Weirdly, the key to an effective fantasy tale is communicating humanity in a different way.
Premee Mohamed’s The Butcher of the Forest, pits the mysterious Veris against the dark forces which loom in the titular forest as she is tasked with recovering the children of a tyrant.
Mohamed is great at hinting at depths for characters, in what is quite a short tale.
Veris is known as the only person to make it out of the forest in one piece previously, and nods are given to the price you need to pay to get out.
While it doesn’t go for the jugular, The Butcher Of The Forest is a brisk and entertaining read with a fascinating central character. We have Veris who may have suffered previously from the tyrant’s rule, given a nigh-on impossible task to complete.
The Butcher of the Forest by Premee Mohamed is available now from Titan Books.
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