mimi Rush, he stumbles into a plot much bigger than just a simple changeling.
This plot concept is unmatched. The minute I read "WWI/fae hunter" I was on board. The possibilities are endless, the setup so fresh and interesting. And the bones of a fascinating story ARE there.
The worldbuilding is one of the high points of this book. We are very familiar with the concept of deadly, malevolent semi-sentient forests, and this one delivers pretty well. It's creepy, mostly relying on gore rather than suspense to drive home the necessary fear, and plays by its own strange rules. The Huldu, a race of sinister fae creatures, had their own interesting lore as well, although we only really got a tiny glimpse into it. I was fully hooked by Duncan's mission to rescue Mimi, and the pieces of his secret past we got to learn along the way.
The second half of the book, dealing more with real-world issues of scheming government agencies and national intrigue, was less gripping to me. But it was still full of action and should have been plenty for me to enjoy the reading experience, and probably end with a 3.5- or 4-star rating.
Unfortunately, I am rating this book 2.5 stars, and that is for one reason.
There are nine* women in this book with speaking roles and actions that matter to the plot.
There are TWO of them that:
1) Haven't had sex with Duncan
2) Aren't portrayed as wildly lascivious and horny to the point it becomes weird
3) Aren't described using words like "an air of ribald arousal" "crinkly but still quite remarkable cleavage" "voluptuous" "nubile, seductress air" and constant focus on breasts
"Jeez, okay, but you just said the book was good otherwise. Can't you just look past the sexual content if that's not your thing?"
No. I can't. It's like trying to read while somebody sits next to you and continuously stabs you with large needles. Like sure, maybe the plot is interesting, but I can't really focus on or enjoy it because I'M BEING STABBED WITH NEEDLES.
This story is like if a Tarantino movie (gory, wild careening violence) was crossed with a low budget porn film (awkward, off-putting, gross).
There are only a few real sex scenes, but that doesn't stop the book from incessantly flashing back to sex memories, telling you about Duncan's masturbation habits, his state of arousal at all times, making passing comments on everyone's breasts, and just adding a weird, off-putting sexual tone to literally every interaction:
• A dryad heals Duncan's wound by using her bodily fluids.
• The Fae Queen shows up naked almost every time she's onscreen, and at least half of those times it makes sure to tell us that her genitals are visible. She seems to be the only female fae we meet in the whole story, and the relative state of undress of the male fae is NEVER once mentioned, much less their genitals.
• Niamh, Duncan's situationship girlfriend, reacts to violent trauma (including sexual assault) and a diagnosis of terminal cancer by begging Duncan to have sex with her. She's awake and onscreen approximately three times: 1) having sex with Duncan, 2) being rescued by Duncan, 3) having sex with Duncan.
• Duncan remembers an elderly woman he met in Europe during the war and describes her "outrageously flirtatious girlishness" as if there was "still a young French sexpot" inside her, despite her age.
Can you see what I mean?
In addition, there's a repeated theme of sexual coercion that shows up, with men as the victim and women as the aggressor:
• The Fae Queen makes sexual advances to Duncan when he's an eleven-year-old boy.
• Belle D'Or coerces Duncan into having unpleasant sex that he didn't want to have in exchange for room and board.
• Annie and Sal essentially date rape Jerry by casting a loyalty spell on him and then having a threesome with him.
• Annie's every action continues to be lustful and sexually suggestive even after Duncan reacts with discomfort multiple times.
• Annie explains how she prefers to take on male apprentices because she enjoys having sex with them more than female apprentices.
The ONE time a woman is the target of sexual assault is the one I mentioned above, where vague "things" happened to Niamh off-screen and afterward she begs Duncan to make it all better by having sex with her.
The vulnerability of men to sexual coercion could be an interesting theme to explore, but it's not really explored. The twisted nature of Duncan's experience as a child and Annie and Sal's actions with Jerry is acknowledged by the text, but that's it. We quickly move on to more important things, like killing a bunch of people. It's odd because, while I do find unnecessary sexual content gross in general, the TONE of all this explicit content is half the time so twisted, creepy, and sinister that it's hard for me to even figure out what the purpose of its inclusion is.
What are we saying? That at least 78% of women think of nothing but sex at all times and want nothing more in life than to lie down with every breathing creature they cross paths with? I can't speak for every woman, and I'm sure there are some lascivious women out there, but it's SO pervasive and SO indiscriminate that it becomes overwhelming and makes it impossible to enjoy the story.
PLEASE STOP STABBING ME WITH NEEDLES.
This was not at all what I was expecting from the blurb, but I would have enjoyed it anyway if it weren't for all of the aforementioned stuff. I wish I could have enjoyed it, because there were a lot of very interesting concepts here.
*I did not include in my count of women Mrs. Crammond, the random French grandma, or the water monster.
Did Not Finish
March 15, 2026I was intrigued by the gorgeous cover, and the blending of noir elements with folklore was promising, but the grimdark mood & language, graphic violence, and casual sexualisation of the first female character to appear made me quickly realise this was not for me. Perhaps the protagonist has a redemption arc, but I'm not the reader to appreciate it.
Thank you to NetGalley and Del Rey for this ARC.
Thank you to NetGalley and Del Rey for this ARC.
May 17, 2026
Alternate (post-)WWI with faeries? Sign me up! ...Or so I thought.
Sadly this is very dull, in a particularly masculine way -- big hero with big suppressed emotions, lots of action scenes, woman after woman after woman who can't stop begging this guy to fuck them even though he has little discernible personality. There are hints of a more interesting story toward the end, but that's not where any of the focus is, for 500 boring, grunting pages.
Sadly this is very dull, in a particularly masculine way -- big hero with big suppressed emotions, lots of action scenes, woman after woman after woman who can't stop begging this guy to fuck them even though he has little discernible personality. There are hints of a more interesting story toward the end, but that's not where any of the focus is, for 500 boring, grunting pages.
April 2, 2026
A grimdark tale full of harrowing landscapes, flawed and plagued characters, and an ancient magic sweeping the countryside. Morgan’s prose will have you smelling the blood and earth, feeling the dampness of the forest, and craving more from the narrative. A fantastic story.
September 15, 2025
Quick very high level summary.
Post WWI Britain is overrun by the Huldu (ancient race of Fae). The Hudlu believe that humans have been in power for too long and wish to reverse that. Children start to go missing and return but do they really return or are they changelings. Our MC is on the hunt to get these children back and return the changelings.
My take.
I really wanted to like this story. The premise is super interesting but I just could not get into the authors writing style. The pacing is all over the place for me and in places is very slow and drawn out. The profanity at times seem misplaced and only added for shock value and trust me I cuss like a sailor at times so profanity is not an issue for me as long as it seems to fit with the flow and feeling of the story. I also had issues with aspects of the story, for example there is a part with an 11 year old boy and a fae woman that is sexualized. Not my thing at all. At that point I tried to continue with the story but I ended up DNF’ing the story at about 60%. Like I said this book was just not for me. Some will probably love it.
Post WWI Britain is overrun by the Huldu (ancient race of Fae). The Hudlu believe that humans have been in power for too long and wish to reverse that. Children start to go missing and return but do they really return or are they changelings. Our MC is on the hunt to get these children back and return the changelings.
My take.
I really wanted to like this story. The premise is super interesting but I just could not get into the authors writing style. The pacing is all over the place for me and in places is very slow and drawn out. The profanity at times seem misplaced and only added for shock value and trust me I cuss like a sailor at times so profanity is not an issue for me as long as it seems to fit with the flow and feeling of the story. I also had issues with aspects of the story, for example there is a part with an 11 year old boy and a fae woman that is sexualized. Not my thing at all. At that point I tried to continue with the story but I ended up DNF’ing the story at about 60%. Like I said this book was just not for me. Some will probably love it.
December 3, 2025
I love historical fantasy as a genre so the idea of one set in England in the bleak years directly after the First World War hooked me right away. In this strange alternative timeline the inhuman creatures of fairy tales, the Fae, have reemerged after centuries to conquer huge swaths of Britain, replacing human towns and villages with a giant, evil forest. The story follows Duncan Silver, a damaged WW1 veteran turned “woodsman” who ventures into these brutal woodlands to retrieve stolen children. The fae have a nasty habit of abducting infants to raise as slaves, it seems.
I really liked Duncan as a character. His grim backstory gave him a nice amount of depth and contextualized him into the story in an organic way. The action is terrific and the creepy fae elements are handled really well. It also feels like Morgan went to great lengths to depict the period vividly and that greatly helps to anchor this otherwordly story.
I did find it difficult to follow at times and may even need to re-read it at some point. Major plot points seemed to pass by without emphasis and I’m still unclear on several things. It also felt like the magical elements disappeared for a large part of the novel and my attention flagged a little at that point. There’s probably twice as much graphic sex as it needs and that may put off some readers.
Overall though this was a banger and if you like a little historical fiction with your dark fantasy it’s well worth your time.
Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC!
I really liked Duncan as a character. His grim backstory gave him a nice amount of depth and contextualized him into the story in an organic way. The action is terrific and the creepy fae elements are handled really well. It also feels like Morgan went to great lengths to depict the period vividly and that greatly helps to anchor this otherwordly story.
I did find it difficult to follow at times and may even need to re-read it at some point. Major plot points seemed to pass by without emphasis and I’m still unclear on several things. It also felt like the magical elements disappeared for a large part of the novel and my attention flagged a little at that point. There’s probably twice as much graphic sex as it needs and that may put off some readers.
Overall though this was a banger and if you like a little historical fiction with your dark fantasy it’s well worth your time.
Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC!
October 13, 2025
Post-WWI human destruction, disenchantment and rage, but with elf war and spooky forests added to the mix.
This is a dark, gritty fantasy for people who want graphic content. Harsh, furious and lascivious - and sadly I'm a little squeamish about that last one, so it wasn't so great for me.
I have tried to see Richard K. Morgan's "Altered Carbon" TV series and couldn't get past the first episode. There was just too many sex scenes getting in the way of the plot. I thought this might have been a TV thing, hyping the sensationalism... but turns out it's just the author's style.
This felt the same. The plot could have been good, but I just can't make myself pick up the book anymore, I just find it very off-putting. Not for me, which I was sad about as the voice is good, very vivid and more literary than most fantasies, and the world was very intriguing.
This is a dark, gritty fantasy for people who want graphic content. Harsh, furious and lascivious - and sadly I'm a little squeamish about that last one, so it wasn't so great for me.
I have tried to see Richard K. Morgan's "Altered Carbon" TV series and couldn't get past the first episode. There was just too many sex scenes getting in the way of the plot. I thought this might have been a TV thing, hyping the sensationalism... but turns out it's just the author's style.
This felt the same. The plot could have been good, but I just can't make myself pick up the book anymore, I just find it very off-putting. Not for me, which I was sad about as the voice is good, very vivid and more literary than most fantasies, and the world was very intriguing.
July 16, 2026
I tried, I really did. Fascinating concept, post WWI England the Fae have decided to take it all back. Stealing children, killing folks who enter the Forest.
Duncan is a war vet with what seems like an interesting backstory, and it was, up to a point. He now spends his time taking money from distraught parents who've had their children stolen.
It's got moments of interest and lucidity, but for the most part ends up a very dull slow moving read
Duncan is a war vet with what seems like an interesting backstory, and it was, up to a point. He now spends his time taking money from distraught parents who've had their children stolen.
It's got moments of interest and lucidity, but for the most part ends up a very dull slow moving read
December 6, 2025
Review copy received from NetGalley
Consider, for a moment, the idea of a changeling. The child whisked away in the night by fae creatures, replaced by a manikin crafted in the child's image by supernatural means. Now imagine someone who's job it is to get those stolen children back, by any means necessary.
That is the protagonist of No Man's Land, Duncan Silver, woodsman and veteran of the War to End All Wars - which as we know did not, in fact, end all wars, and in the context of this book was quickly followed by the rapid and extensive expansion of faerie-infested forestry.
If you're familiar with the author's other works - Altered Carbon, Thin Air, Thirteen - then you know the drill; an experienced protagonist capable of and comfortable with extreme violence in a hyperspecialized profession at the lawless margins of society. I enjoyed it in those books, and while No Man's Land breaks from the sci-fi standard, I found I liked the divergence significantly more than I thought I would.
The Huldu, such as the fae are rendered here, are depicted as ancient and monstrous, the violence graphically descriptive, and the sexual commentary a bit excessive at times (at several points it felt more intrusive and unnecessary than in the author's other books), but all in all I enjoyed the book and felt it reliably delivered what I was hoping for.
Consider, for a moment, the idea of a changeling. The child whisked away in the night by fae creatures, replaced by a manikin crafted in the child's image by supernatural means. Now imagine someone who's job it is to get those stolen children back, by any means necessary.
That is the protagonist of No Man's Land, Duncan Silver, woodsman and veteran of the War to End All Wars - which as we know did not, in fact, end all wars, and in the context of this book was quickly followed by the rapid and extensive expansion of faerie-infested forestry.
If you're familiar with the author's other works - Altered Carbon, Thin Air, Thirteen - then you know the drill; an experienced protagonist capable of and comfortable with extreme violence in a hyperspecialized profession at the lawless margins of society. I enjoyed it in those books, and while No Man's Land breaks from the sci-fi standard, I found I liked the divergence significantly more than I thought I would.
The Huldu, such as the fae are rendered here, are depicted as ancient and monstrous, the violence graphically descriptive, and the sexual commentary a bit excessive at times (at several points it felt more intrusive and unnecessary than in the author's other books), but all in all I enjoyed the book and felt it reliably delivered what I was hoping for.
November 20, 2025
This is a really fun concept for a book and I was so excited to read it. There were parts of the story that were interesting and the mmc was well written but most of the plot didn't hold my interesting.
March 19, 2025
"Only now there's a new f*cking emergency. And it's only just getting up to speed. "
Dude. 2005 is over. Post-post-post-Cyberpunk a la Gibson has been in decline for a long time and it is only getting worse. Cursing and chopped up sentences no longer work as a stand in for actual narrative VOICE and no longer evoke style. Yes, there is a place for slick, clean prose. In fact Sci-Fi and Fantasy are in desperate need of it, but Morgan needs to grow up (as a writer) or this book is not gonna fly.
Dude. 2005 is over. Post-post-post-Cyberpunk a la Gibson has been in decline for a long time and it is only getting worse. Cursing and chopped up sentences no longer work as a stand in for actual narrative VOICE and no longer evoke style. Yes, there is a place for slick, clean prose. In fact Sci-Fi and Fantasy are in desperate need of it, but Morgan needs to grow up (as a writer) or this book is not gonna fly.
Want to Read
November 10, 2025Just got sent an unsolicited ARC of this so I will be reading it much, much sooner than planned!
September 29, 2025
No Man’s Land by Richard K Morgan is a dark fantasy set in an alternate Britain immediately following World War I. Written in third person with a singular POV, the story follows Duncan Silver, a former Captain in the British Army who now spends his days stalking the Forest to retrieve human children taken by the Huldu, a strange and savage race of Fair Folk who reentered the world with the Unbinding of the Great Forests.
Now the Forest covers all of the British Isles save for islands of human habitation carefully guarded by iron and fire, with armored trains the only means of safely traveling through the Forest to reach other cities. The Huldu emerge rarely from its eaves, but the Forest is always creeping forward.
Duncan is contracted to retrieve a young child taken into the Forest by its bereft mother, an event which kicks off various intrigues and danger, with multiple factions attempting to intervene. Duncan must rely on all of his skills as he gathers friends to save the child from the Forest, and shapes the future relationship of Britain and the Huldu in the process.
Sharp and well-written, this novel is a masterful
blend of folklore, history, and fantasy. I really enjoyed the atmosphere crafted by the author, full of dark forests and deep waters. There’s a lurking horror threaded throughout that amps up the tension. The world-building is fantastic, with an almost apocalyptic feel to it, and I would readily read anything set in it again. It is a nice change of pace to see a fantasy that doesn’t cast the Fair Folk as the heroes - there are no shadow daddies here, or fair otherworldly maidens. They are cruel, strange, and Other, and provide an excellent foil.
The characterizations are good, Duncan being the most fleshed-out with the Huldu Queen Mebhuranon coming in second. The side characters don’t have their own arcs, and are mostly one-dimensional, but there is enough meat on some of their bones to be interesting. Duncan’s arc is fantastic. Duncan’s history with the Huldu is hinted at throughout, with major reveals coming in the back half of the book - but the mystery is maintained by leaving some things unanswered or only half guessed. This is more of a reveal than a twist book.
The style of dialogue I didn’t always love, but I adjusted to it after a few chapters and it bothered me less as I went. This is not a spice book, but sex and sex-adjacent things are described. There were a few sections that yanked me out of the writing, and an odd emphasis on describing female genitalia where it could have been left off, but overall the sexual content was tolerable. I think the purpose was to add to the extreme otherness of the Huldu and build contrast, as the Huldu are unconcerned by the body in a way humans (especially Victorian era ones) are not, but it wasn’t my favorite approach. The female characters are mostly filling maiden/mother virgin/whore stereotypes, and the majority of the actions they take are sexual in nature. The plot did not need the content but it is there and it’s a take the bad with the good sort of situation, but be aware if you avoid those things in your reading. There are plenty of action scenes and detailed depictions of firearms/explosives/weaponry and their use, and gratuitous violence.
The pacing is relatively consistent and quick, and I felt engaged the entire time I was reading. I finished it in one day over several back to back reading sessions as I could not put it down, and then obsessed over it for several days after completion. The conclusion was full of reveals and emotion and I thought it was really well done. It left me with a combination of satiety of knowing how the story ended while still wanting more from the world. Alas, for brilliantly crafted standalone titles.
I’d highly recommend this to fans of dark fantasy or grimdark fantasy, and potentially to alternate historical fantasy fans as long as they enjoy a darker, grittier tone. I think the style of writing may not be for everyone, as the dialogue can be choppy and the language used coarse, but the story within is absolutely worth shunting aside annoyance at some of the phrasing. I have not read any other works by the author, so I can’t compare them (which I plan to rectify). If you like brash antiheroes, otherworldly villains, with dark woods and creeping fears bundled together, then this is the book for you. Despite my qualms about some of the phrasing and the sexual content, this is still a four star read for me and I can’t wait to grab a hard copy when it releases.
Now the Forest covers all of the British Isles save for islands of human habitation carefully guarded by iron and fire, with armored trains the only means of safely traveling through the Forest to reach other cities. The Huldu emerge rarely from its eaves, but the Forest is always creeping forward.
Duncan is contracted to retrieve a young child taken into the Forest by its bereft mother, an event which kicks off various intrigues and danger, with multiple factions attempting to intervene. Duncan must rely on all of his skills as he gathers friends to save the child from the Forest, and shapes the future relationship of Britain and the Huldu in the process.
Sharp and well-written, this novel is a masterful
blend of folklore, history, and fantasy. I really enjoyed the atmosphere crafted by the author, full of dark forests and deep waters. There’s a lurking horror threaded throughout that amps up the tension. The world-building is fantastic, with an almost apocalyptic feel to it, and I would readily read anything set in it again. It is a nice change of pace to see a fantasy that doesn’t cast the Fair Folk as the heroes - there are no shadow daddies here, or fair otherworldly maidens. They are cruel, strange, and Other, and provide an excellent foil.
The characterizations are good, Duncan being the most fleshed-out with the Huldu Queen Mebhuranon coming in second. The side characters don’t have their own arcs, and are mostly one-dimensional, but there is enough meat on some of their bones to be interesting. Duncan’s arc is fantastic. Duncan’s history with the Huldu is hinted at throughout, with major reveals coming in the back half of the book - but the mystery is maintained by leaving some things unanswered or only half guessed. This is more of a reveal than a twist book.
The style of dialogue I didn’t always love, but I adjusted to it after a few chapters and it bothered me less as I went. This is not a spice book, but sex and sex-adjacent things are described. There were a few sections that yanked me out of the writing, and an odd emphasis on describing female genitalia where it could have been left off, but overall the sexual content was tolerable. I think the purpose was to add to the extreme otherness of the Huldu and build contrast, as the Huldu are unconcerned by the body in a way humans (especially Victorian era ones) are not, but it wasn’t my favorite approach. The female characters are mostly filling maiden/mother virgin/whore stereotypes, and the majority of the actions they take are sexual in nature. The plot did not need the content but it is there and it’s a take the bad with the good sort of situation, but be aware if you avoid those things in your reading. There are plenty of action scenes and detailed depictions of firearms/explosives/weaponry and their use, and gratuitous violence.
The pacing is relatively consistent and quick, and I felt engaged the entire time I was reading. I finished it in one day over several back to back reading sessions as I could not put it down, and then obsessed over it for several days after completion. The conclusion was full of reveals and emotion and I thought it was really well done. It left me with a combination of satiety of knowing how the story ended while still wanting more from the world. Alas, for brilliantly crafted standalone titles.
I’d highly recommend this to fans of dark fantasy or grimdark fantasy, and potentially to alternate historical fantasy fans as long as they enjoy a darker, grittier tone. I think the style of writing may not be for everyone, as the dialogue can be choppy and the language used coarse, but the story within is absolutely worth shunting aside annoyance at some of the phrasing. I have not read any other works by the author, so I can’t compare them (which I plan to rectify). If you like brash antiheroes, otherworldly villains, with dark woods and creeping fears bundled together, then this is the book for you. Despite my qualms about some of the phrasing and the sexual content, this is still a four star read for me and I can’t wait to grab a hard copy when it releases.
June 11, 2026
Pretty good story. I really enjoyed the audio performance.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
Primeval forests have suddenly returned to Europe in the aftermath of World War One. A veteran with a dark past makes his living by rescuing children stolen by the creatures who inhabit the Forest.
This isn't quite the book I was expecting. I thought there would be exploration of why the Forest had appeared and the purpose of the child thieving; instead, it's more action focused, with a lot of human scheming going on in the background. I did enjoy the book, but it took me a little while to adjust my expectations.
I'm knocking the book half a star for the ending, which feels too tidy.
There are clearly more stories that could be told in this world, and I hope Morgan writes them someday.
Three and a half stars.
Received via NetGalley.
This isn't quite the book I was expecting. I thought there would be exploration of why the Forest had appeared and the purpose of the child thieving; instead, it's more action focused, with a lot of human scheming going on in the background. I did enjoy the book, but it took me a little while to adjust my expectations.
I'm knocking the book half a star for the ending, which feels too tidy.
There are clearly more stories that could be told in this world, and I hope Morgan writes them someday.
Three and a half stars.
Received via NetGalley.
Want to Read
May 7, 2023Why is this book listed but not available anywhere to purchase??
Did Not Finish
May 8, 2026By the time I got to 75% I really didn’t care anymore.
May 26, 2026
More of a 3.5 I think; curse Goodreads for its lack of half stars. Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC!
This is quite good at the beginning and middle, but it does drag a bit by the end. There’s a lot of interesting theming around power and what it does to people, and that does hold throughout the novel. The wobbliness/blurriness of the line between faerie and human is also very tasty (said the guy who does early modern trans studies). I adore how utterly unhinged Duncan is for most of the book and how competent he generally is. No sitting through big chunks of planning! Just Duncan screaming obscenities at various people and acting like an action game protagonist! It’s a lot of what I enjoy about Hotspur. I also love his interactions with Mimi (spoilers I guess). Duncan’s backstory is very interesting, and his experiences as a WWI soldier are beautifully woven into the text. All of the scenes set in the Forest are so cool; I love it as a setting.
I don’t love how the majority of the women in the novel are written, I have to say. I’m a little leery of how sex-obsessed they all are (even if it does play into the lack of faerie/human hard line mentioned above) and how the majority of them are just things for the plot to happen around. Justice for my queen Niamh, she truly could have been a sexy lamp. I did quite like Wolfsbane Sal, but again, when every single adult woman in the novel is obsessed with jumping our protagonist’s traumatized bones, it starts to feel a little weird! There is a Watsonian explanation for this, but no man in the novel gets horny for him, so it feels bad in my humble opinion. The climatic battle sequence also wore out its welcome to me. It was all a bit too vague and rushed. I think introducing the specific stakes a little earlier would have helped immensely. It’s also far too similar to the other conflicts that happen in the back half of the book for its own good.
It’s a decent enough novel, and certainly one I would recommend to anyone who enjoys WWI speculative fiction, but it is not without its flaws.
This is quite good at the beginning and middle, but it does drag a bit by the end. There’s a lot of interesting theming around power and what it does to people, and that does hold throughout the novel. The wobbliness/blurriness of the line between faerie and human is also very tasty (said the guy who does early modern trans studies). I adore how utterly unhinged Duncan is for most of the book and how competent he generally is. No sitting through big chunks of planning! Just Duncan screaming obscenities at various people and acting like an action game protagonist! It’s a lot of what I enjoy about Hotspur. I also love his interactions with Mimi (spoilers I guess). Duncan’s backstory is very interesting, and his experiences as a WWI soldier are beautifully woven into the text. All of the scenes set in the Forest are so cool; I love it as a setting.
I don’t love how the majority of the women in the novel are written, I have to say. I’m a little leery of how sex-obsessed they all are (even if it does play into the lack of faerie/human hard line mentioned above) and how the majority of them are just things for the plot to happen around. Justice for my queen Niamh, she truly could have been a sexy lamp. I did quite like Wolfsbane Sal, but again, when every single adult woman in the novel is obsessed with jumping our protagonist’s traumatized bones, it starts to feel a little weird! There is a Watsonian explanation for this, but no man in the novel gets horny for him, so it feels bad in my humble opinion. The climatic battle sequence also wore out its welcome to me. It was all a bit too vague and rushed. I think introducing the specific stakes a little earlier would have helped immensely. It’s also far too similar to the other conflicts that happen in the back half of the book for its own good.
It’s a decent enough novel, and certainly one I would recommend to anyone who enjoys WWI speculative fiction, but it is not without its flaws.
Did Not Finish
March 22, 2026DNF’d @ 34% — I am calling this a soft DNF (aka: I might come back. Maybe.)
There was a lot I liked here — the premise sounded so cool, especially with very bloodthirsty & folklore-based fae meets post-WWI era England, and a WWI soldier (PTSD and all). There was intrigue building for what was going on with this missing child and Duncan’s past.
There was also a lot that I did not like. I was struggling to get through to 30% — there was a ton of world building but it felt like I was constantly waiting for something to happen at the same time? I am also not that big of a fan of how every female character we met ended up sleeping with the MMC/had some sort of sexual past with him/sexualization in his eyes. The writing style felt a bit…much. But at the same time, when there was action, I was really invested in it.
I think that this author’s writing style (at least for this book, because I have no read any of their other work yet) would lend itself really well to audiobook, and I might give this another chance in the future because of that. But that being said, I am soft DNF-ing for now, potentially coming back, because there were elements here that I think I would be really invested in.
Thank you very much NetGalley and Del Rey for this ARC! All thoughts are my own opinions, and I will update all my reviews when/if I come back to this on audiobook.
There was a lot I liked here — the premise sounded so cool, especially with very bloodthirsty & folklore-based fae meets post-WWI era England, and a WWI soldier (PTSD and all). There was intrigue building for what was going on with this missing child and Duncan’s past.
There was also a lot that I did not like. I was struggling to get through to 30% — there was a ton of world building but it felt like I was constantly waiting for something to happen at the same time? I am also not that big of a fan of how every female character we met ended up sleeping with the MMC/had some sort of sexual past with him/sexualization in his eyes. The writing style felt a bit…much. But at the same time, when there was action, I was really invested in it.
I think that this author’s writing style (at least for this book, because I have no read any of their other work yet) would lend itself really well to audiobook, and I might give this another chance in the future because of that. But that being said, I am soft DNF-ing for now, potentially coming back, because there were elements here that I think I would be really invested in.
Thank you very much NetGalley and Del Rey for this ARC! All thoughts are my own opinions, and I will update all my reviews when/if I come back to this on audiobook.
May 13, 2026
Richard K. Morgan's No Man's Land poses a question as old as the first axe laid to tree: can humans coexist with the mythic wild without ceasing to be human? Set in a gritty post-WWI Britain where ancient forests are reclaiming the countryside and the fae have returned with a vengeance, the grimdark tale follows Duncan Silver, a veteran whose war trauma proves to be the shallower of his wounds.
Morgan constructs his noir protagonist as a man of layered withholding — from the world, from the people who get close, and most devastatingly from himself. The Great War gives him a socially legible explanation for his damage, one that nobody in 1919 thinks to look beneath. But Duncan's real wound is older and stranger than any trench, and it has no name in the vocabulary of shell shock and loss. Morgan works in the classic mythic horror tradition — transformation is seeded long before it arrives. Imagery accumulates quietly, priming the reader's subconscious until the body confirms what the forest has known all along. The horror isn't a rupture. It's a recognition.
Duncan's answer to the novel's central question is neither comforting nor defeatist, but it will cost him something irreversible. Morgan earns that ending by making you wait for it — withholding, like his protagonist, until the moment the forest finally calls in its claim.
There is a lot to unpack with this book, in literary, mythological, and historical context. It's rather perfect that Duncan has Scottish roots. The audiobook narrator is Glasgow-born David Monteath, and he is excellent. A Scottish voice narrating a story about an ancient people reclaiming land stolen by encroaching civilization — the resonance is impossible to ignore.
One note: this book reads as written for men, and I don't mean that as a compliment or a criticism — just a heads up. Duncan's damage is masculine in a specific way, and the release Morgan builds toward has that same energy. Women readers absolutely can and will connect with it, but go in knowing whose skin you're primarily inhabiting.
[Thanks to Del Rey and NetGalley for an opportunity to read and share my opinion of this book.]
Morgan constructs his noir protagonist as a man of layered withholding — from the world, from the people who get close, and most devastatingly from himself. The Great War gives him a socially legible explanation for his damage, one that nobody in 1919 thinks to look beneath. But Duncan's real wound is older and stranger than any trench, and it has no name in the vocabulary of shell shock and loss. Morgan works in the classic mythic horror tradition — transformation is seeded long before it arrives. Imagery accumulates quietly, priming the reader's subconscious until the body confirms what the forest has known all along. The horror isn't a rupture. It's a recognition.
Duncan's answer to the novel's central question is neither comforting nor defeatist, but it will cost him something irreversible. Morgan earns that ending by making you wait for it — withholding, like his protagonist, until the moment the forest finally calls in its claim.
There is a lot to unpack with this book, in literary, mythological, and historical context. It's rather perfect that Duncan has Scottish roots. The audiobook narrator is Glasgow-born David Monteath, and he is excellent. A Scottish voice narrating a story about an ancient people reclaiming land stolen by encroaching civilization — the resonance is impossible to ignore.
One note: this book reads as written for men, and I don't mean that as a compliment or a criticism — just a heads up. Duncan's damage is masculine in a specific way, and the release Morgan builds toward has that same energy. Women readers absolutely can and will connect with it, but go in knowing whose skin you're primarily inhabiting.
[Thanks to Del Rey and NetGalley for an opportunity to read and share my opinion of this book.]
March 24, 2026
Soft DNF @ 30%.
The premise of this and everything the book promises on paper is right up my alley. I especially love how the fae and mythical creatures are depicted - a stark contrast to what is currently popular on the market.
The setting is also well done. I have been able to create an image in my head of where we are and where we are going with ease.
Where this has fallen flat for me is the pacing. I have reached a third of the way through the book and really do feel like the story itself has been meandering.
I think and hope I will return to this one at some point in time.
Thankyou to the publishers and Netgalley for an early copy of No Mans Land. this is my honest review and all opinions are my own.
The premise of this and everything the book promises on paper is right up my alley. I especially love how the fae and mythical creatures are depicted - a stark contrast to what is currently popular on the market.
The setting is also well done. I have been able to create an image in my head of where we are and where we are going with ease.
Where this has fallen flat for me is the pacing. I have reached a third of the way through the book and really do feel like the story itself has been meandering.
I think and hope I will return to this one at some point in time.
Thankyou to the publishers and Netgalley for an early copy of No Mans Land. this is my honest review and all opinions are my own.
Want to Read
November 10, 2025This cover is GORGEOUS! I can't wait to read it!
A huge thank you to the author and publisher for providing an e-ARC via Netgalley. This does not affect my opinion regarding the book.
A huge thank you to the author and publisher for providing an e-ARC via Netgalley. This does not affect my opinion regarding the book.
February 4, 2026
No Man's Land has a fantastic premise: a post-WW1 soldier turned fae hunter after the walls between the fae realm and the human realm fell, and the fae started taking back deforested areas and stealing children. The worldbuilding is the standout of the novel, mixing the familiar (our WW1 and its fallout, spooky forests, gruff men who will find your missing children for a price, fae legends like changelings) and unfamiliar (seriously creepy fae no really these are not your normal faeries... well, at least the male fae are creepy, the only female fae we ever see is a pedophile but much more normal-looking for human beauty standards than the men).
Sadly everything else failed for me. The prose is jarring and distances us from the protagonist - I don't care if he's a gruff, closed-off, private man, I'm meant to be seeing through his perspective and that means I should have some understanding of him, better than the secondary characters around him. The prose also phoenetically spells out all accents - and so many characters have heavy accents - which made many scenes and conversations incredibly difficult to translate and read through. The pacing was bad - long periods where it felt nothing was happening, a climax somewhere around the 50-60% mark, and then almost a LOTR ending-for-days slow conclusion. The swearing was offputting, thrown out randomly at times seemingly for shock value or to make sure you know that this is Serious, Dark Gritty Fantasy starring a Manly Man. It reminded me of what 12 year old boys think makes a cool grownup. Same with the oversexualisation present throughout the novel. We don't need to know about every single female character's breasts, or how older women think they still have a horny sexpot inside them. Every single female character is either sexualised by Duncan, or obsessed with sex and either doing their best to have sex with Duncan or raping other male characters.
There's a great world in this novel, and maybe a half decent plot with some editing to fix the pacing issues, but trying so hard to be R18+ really ruins it. I'm sure it will make a great tv adaption like Altered Carbon, with a lot of edits and paring back the 'rating'.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing a free copy in exchange for an honest review.
Rating: 1 star - DNF around 65%. I could have continued, but why would I do that to myself?
Sadly everything else failed for me. The prose is jarring and distances us from the protagonist - I don't care if he's a gruff, closed-off, private man, I'm meant to be seeing through his perspective and that means I should have some understanding of him, better than the secondary characters around him. The prose also phoenetically spells out all accents - and so many characters have heavy accents - which made many scenes and conversations incredibly difficult to translate and read through. The pacing was bad - long periods where it felt nothing was happening, a climax somewhere around the 50-60% mark, and then almost a LOTR ending-for-days slow conclusion. The swearing was offputting, thrown out randomly at times seemingly for shock value or to make sure you know that this is Serious, Dark Gritty Fantasy starring a Manly Man. It reminded me of what 12 year old boys think makes a cool grownup. Same with the oversexualisation present throughout the novel. We don't need to know about every single female character's breasts, or how older women think they still have a horny sexpot inside them. Every single female character is either sexualised by Duncan, or obsessed with sex and either doing their best to have sex with Duncan or raping other male characters.
There's a great world in this novel, and maybe a half decent plot with some editing to fix the pacing issues, but trying so hard to be R18+ really ruins it. I'm sure it will make a great tv adaption like Altered Carbon, with a lot of edits and paring back the 'rating'.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing a free copy in exchange for an honest review.
Rating: 1 star - DNF around 65%. I could have continued, but why would I do that to myself?
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
I really wanted to love No Man’s Land. On paper, this book sounds like it was made for me: post–World War I Britain, vicious fae invading the human world, children going missing, and a bitter, damaged protagonist trying to survive what feels like one war bleeding straight into another. That core idea is genuinely compelling, and it’s refreshing to see fae portrayed as truly alien and horrifying rather than whimsical or romantic.
The setting is easily the book’s strongest element. A country already exhausted and traumatised by the Great War suddenly facing a new, incomprehensible enemy is a great backdrop, and Richard K. Morgan does capture that sense of bleakness and moral fatigue well. Duncan, the main character, also worked for me in theory. He’s emotionally scarred, and shaped by violence, and we slowly piece together his past through fragmented memories. Those glimpses into his trauma were the parts that kept me going, and I genuinely wanted to know more about him and how his story would unfold.
Unfortunately, the writing style got in the way of my enjoyment. The book is extremely locked into Duncan’s perspective and leans heavily on dense description, often lingering on details that didn’t feel necessary. Because of that, the pacing felt uneven, slow and dragging in the middle, then suddenly jumping ahead. I also struggled with the use of profanity and explicit content. I’m not bothered by swearing or dark material in general, but here it often felt like it was included purely for shock value rather than to serve the story. Some sexual content crossed into territory that just wasn’t for me. On top of that, the heavy use of phonetic accents in dialogue repeatedly pulled me out of the story instead of immersing me further.
By the end, I was left disappointed more than anything else. I liked the plot. I liked the ideas. I liked what the book wanted to be. But the actual reading experience felt tiring instead of gripping. I can absolutely see this working for some readers, especially those who enjoy gritty, brutal, male-focused fantasy with a pulpy edge, but it just didn’t click for me.
Verdict: A strong and original premise with an interesting protagonist, weighed down by a writing style and pacing that didn’t work for me. Worth a try if you like dark, gritty “old man fantasy,” but not a book I’d broadly recommend.
Many thanks to NetGalley and Del Rey for giving me access to the eARC in return for an honest review.
The setting is easily the book’s strongest element. A country already exhausted and traumatised by the Great War suddenly facing a new, incomprehensible enemy is a great backdrop, and Richard K. Morgan does capture that sense of bleakness and moral fatigue well. Duncan, the main character, also worked for me in theory. He’s emotionally scarred, and shaped by violence, and we slowly piece together his past through fragmented memories. Those glimpses into his trauma were the parts that kept me going, and I genuinely wanted to know more about him and how his story would unfold.
Unfortunately, the writing style got in the way of my enjoyment. The book is extremely locked into Duncan’s perspective and leans heavily on dense description, often lingering on details that didn’t feel necessary. Because of that, the pacing felt uneven, slow and dragging in the middle, then suddenly jumping ahead. I also struggled with the use of profanity and explicit content. I’m not bothered by swearing or dark material in general, but here it often felt like it was included purely for shock value rather than to serve the story. Some sexual content crossed into territory that just wasn’t for me. On top of that, the heavy use of phonetic accents in dialogue repeatedly pulled me out of the story instead of immersing me further.
By the end, I was left disappointed more than anything else. I liked the plot. I liked the ideas. I liked what the book wanted to be. But the actual reading experience felt tiring instead of gripping. I can absolutely see this working for some readers, especially those who enjoy gritty, brutal, male-focused fantasy with a pulpy edge, but it just didn’t click for me.
Verdict: A strong and original premise with an interesting protagonist, weighed down by a writing style and pacing that didn’t work for me. Worth a try if you like dark, gritty “old man fantasy,” but not a book I’d broadly recommend.
Many thanks to NetGalley and Del Rey for giving me access to the eARC in return for an honest review.
April 10, 2026
what a fun ride. I mostly outgrew fantasy, usually because of all its inconsistencies and, well, magical thinking. for some reason this story worked very well, even though it was set in an alternate timeline, another thing I really really don't like usually. furthermore, most explicit sex I just find usually very cringeworthy, hardly an author who manages to write sex without either going romantic or pornographic.
well, for some reason, here all this worked. okay, I must admit I was biased since I really enjoyed altered Carbon. but the whole depiction of magic and very not Tolkienesk fairies worked so well for me. the witches and their sex, what a delight. usually the domain of men, boy did they screw that picture. the protagonist being deeply traumatized from the trenches of world war 1, and carrying a far deeper and hotter anger, of which we will learn more some part into the story. and yet there was also lots of humanity, empathy, community. the characters were all very believable and complex and rich, and the whole world was written so dense I could almost taste it. I had some misgivings in the beginning, but they were quickly dispelled and I was drawn into the story. and that's after all for me what reading, or listening to an audio book, is all about - escape the drudgery of the here and now, and travel into another world, forget myself. for me personally, that is the main marker of a good book and a good storyteller: offer me a wild and entertaining ride, make me fear and hope for the characters. and when the story is nearing its end, a certain mournfulness arrives, knowing that this will end soon. by this measurement, this book was great. the prose was also in parts very well written, even though it was a very action centered tale. for some reason I just can't bring myself to give five stars for a fantasy book...
well, for some reason, here all this worked. okay, I must admit I was biased since I really enjoyed altered Carbon. but the whole depiction of magic and very not Tolkienesk fairies worked so well for me. the witches and their sex, what a delight. usually the domain of men, boy did they screw that picture. the protagonist being deeply traumatized from the trenches of world war 1, and carrying a far deeper and hotter anger, of which we will learn more some part into the story. and yet there was also lots of humanity, empathy, community. the characters were all very believable and complex and rich, and the whole world was written so dense I could almost taste it. I had some misgivings in the beginning, but they were quickly dispelled and I was drawn into the story. and that's after all for me what reading, or listening to an audio book, is all about - escape the drudgery of the here and now, and travel into another world, forget myself. for me personally, that is the main marker of a good book and a good storyteller: offer me a wild and entertaining ride, make me fear and hope for the characters. and when the story is nearing its end, a certain mournfulness arrives, knowing that this will end soon. by this measurement, this book was great. the prose was also in parts very well written, even though it was a very action centered tale. for some reason I just can't bring myself to give five stars for a fantasy book...
June 3, 2025
In post-WWII Britain, peace proves fleeting as an ancient and otherworldly threat emerges. The Huldu, a powerful Fae race, begin stealing children, casting a new shadow over an already fractured land. Duncan Silver, a hardened war veteran burning with anger, is hired by a desperate mother to find her missing daughter, Miriam. Armed with little more than his trench gun and old scars, he enters the Forest to retrieve her, but what starts as a rescue mission quickly turns personal, and perilous, when he crosses the wrong Fae.
This standalone grimdark fantasy marks a shift from the author’s usual works yet retains his signature hardboiled edge and gritty intrigue. Whether writing science fiction or fantasy, Morgan creates atmospheric, lived-in worlds with flawed, complex characters. Duncan Silver is a flinty and relentless protagonist, and through his brooding resolve, the story unfolds with unflinching violence and moral corruption. Though the pacing can be slow at times, the sleek prose and distinctive take on Fae mythology lend the tale a dark allure. An absorbing, brutal read perfect for fans of C. Robert Cargill.
(This review was originally written for Library Journal magazine.)
This standalone grimdark fantasy marks a shift from the author’s usual works yet retains his signature hardboiled edge and gritty intrigue. Whether writing science fiction or fantasy, Morgan creates atmospheric, lived-in worlds with flawed, complex characters. Duncan Silver is a flinty and relentless protagonist, and through his brooding resolve, the story unfolds with unflinching violence and moral corruption. Though the pacing can be slow at times, the sleek prose and distinctive take on Fae mythology lend the tale a dark allure. An absorbing, brutal read perfect for fans of C. Robert Cargill.
(This review was originally written for Library Journal magazine.)
May 31, 2026
Зазвичай Річард Морган (відомий українцям перекладом трилогії "Видозмінений вуглець") пише кіберпанк, але іноді він пише фентезі. Я, наприклад, в захваті від його трилогії Land feet for heroes. А нещодавно автор видав фентезі-роман No men's land, і я не втрималась.
Дуже люблю троп про фейрі і викрадених дітей - ченжелінгів. І от маємо Дункана Сільвера, ветерана Першої світової, який заробляє на життя тим, що повертає викрадених фейрі дітей їх безутішним батькам. Маленька ремарка - в цьому світі Війна, що мала закінчити всі війни, завершилася не поразкою Німеччини, а тим, що з лісів вийшли фейрі - huldu - і почали стріляти у всіх солдат без розбору. Післявоєнна Британія має економічну кризу, проблему з працевлаштуванням ветеранів і втратила значну частину пасовищ і ріллі, бо ліси розрослися буквально за одну ніч, знищуючи на своєму шляху маленькі людські поселення і будь-які сліди людської присутності. Одного разу Дункана найняли, щоб повернути 4-річну викрадену Мімі Раш, і завертілося ...
Land feet for heroes жанрово був темним фентезі, там було троє персонажів, які додавали різноманіття, а події виглядали збігом обставин. No men's land - теж фентезі, але темним воно лише невдало прикидається, тут лише один герой, один POV, одна дійова особа, навколо якої ніщо не відбувається випадково. Намагаючись виглядати темним, це фентезі насправді такий плюшевий ведмедик з нескінченними врятованими дітьми, безутішними матерями і героєм, який постійно когось б'є-вбиває, відрубує голови, вирізає серця, але все заради "сльозинки дитини", його вчинки, як правило, альтруїстичні ледь не до ідіотизму.
Це хороший розважальний роман, але він більше орієнтований на читачів, не читачок. Було 2 моменти, які страшно мене нервували всю книгу. По-перше, вже згадана "сльозинка дитини" в надмірній концентрації як рушійна сила всіх вчинків героя. По-друге, автор дуже хоче, щоб його герой був мачо. Десь на середині роману я порахувала, що герой переспав з 4 жінками, а ще 2 його "грязно домагівалісь" (одна з них, між іншим, тисячорічна богиня... но він їй відмовив. Так і сказав - "хочу до мами!")))). Сцена, де він нехотя, жаліючись на втому і незручності, займається сексом з повією-наркоманкою 3 рази (дякую, авторе, як би я без твого вміння рахувати))) зразу після того, як 3 дні лежав не при пам'яті після поранення, прям промовиста - самому героєві вже хотілося десь впасти і відіспатися. Но автор невблаганний, він бачить свого героя виключно як секс-гіганта, і місцями це прям смішно.
Читала англійською. Процес ускладнювали військові терміни, великий словниковий запас автора і мова декількох персонажів, яку автор намагався передати як мову неосвіченої людини із значними граматичними помилками.
6/10
Гарний пригодницько-розважальний роман, але логіку у вчинках героїв краще не шукати.
Чому не 10? Нелогічно. Схематично схоже на іншу книгу автора, яку я читала. Хотілося більшого!
Дуже люблю троп про фейрі і викрадених дітей - ченжелінгів. І от маємо Дункана Сільвера, ветерана Першої світової, який заробляє на життя тим, що повертає викрадених фейрі дітей їх безутішним батькам. Маленька ремарка - в цьому світі Війна, що мала закінчити всі війни, завершилася не поразкою Німеччини, а тим, що з лісів вийшли фейрі - huldu - і почали стріляти у всіх солдат без розбору. Післявоєнна Британія має економічну кризу, проблему з працевлаштуванням ветеранів і втратила значну частину пасовищ і ріллі, бо ліси розрослися буквально за одну ніч, знищуючи на своєму шляху маленькі людські поселення і будь-які сліди людської присутності. Одного разу Дункана найняли, щоб повернути 4-річну викрадену Мімі Раш, і завертілося ...
Land feet for heroes жанрово був темним фентезі, там було троє персонажів, які додавали різноманіття, а події виглядали збігом обставин. No men's land - теж фентезі, але темним воно лише невдало прикидається, тут лише один герой, один POV, одна дійова особа, навколо якої ніщо не відбувається випадково. Намагаючись виглядати темним, це фентезі насправді такий плюшевий ведмедик з нескінченними врятованими дітьми, безутішними матерями і героєм, який постійно когось б'є-вбиває, відрубує голови, вирізає серця, але все заради "сльозинки дитини", його вчинки, як правило, альтруїстичні ледь не до ідіотизму.
Це хороший розважальний роман, але він більше орієнтований на читачів, не читачок. Було 2 моменти, які страшно мене нервували всю книгу. По-перше, вже згадана "сльозинка дитини" в надмірній концентрації як рушійна сила всіх вчинків героя. По-друге, автор дуже хоче, щоб його герой був мачо. Десь на середині роману я порахувала, що герой переспав з 4 жінками, а ще 2 його "грязно домагівалісь" (одна з них, між іншим, тисячорічна богиня... но він їй відмовив. Так і сказав - "хочу до мами!")))). Сцена, де він нехотя, жаліючись на втому і незручності, займається сексом з повією-наркоманкою 3 рази (дякую, авторе, як би я без твого вміння рахувати))) зразу після того, як 3 дні лежав не при пам'яті після поранення, прям промовиста - самому героєві вже хотілося десь впасти і відіспатися. Но автор невблаганний, він бачить свого героя виключно як секс-гіганта, і місцями це прям смішно.
Читала англійською. Процес ускладнювали військові терміни, великий словниковий запас автора і мова декількох персонажів, яку автор намагався передати як мову неосвіченої людини із значними граматичними помилками.
6/10
Гарний пригодницько-розважальний роман, але логіку у вчинках героїв краще не шукати.
Чому не 10? Нелогічно. Схематично схоже на іншу книгу автора, яку я читала. Хотілося більшого!
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