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A Different Kingdom
A different kingdom of wolves, woods and stranger, darker, creatures lies in wait for Michael Fay in the woods at the bottom of his family's farm.
Michael Fay is a normal boy, living with his grandparents on their family farm in rural Ireland. In the woods there are wolves; and other things, dangerous things. He doesn't tell his family, not even his Aunt Rose, his closest friend.
And then, as Michael wanders through the trees, he finds himself in the Other Place. There are strange people, and monsters, and a girl called Cat.
When the wolves follow him from the Other Place to his family's doorstep, Michael must choose between locking the doors and looking away – or following Cat on an adventure that may take an entire lifetime in the Other Place.
Michael Fay is a normal boy, living with his grandparents on their family farm in rural Ireland. In the woods there are wolves; and other things, dangerous things. He doesn't tell his family, not even his Aunt Rose, his closest friend.
And then, as Michael wanders through the trees, he finds himself in the Other Place. There are strange people, and monsters, and a girl called Cat.
When the wolves follow him from the Other Place to his family's doorstep, Michael must choose between locking the doors and looking away – or following Cat on an adventure that may take an entire lifetime in the Other Place.
320 pages, Paperback
First published July 1, 1993
47 people are currently reading
723 people want to read
About the author
Paul Kearney
47 books523 followersPaul Kearney was born in rural County Antrim, Ireland, in 1967. His father was a butcher, and his mother was a nurse. He rode horses, had lots of cousins, and cut turf and baled hay. He often smelled of cowshit.
He grew up through the worst of the 'Troubles' in Northern Ireland, a time when bombs and gunfire were part of every healthy young boy's adolescence. He developed an unhealthy interest in firearms and Blowing Things Up - but what growing boy hasn't?
By some fluke of fate he managed to get to Oxford University, and studied Old Norse, Anglo-Saxon and Middle English.
He began writing books because he had no other choice. His first, written at aged sixteen, was a magnificent epic, influenced heavily by James Joyce, Samuel Beckett, Robert E Howard, and Playboy. It was enormous, colourful, purple-prosed, and featured a lot of Very Large Swords.
His second was rather better, and was published by Victor Gollancz over a very boozy lunch with a very shrewd editor.
Luckily, in those days editors met authors face to face, and Kearney's Irish charm wangled him a long series of contracts with Gollancz, and other publishers. He still thinks he can't write for toffee, but others have, insanely, begged to differ.
Kearney has been writing full-time for twenty-eight years now, and can't imagine doing anything else. Though he has often tried.
He grew up through the worst of the 'Troubles' in Northern Ireland, a time when bombs and gunfire were part of every healthy young boy's adolescence. He developed an unhealthy interest in firearms and Blowing Things Up - but what growing boy hasn't?
By some fluke of fate he managed to get to Oxford University, and studied Old Norse, Anglo-Saxon and Middle English.
He began writing books because he had no other choice. His first, written at aged sixteen, was a magnificent epic, influenced heavily by James Joyce, Samuel Beckett, Robert E Howard, and Playboy. It was enormous, colourful, purple-prosed, and featured a lot of Very Large Swords.
His second was rather better, and was published by Victor Gollancz over a very boozy lunch with a very shrewd editor.
Luckily, in those days editors met authors face to face, and Kearney's Irish charm wangled him a long series of contracts with Gollancz, and other publishers. He still thinks he can't write for toffee, but others have, insanely, begged to differ.
Kearney has been writing full-time for twenty-eight years now, and can't imagine doing anything else. Though he has often tried.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 54 reviews
August 3, 2016
This book was first published in the UK in 1993, but it seems it got pretty much lost in obscurity (except by second-hand book store owners it seems). Being re-published 20 years later, it gets a chance at redemption – and I hope it gets it, because I enjoyed reading this lyrical coming-of-age fantasy book, that often takes a darker, grim turn too.
Michael Fay is a young boy growing up in rural Northern-Ireland, quite sheltered from what happens in the world itself. The acquisition of a new tractor is more newsworthy than the British army being brought in to settle the ‘usual outrages in the city’. Time-wise, I’m guessing that puts us at the end of the 1960s when The Troubles started. But for Michael, that’s far from his bedside as he considers “the farm, the river, and the fields and woods about his home; these are his kingdom.”
One day he is running down the forest and slips right into another world. A kingdom of wolves, fairies and goblins. If this storyline sounds somewhat familiar, it definitely is, and the author is very open about that: there are straight references to Alice in Wonderland: “That face, the grin. Cheshire Cat, and his trip through Wonderland.”
But as the author remarks in the book: every dreamer needs a Wonderland:
What is wonderful about the book is not so much the Alice in Wonderland-like plot, but the writing. Sometimes it is dreamy, other scenes are dark and grim, but at all times it is lyrical and wonderful to read. I highlighted a few dozen passages that are absolutely gorgeous to read.
Michael’s pointless quest and his disappointment that the Other Kingdom isn’t what he thought it would be, are really present : “I told you before: I didn’t think it would be like this. I didn’t know what it would do to me. Christ, Cat, I thought it would be some sort of fairy tale complete with knights and castles.”
It’s not all perfect though: I got a bit lost on the time-jumps along the way, and I wasn’t really fond of the ending. But amongst the things I liked are all the nods to other books along the way: apart from Alice Wonderland, there are for instance nods to Tolkien (with Cat being called ‘Teowynn, the Tree-Maiden’) and many reference to the Bible: (“The journey continued without ceasing, like a forty-year stint in the wilderness, with no Canaan at its end.”). I also thought there was a Robin Hobb nod when Michael is wondering about countries 'where eels were dragons' but the timing on that one doesn’t work out (Ship of Magic was only published 1998), so that must be a coincidence.
Lastly I wondered exactly how much to read into the storyline. The story is set in Northern-Ireland, a region torn between the UK and Ireland, and many wounds to prove just that. Just like in the region (especially at that time), religion marks the characters in the book: you are this, or you are that, and that means there are places you cannot go. But even more so, both Michael and Cat are in between two worlds, and as Michael himself remarks at one point: “It cannot be easy, being caught between two worlds.”
For those who don’t like books with political messages: don’t let that stop you though, the Northern-Ireland references are barely there and for many times I even wondered whether I was reading too much into it. And perhaps I am, that doesn’t really matter, because it didn’t take away the pleasure of reading this book.
Disclaimer: This book has been provided by the publisher, but this review reflects my own experience and opinion with this book. All quotes are taken from the pre-published copy and may be altered or omitted from the final copy.
Michael Fay is a young boy growing up in rural Northern-Ireland, quite sheltered from what happens in the world itself. The acquisition of a new tractor is more newsworthy than the British army being brought in to settle the ‘usual outrages in the city’. Time-wise, I’m guessing that puts us at the end of the 1960s when The Troubles started. But for Michael, that’s far from his bedside as he considers “the farm, the river, and the fields and woods about his home; these are his kingdom.”
One day he is running down the forest and slips right into another world. A kingdom of wolves, fairies and goblins. If this storyline sounds somewhat familiar, it definitely is, and the author is very open about that: there are straight references to Alice in Wonderland: “That face, the grin. Cheshire Cat, and his trip through Wonderland.”
But as the author remarks in the book: every dreamer needs a Wonderland:
“Michael had the feeling that he had gone deeper, had travelled down some tunnel into a more far-away place, and he knew with sudden certainty that there as an infinity of such places, one for every dreamer in the world, perhaps."
What is wonderful about the book is not so much the Alice in Wonderland-like plot, but the writing. Sometimes it is dreamy, other scenes are dark and grim, but at all times it is lyrical and wonderful to read. I highlighted a few dozen passages that are absolutely gorgeous to read.
“He remembered tall walls rearing up in sunshine, white as chalk. There were battlements and flapping flags, and men in bright armour mounted on huge horses. There was a bridge spanning a wide, glittering river with girls plashing and diving, sleek as salmon. And there was a vast hall hung with golden tapestries and gleaming weapons, its long table set with silver goblets and sparkling crystal.”
Michael’s pointless quest and his disappointment that the Other Kingdom isn’t what he thought it would be, are really present : “I told you before: I didn’t think it would be like this. I didn’t know what it would do to me. Christ, Cat, I thought it would be some sort of fairy tale complete with knights and castles.”
It’s not all perfect though: I got a bit lost on the time-jumps along the way, and I wasn’t really fond of the ending. But amongst the things I liked are all the nods to other books along the way: apart from Alice Wonderland, there are for instance nods to Tolkien (with Cat being called ‘Teowynn, the Tree-Maiden’) and many reference to the Bible: (“The journey continued without ceasing, like a forty-year stint in the wilderness, with no Canaan at its end.”). I also thought there was a Robin Hobb nod when Michael is wondering about countries 'where eels were dragons' but the timing on that one doesn’t work out (Ship of Magic was only published 1998), so that must be a coincidence.
Lastly I wondered exactly how much to read into the storyline. The story is set in Northern-Ireland, a region torn between the UK and Ireland, and many wounds to prove just that. Just like in the region (especially at that time), religion marks the characters in the book: you are this, or you are that, and that means there are places you cannot go. But even more so, both Michael and Cat are in between two worlds, and as Michael himself remarks at one point: “It cannot be easy, being caught between two worlds.”
For those who don’t like books with political messages: don’t let that stop you though, the Northern-Ireland references are barely there and for many times I even wondered whether I was reading too much into it. And perhaps I am, that doesn’t really matter, because it didn’t take away the pleasure of reading this book.
Disclaimer: This book has been provided by the publisher, but this review reflects my own experience and opinion with this book. All quotes are taken from the pre-published copy and may be altered or omitted from the final copy.
March 18, 2014
What if there WERE Little People in the woods, like in the stories Rose told him? What if there were wolves and bears and trolls, wicked witches-and faeries too? But not ones that lived in flowers. What if they were big and silent and gleeful, more like goblins? They would have a goblin kingdom, castles and mines. And there would be knights in armor with swords and women in towers with long hair. What if it were all real, all true?
When Michael is a young boy growing up in rural Ireland, he sees things that other people don't. Fox men by the river, a beautiful girl with bright green eyes, huge wolves that can walk upright like men...But when he tells his family what he sees, they don't believe him. So Michael keeps it to himself. Until the day the bright-eyed girl comes to his window and invited him into her world for an adventure. It is a world of wonder and danger, a world of friend and foe alike, one that he barely escapes from with his life. Years later, Michael is a paunchy almost thirty year old, who uses alcohol to dim the memories of that Other Place, that Wild Wood. But even living in the city, in a different country, he finds that some memories are not so easy to run from. And sometimes the past catches up to you.
"Who is to say where you are? Some say there is a different world for every story ever told or untold that there is no such thing as the here and now, only the unfolding of infinite possibilities, all of them real in some place or another..."
You know when you find a book, a really special book, and you can't help but read it at breakneck speed becuase you can't wait to see what happens next but at the same time you hate yourself for reading it so fast because you want it to last forever? Yep. That sums this book up perfectly. There are fantasy books, and then there are FANTASY books. You know the ones I'm talking about. The ones that are just so absolutely fantastic that you know they are going to stay with you for a long time. I can't say enough about this book. It just blew all my expectations away with its awesomeness. I have never read anything by Paul Kearney before, this was my first book by him and I must say that I was very impressed. One thing that will automatically endear me to a fantasy novel is the writing style. I have a big weak spot for writing that is fluid, descriptive, and beautiful. It doesn't have to be overly fancy (Stephen Donaldson sometimes falls into this trap which makes me roll my eyes) but if it grabs my heart with simple beauty I am usually held spellbound.
For example, this passage here:
He scampered away, the wet grass beginning to be felt through his old shoes. It would be hot today, and there would be dragonflies by the river. The grass was ablaze with buttercups, so that they sat in a gently swaying yellow sea, and the pollen was already beginning to powder his legs.
And also this one for example:
The earth slowed, wound down to a darker season. In the hedges be-dewed spiders' webs swayed and swung like strung pearls, and the early light caught them in a dance of linked gems.
You see what I mean? So beautiful and descriptive! I fell head over heels in love with this story through its writing. The characters were all quite interesting also, however. It was fascinating to see Michael, who started out as an ordinary young person, grow and change and learn through his course of traveling through the Wildwood with Cat and the Fox people. I don't want to give away too much more about the plot because there are quite a few twists and surprises that make the story all the more interesting. However I will say that this is not your normal fantasy story. It is at times, gritty, dark, and violent. Not all fairies are good. Not all damsels in distress are meant to be rescued, and most importantly of all...
Fairytales have teeth.
When Michael is a young boy growing up in rural Ireland, he sees things that other people don't. Fox men by the river, a beautiful girl with bright green eyes, huge wolves that can walk upright like men...But when he tells his family what he sees, they don't believe him. So Michael keeps it to himself. Until the day the bright-eyed girl comes to his window and invited him into her world for an adventure. It is a world of wonder and danger, a world of friend and foe alike, one that he barely escapes from with his life. Years later, Michael is a paunchy almost thirty year old, who uses alcohol to dim the memories of that Other Place, that Wild Wood. But even living in the city, in a different country, he finds that some memories are not so easy to run from. And sometimes the past catches up to you.
"Who is to say where you are? Some say there is a different world for every story ever told or untold that there is no such thing as the here and now, only the unfolding of infinite possibilities, all of them real in some place or another..."
You know when you find a book, a really special book, and you can't help but read it at breakneck speed becuase you can't wait to see what happens next but at the same time you hate yourself for reading it so fast because you want it to last forever? Yep. That sums this book up perfectly. There are fantasy books, and then there are FANTASY books. You know the ones I'm talking about. The ones that are just so absolutely fantastic that you know they are going to stay with you for a long time. I can't say enough about this book. It just blew all my expectations away with its awesomeness. I have never read anything by Paul Kearney before, this was my first book by him and I must say that I was very impressed. One thing that will automatically endear me to a fantasy novel is the writing style. I have a big weak spot for writing that is fluid, descriptive, and beautiful. It doesn't have to be overly fancy (Stephen Donaldson sometimes falls into this trap which makes me roll my eyes) but if it grabs my heart with simple beauty I am usually held spellbound.
For example, this passage here:
He scampered away, the wet grass beginning to be felt through his old shoes. It would be hot today, and there would be dragonflies by the river. The grass was ablaze with buttercups, so that they sat in a gently swaying yellow sea, and the pollen was already beginning to powder his legs.
And also this one for example:
The earth slowed, wound down to a darker season. In the hedges be-dewed spiders' webs swayed and swung like strung pearls, and the early light caught them in a dance of linked gems.
You see what I mean? So beautiful and descriptive! I fell head over heels in love with this story through its writing. The characters were all quite interesting also, however. It was fascinating to see Michael, who started out as an ordinary young person, grow and change and learn through his course of traveling through the Wildwood with Cat and the Fox people. I don't want to give away too much more about the plot because there are quite a few twists and surprises that make the story all the more interesting. However I will say that this is not your normal fantasy story. It is at times, gritty, dark, and violent. Not all fairies are good. Not all damsels in distress are meant to be rescued, and most importantly of all...
Fairytales have teeth.
April 15, 2018
The English first edition of Mythago Wood came out in 1984. I feel this may’ve been an influence on A Different Kingdom. However this did not detract from the quality of Mr. Kearney’s book. There were certain descriptive passages I liked so much they almost seemed to jump off the page.
January 28, 2014
A Dark twisted fairy tale. An adult tale that does not shy away from graphic sexual moments or violence. Time travel and visits to an alternate plane where things are very different.
I really wanted to love this book. An fairy tale set in 20th century Ireland, with something in the woods. Sounded great to me, just my kind of read. Sadly, I did not enjoy it as much and I hoped.
We follow Michael, a young teen, in his search for his sister who disappeared after having relations with someone in the woods. His search takes him into another world of frightening beasts and new world rules. He travels with Cat, a girl from this world who has connected with him romantically. The world is dark dangerous and extremely interesting. Too bad Michael's ramblings weren’t because there seemed to be a lot of them. His story passes from times and worlds while we watch his shut down into the bottom of a bottle.
What went wrong for me ? I had a terrible time with the constant POV/time changes. There was no clear indication of who was talking, where they were and what time frame it was. I spent the first 1/2 of the book semi lost, looking back to see of I missed a page. I thought Michael talked about everything too much, over and over. It was a chore for me to finish this book and I was so disappointed in the ending. This was not a book I enjoyed at all in the end. I am giving it 3 stars for it’s very creative story even though it didn’t work for me.
I really wanted to love this book. An fairy tale set in 20th century Ireland, with something in the woods. Sounded great to me, just my kind of read. Sadly, I did not enjoy it as much and I hoped.
We follow Michael, a young teen, in his search for his sister who disappeared after having relations with someone in the woods. His search takes him into another world of frightening beasts and new world rules. He travels with Cat, a girl from this world who has connected with him romantically. The world is dark dangerous and extremely interesting. Too bad Michael's ramblings weren’t because there seemed to be a lot of them. His story passes from times and worlds while we watch his shut down into the bottom of a bottle.
What went wrong for me ? I had a terrible time with the constant POV/time changes. There was no clear indication of who was talking, where they were and what time frame it was. I spent the first 1/2 of the book semi lost, looking back to see of I missed a page. I thought Michael talked about everything too much, over and over. It was a chore for me to finish this book and I was so disappointed in the ending. This was not a book I enjoyed at all in the end. I am giving it 3 stars for it’s very creative story even though it didn’t work for me.
September 4, 2023
Unusual in being set in Northern Ireland, this is a dark fantasy bordering on horror.
Michael is a boy when he's drawn out from his country home to explore the wild woods. He meets a girl there, who never leaves the wood, and stays with her. As he grows and ages faster than normal, he realises that the woodland is magical and haunted.
There is a dark horseman and hounds and the trees seem to be alive - more or less antagonistic in different areas of the woodland. Then Michael finds that he cannot discover a way out of the wood and tries to tackle a dark castle in the centre instead in the hope that it will give him answers, because now he is ageing too fast.
I felt well drawn in to the story and the settings and descriptive detail were excellent. I have recommended it to horror fans, who enjoyed it more than I enjoy horror.
This is very like Mythago Wood but has fewer primeval legends - no Jack in the Green, no Robin or antler-crowned warrior. There is an element of Celtic legend instead but Janeen O'Kerry is writing those kind of fantasies better.
Kearney also wrote The Way To Babylon - but I was not so keen on that. I also got tired of the mechanism of opening a door and oh look, it just happens to lead to another world. The wild wood was better. Charles de Lint has written wildwood stories such as Greenheart but they were set in Canada, and just failed to grab me.
Michael is a boy when he's drawn out from his country home to explore the wild woods. He meets a girl there, who never leaves the wood, and stays with her. As he grows and ages faster than normal, he realises that the woodland is magical and haunted.
There is a dark horseman and hounds and the trees seem to be alive - more or less antagonistic in different areas of the woodland. Then Michael finds that he cannot discover a way out of the wood and tries to tackle a dark castle in the centre instead in the hope that it will give him answers, because now he is ageing too fast.
I felt well drawn in to the story and the settings and descriptive detail were excellent. I have recommended it to horror fans, who enjoyed it more than I enjoy horror.
This is very like Mythago Wood but has fewer primeval legends - no Jack in the Green, no Robin or antler-crowned warrior. There is an element of Celtic legend instead but Janeen O'Kerry is writing those kind of fantasies better.
Kearney also wrote The Way To Babylon - but I was not so keen on that. I also got tired of the mechanism of opening a door and oh look, it just happens to lead to another world. The wild wood was better. Charles de Lint has written wildwood stories such as Greenheart but they were set in Canada, and just failed to grab me.
February 16, 2014
Originally published at Risingshadow.
It's great that Solaris Books has republished Paul Kearney's A Different Kingdom, because it has been out-of-print for a long time (only certain bookshops and online bookshops have sold second-hand copies of it). It's a fantasy novel that deserves to be republished, because it's one of the richest fantasy novels ever written.
Before I write more about this novel, I'll mention that Paul Kearney is unfortunately a lesser known fantasy author than several other authors. This is a real shame, because he's an excellent storyteller and writes interesting novels. A Different Kingdom is a good example of how good an author he is.
It's also good to mention that A Different Kingdom is a fantasy novel for adults, because it contains sex and violence.
As several experienced fantasy readers are probably aware of, there are plenty of novels in which characters enter magical realms. A Different Kingdom differs from these novels by being a more serious and ambitious novel. The author explores such themes as adolescence and sexual desire in a deep and mature way (the protagonist's awakening sexuality is handled in a mature way).
A Different Kingdom invites comparison with Robert Holdstock's Mythago Wood novels. It also invites comparison with a few fantasy novels by Charles de Lint. I think that readers who have read these novels will easily notice the similarities. Fortunately Paul Kearney doesn't imitate these authors, but writes his own kind of mythic fantasy.
I was very impressed by A Different Kingdom, because Paul Kearney has infused the story with several different elements from rural life in Ireland to mythic beings (he has combined Irish myths, Celtic mythology, realistic farm life and coming-of-age story in a fluent way). It's difficult to find a standalone fantasy novel that has as much depth and mythic atmosphere as this novel.
Here's information about the story:
A Different Kingdom is a story about Michael Fae who lives in Antrim in rural Ireland in the 1950s. He is the only person who can see the Other Place and its creatures. He sees wolves in the woods that nobody else can see, and he also sees men with fox faces, a mysterious Horseman and a girl called Cat. When Michael meets Cat, he begins to fall in love with her. Soon he follows her to the Other Place. Michael has a quest to do there...
Paul Kearney writes well about the characters and makes them come alive. In my opinion he writes perfectly about Michael and his life (rreaders get to know who Michael is). He also writes well about Cat, Mirkady, Ringbone and other characters. Cat is an interesting character, because she's not quite human.
In my opinion Paul Kearney writes about the problems of adolescence and sex in a brilliant way. By concentrating on writing about Michael and his life the author is able to show his readers how a young boy feels about growing up in the countryside and what it is like for a boy to live on the farm with his grandparents and other relatives. It's nice that the author explores Michael's life as a child, as a teenager and as an adult, because it adds depth to the story.
The relationship between Michael and Cat is handled in an excellent way. The author writes wonderfully about Michael's feelings and his desire for Cat, because Michael is fascinated by her. When Michael grows up and gets to know Cat, he develops sexual feelings towards her and has sex with her. The author writes boldly about Michael's awakening sexuality and adolescent desire.
Cat is not the only person that Michael loves, because he also loves his aunt Rose. Michael's relationship with his aunt Rose plays an important part in the story, because she's like a big sister to Michael, but at the same time she's almost - but not quite - like a lover to him. When Rose is being sent away to have a baby, it has a huge impact on Michael, because her disappearance haunts his life.
One of the most interesting things about this novel is that the author shows how Michael gradually loses his innocence by falling in love with Cat and travelling to the Other Place. It was great to read about how being in the Other Place affected Michael and how travelling further into the other realm changed him both physically and mentally.
Reading about Michael's adventures in the Other Place was fascinating. At first he didn't know much about this other realm, but he began to learn new things and got to know different people and beings. One of the best scenes in this novel is the scene in which Michael meets Mirkady and is led to Gallow's Howe, because he sees what kind of beings live in the forest.
The mysterious Horseman - the Devil - is a fascinatingly threatening element in the story, because he seeks souls. Michael's quest is tied to the Horseman.
Paul Kearney writes rich literary prose. He evokes vidid images of the Other Place and the lush landscapes with his prose, and he delivers brutal moments when necessary. The author's descriptions of Antrim are beautiful and nostalgic. He brings the beautiful and harsh farm life to life with his words. It isn't often that a fantasy reader has a chance to read this kind of beautiful prose.
The author writes vividly about Michael's childhood at his grandparents' farm. The writing is so good that you can almost believe you're right there with Michael. The days and years that he spends at his grandparents' farm are filled with farm life, family life and strange happenings.
There's a beautifully bittersweet edge to the story. The author manages to avoid being too sentimental and coats the story with harsh realism that keeps it from slipping into an over-sentimental story. One of the best things about this novel is that the fantasy world which Michael finds himself is just as harsh, unforgiving and gritty as the normal world and bad things happen there. It's possible to say that beauty and violence go hand in hand in this story, because the beautiful moments are balanced by violent happenings.
The author writes perfectly about how men have changed the landscape by cutting down the forests and trees. The forests and trees have been replaced by fields and houses, and the landscape has changed bit by bit over the years. It was nice that the Other Place still had forests that were wild and man had to be careful not to disturb anything there, because the forests were wild and dangerous places.
In my opinion the author writes well about how Christianity has changed things for the Forest-Folk and beings who live in the Other Place. The coming of Christianity hasn't been good for these people and beings, because they've been pushed far into the remote places of the forests.
I loved the ending of this novel. It's a perfect ending to a beautifully written story. I won't reveal what happens at the end of this novel, but I'll mention that readers who expect quality from their fantasy novels will enjoy the ending.
The cover art of this new edition looks great. It's a beautifully modern cover image by Pye Parr.
A Different Kingdom is almost like an elegy to a lost and vanished way of life. I don't know if the author has based this novel partly on real happenings or not, but I wouldn't be surprised if he has, because he writes about the sights, sounds, and smells of the farm in a realistic and nostalgic way.
Paul Kearney's A Different Kingdom is a seducingly dark fairy tale for adults. In terms of depth, style, quality and prose, this novel is in a league of its own (it's difficult to find similar novels). If you enjoy reading mythic fantasy that has plenty of realism in it, you'll love this novel. This novel should be read by everybody who loves good prose and appreciates beautifully written stories. I sincerely hope that several readers will read this fantasy novel.
Highly recommended!
It's great that Solaris Books has republished Paul Kearney's A Different Kingdom, because it has been out-of-print for a long time (only certain bookshops and online bookshops have sold second-hand copies of it). It's a fantasy novel that deserves to be republished, because it's one of the richest fantasy novels ever written.
Before I write more about this novel, I'll mention that Paul Kearney is unfortunately a lesser known fantasy author than several other authors. This is a real shame, because he's an excellent storyteller and writes interesting novels. A Different Kingdom is a good example of how good an author he is.
It's also good to mention that A Different Kingdom is a fantasy novel for adults, because it contains sex and violence.
As several experienced fantasy readers are probably aware of, there are plenty of novels in which characters enter magical realms. A Different Kingdom differs from these novels by being a more serious and ambitious novel. The author explores such themes as adolescence and sexual desire in a deep and mature way (the protagonist's awakening sexuality is handled in a mature way).
A Different Kingdom invites comparison with Robert Holdstock's Mythago Wood novels. It also invites comparison with a few fantasy novels by Charles de Lint. I think that readers who have read these novels will easily notice the similarities. Fortunately Paul Kearney doesn't imitate these authors, but writes his own kind of mythic fantasy.
I was very impressed by A Different Kingdom, because Paul Kearney has infused the story with several different elements from rural life in Ireland to mythic beings (he has combined Irish myths, Celtic mythology, realistic farm life and coming-of-age story in a fluent way). It's difficult to find a standalone fantasy novel that has as much depth and mythic atmosphere as this novel.
Here's information about the story:
A Different Kingdom is a story about Michael Fae who lives in Antrim in rural Ireland in the 1950s. He is the only person who can see the Other Place and its creatures. He sees wolves in the woods that nobody else can see, and he also sees men with fox faces, a mysterious Horseman and a girl called Cat. When Michael meets Cat, he begins to fall in love with her. Soon he follows her to the Other Place. Michael has a quest to do there...
Paul Kearney writes well about the characters and makes them come alive. In my opinion he writes perfectly about Michael and his life (rreaders get to know who Michael is). He also writes well about Cat, Mirkady, Ringbone and other characters. Cat is an interesting character, because she's not quite human.
In my opinion Paul Kearney writes about the problems of adolescence and sex in a brilliant way. By concentrating on writing about Michael and his life the author is able to show his readers how a young boy feels about growing up in the countryside and what it is like for a boy to live on the farm with his grandparents and other relatives. It's nice that the author explores Michael's life as a child, as a teenager and as an adult, because it adds depth to the story.
The relationship between Michael and Cat is handled in an excellent way. The author writes wonderfully about Michael's feelings and his desire for Cat, because Michael is fascinated by her. When Michael grows up and gets to know Cat, he develops sexual feelings towards her and has sex with her. The author writes boldly about Michael's awakening sexuality and adolescent desire.
Cat is not the only person that Michael loves, because he also loves his aunt Rose. Michael's relationship with his aunt Rose plays an important part in the story, because she's like a big sister to Michael, but at the same time she's almost - but not quite - like a lover to him. When Rose is being sent away to have a baby, it has a huge impact on Michael, because her disappearance haunts his life.
One of the most interesting things about this novel is that the author shows how Michael gradually loses his innocence by falling in love with Cat and travelling to the Other Place. It was great to read about how being in the Other Place affected Michael and how travelling further into the other realm changed him both physically and mentally.
Reading about Michael's adventures in the Other Place was fascinating. At first he didn't know much about this other realm, but he began to learn new things and got to know different people and beings. One of the best scenes in this novel is the scene in which Michael meets Mirkady and is led to Gallow's Howe, because he sees what kind of beings live in the forest.
The mysterious Horseman - the Devil - is a fascinatingly threatening element in the story, because he seeks souls. Michael's quest is tied to the Horseman.
Paul Kearney writes rich literary prose. He evokes vidid images of the Other Place and the lush landscapes with his prose, and he delivers brutal moments when necessary. The author's descriptions of Antrim are beautiful and nostalgic. He brings the beautiful and harsh farm life to life with his words. It isn't often that a fantasy reader has a chance to read this kind of beautiful prose.
The author writes vividly about Michael's childhood at his grandparents' farm. The writing is so good that you can almost believe you're right there with Michael. The days and years that he spends at his grandparents' farm are filled with farm life, family life and strange happenings.
There's a beautifully bittersweet edge to the story. The author manages to avoid being too sentimental and coats the story with harsh realism that keeps it from slipping into an over-sentimental story. One of the best things about this novel is that the fantasy world which Michael finds himself is just as harsh, unforgiving and gritty as the normal world and bad things happen there. It's possible to say that beauty and violence go hand in hand in this story, because the beautiful moments are balanced by violent happenings.
The author writes perfectly about how men have changed the landscape by cutting down the forests and trees. The forests and trees have been replaced by fields and houses, and the landscape has changed bit by bit over the years. It was nice that the Other Place still had forests that were wild and man had to be careful not to disturb anything there, because the forests were wild and dangerous places.
In my opinion the author writes well about how Christianity has changed things for the Forest-Folk and beings who live in the Other Place. The coming of Christianity hasn't been good for these people and beings, because they've been pushed far into the remote places of the forests.
I loved the ending of this novel. It's a perfect ending to a beautifully written story. I won't reveal what happens at the end of this novel, but I'll mention that readers who expect quality from their fantasy novels will enjoy the ending.
The cover art of this new edition looks great. It's a beautifully modern cover image by Pye Parr.
A Different Kingdom is almost like an elegy to a lost and vanished way of life. I don't know if the author has based this novel partly on real happenings or not, but I wouldn't be surprised if he has, because he writes about the sights, sounds, and smells of the farm in a realistic and nostalgic way.
Paul Kearney's A Different Kingdom is a seducingly dark fairy tale for adults. In terms of depth, style, quality and prose, this novel is in a league of its own (it's difficult to find similar novels). If you enjoy reading mythic fantasy that has plenty of realism in it, you'll love this novel. This novel should be read by everybody who loves good prose and appreciates beautifully written stories. I sincerely hope that several readers will read this fantasy novel.
Highly recommended!
deals
February 5, 20165 February 2016: $2.99 on Kindle
June 17, 2016
I seem to have a weakness for stories about people going into Fairyland/Elfland/The Other Lands/Under the Hill/etc. This is one of those books.
Michael Fay can occasionally go into The Other Land and have adventures there. This is the story of how that happens for him.
It's not a happy, magical time. There is real danger, and hunger, and monsters. And there's love and friendship too, but more of the dark bits than the happy bits, I think.
The book this reminds me most of is Mythago Wood, by Robert Holdstock. I love that book unreservedly, so this should have been right up my alley. But I found the book a little too dark and joyless to be really engrossing. I need to go back and reread Mythago Wood to see if I've romanticized it in my imagination, I guess.
I thought the writing was good and competent, just not compelling to me. Not a bad book, just not a great one.
Michael Fay can occasionally go into The Other Land and have adventures there. This is the story of how that happens for him.
It's not a happy, magical time. There is real danger, and hunger, and monsters. And there's love and friendship too, but more of the dark bits than the happy bits, I think.
The book this reminds me most of is Mythago Wood, by Robert Holdstock. I love that book unreservedly, so this should have been right up my alley. But I found the book a little too dark and joyless to be really engrossing. I need to go back and reread Mythago Wood to see if I've romanticized it in my imagination, I guess.
I thought the writing was good and competent, just not compelling to me. Not a bad book, just not a great one.
February 27, 2014
So what am I saying?
I loved this book.
That is all.
Read my full review here:
http://www.bookwormblues.net/2014/02/...
I loved this book.
That is all.
Read my full review here:
http://www.bookwormblues.net/2014/02/...
January 31, 2014
Paul Kearney is an author I've seen people rave about ever since I started blogging. At the time he was in the middle of publishing his The Macht trilogy and there were a number of bloggers I discovered early on who are huge fans of that series (Looking at you, Speculative Scotsman!). So I was excited to learn that Solaris would be republishing his earlier work and The Macht series. However, based on what I'd read about The Macht, which as I recall it was akin to military fantasy, A Different Kingdom was quite different (no pun intended) than I'd expected. Instead of a raw, hard, military fantasy, this book is a far more traditional fairy tale, though with some very dark elements. Its sensibilities reminded me powerfully of Charles de Lint's
The Little Country
though with a darker edge.
The story set in our world, is set in County Antrim, Northern Ireland and starts in 1953 and it is a Northern Ireland on the brink of the modern age, where cars and electricity are still seen as new-fangled and many people still travel by horse and cart and farm work is done by hand and horsepower. It was a time when The Troubles were still very much unsolved, but apart from some mentions on the periphery of the narrative they don't seem to play a large part in the story, at least as far as I could tell and in as far as The Troubles don't unavoidably influence any Northern-Irish author. However, I might be completely mistaken in this assessment. Religion as a whole, on the other hand, definitely plays a large role in the story, both in our world and in the Other Place. In our world, it means that Michael loses his beloved aunt Rose, when she becomes pregnant outside of wedlock and she's sent away to have the baby elsewhere. Rose tells Michael that it's the family priest that is sending her away and in a devout Catholic household in the 1950's that wouldn't have been uncommon. In the Other Place it's The Brothers and their Knights – transplanted Early Christian monks – that are one of the few powers that provide safety against the Horseman and his wolfish minions. They and iron are anathema to the fey folk called the Wyrim. On the whole though, Michael remains conflicted about his faith and especially the Brothers never clearly fall on the side of either good or bad.
Michael is a likeable protagonist and easy to connect with. His tale has many of the classic elements of the Hero's Journey, a fact acknowledged in the text when one of his allies discovers one of his reasons of travelling to the other place and declares he is on a quest. The one thing I really had a problem with was his age. At the start of his adventures in the Other Place, Michael was thirteen and he never felt like he was that young. Especially his relationship with Cat seems far too mature for a boy his age. Along the same lines his close and sometimes innuendo-laden relationship with his Aunt – for whom he develops an almost oedipal longing – left me quite unsettled. Cat, his wyrim lover and fellow adventurer is sympathetic, but remains opaque; we never truly learn her motivations. She is of the Other Place, a place both magical and dark and her nature reflects this. This goes for the other secondary characters from the Other Place as well, especially the Horseman and his minions, but Mirkady and his wyrim and the Brothers as well. In a sense they are true fairy-tale characters, ones who fill a specific role in the narrative and remain somewhat fuzzy in other aspects. It is only on closer examination after finishing the book, however, that this becomes clear, within the narrative the reader is swept along on the adventure and the wonderful sense of atmosphere that fills the book.
The ending of A Different Kingdom is amazing, being neither wholly happy, but not wholly sad either; it was just a perfect ending to this story. It's hard to put a finger on what I think of the book. I was carried away into the Other Place by the writing and the atmosphere of the tale, but once I finished and stepped away from it, I suddenly began to notice all these niggles with it. In the end, I think the book is like its ending: it didn't make me wholly happy, but it didn't make me wholly sad either; it was just the perfect shape for the story and one that perhaps didn't work perfectly for me. However, I did enjoy it and it's made me really curious to read more of Kearney's work to see how I get on with that.
This book was provided for review by the publisher.
The story set in our world, is set in County Antrim, Northern Ireland and starts in 1953 and it is a Northern Ireland on the brink of the modern age, where cars and electricity are still seen as new-fangled and many people still travel by horse and cart and farm work is done by hand and horsepower. It was a time when The Troubles were still very much unsolved, but apart from some mentions on the periphery of the narrative they don't seem to play a large part in the story, at least as far as I could tell and in as far as The Troubles don't unavoidably influence any Northern-Irish author. However, I might be completely mistaken in this assessment. Religion as a whole, on the other hand, definitely plays a large role in the story, both in our world and in the Other Place. In our world, it means that Michael loses his beloved aunt Rose, when she becomes pregnant outside of wedlock and she's sent away to have the baby elsewhere. Rose tells Michael that it's the family priest that is sending her away and in a devout Catholic household in the 1950's that wouldn't have been uncommon. In the Other Place it's The Brothers and their Knights – transplanted Early Christian monks – that are one of the few powers that provide safety against the Horseman and his wolfish minions. They and iron are anathema to the fey folk called the Wyrim. On the whole though, Michael remains conflicted about his faith and especially the Brothers never clearly fall on the side of either good or bad.
Michael is a likeable protagonist and easy to connect with. His tale has many of the classic elements of the Hero's Journey, a fact acknowledged in the text when one of his allies discovers one of his reasons of travelling to the other place and declares he is on a quest. The one thing I really had a problem with was his age. At the start of his adventures in the Other Place, Michael was thirteen and he never felt like he was that young. Especially his relationship with Cat seems far too mature for a boy his age. Along the same lines his close and sometimes innuendo-laden relationship with his Aunt – for whom he develops an almost oedipal longing – left me quite unsettled. Cat, his wyrim lover and fellow adventurer is sympathetic, but remains opaque; we never truly learn her motivations. She is of the Other Place, a place both magical and dark and her nature reflects this. This goes for the other secondary characters from the Other Place as well, especially the Horseman and his minions, but Mirkady and his wyrim and the Brothers as well. In a sense they are true fairy-tale characters, ones who fill a specific role in the narrative and remain somewhat fuzzy in other aspects. It is only on closer examination after finishing the book, however, that this becomes clear, within the narrative the reader is swept along on the adventure and the wonderful sense of atmosphere that fills the book.
The ending of A Different Kingdom is amazing, being neither wholly happy, but not wholly sad either; it was just a perfect ending to this story. It's hard to put a finger on what I think of the book. I was carried away into the Other Place by the writing and the atmosphere of the tale, but once I finished and stepped away from it, I suddenly began to notice all these niggles with it. In the end, I think the book is like its ending: it didn't make me wholly happy, but it didn't make me wholly sad either; it was just the perfect shape for the story and one that perhaps didn't work perfectly for me. However, I did enjoy it and it's made me really curious to read more of Kearney's work to see how I get on with that.
This book was provided for review by the publisher.
December 17, 2017
Growing up on an Antrim farm in the 1950s, young Michael Fay has an idyllic but hard-working life. However, he soon discovers that the woodland beyond the farm is a doorway to another place, a place of wonders and stark terrors which has a strange hold on his family and where he must travel to right an old wrong.
A Different Kingdom was Paul Kearney's second novel, originally published in 1993 by Gollancz. It's a stand-alone, although it shares a thematic link with The Way to Babylon and Riding the Unicorn in that it features a person from our world who is drawn into a fantastical one. Those more familiar with Kearney from his later work, such as the excellent Monarchies of God series or his recent accomplished fantasised historical, The Ten Thousand, will find the book a surprise and a revelation. This is a work that is steeped in earthy Celtic mythology and is riddled with the sensibilities of Ireland. During early sequences on the Fay farm you can almost taste the soda bread and buttermilk, whilst later sequences in the fantastical 'other place' are rooted in the earth, the musty smells of the forest and in the palpable terror of the hunted.
A Different Kingdom reaches into the same taproots as works such as Robert Holdstock's Mythago Wood, a comparison most books would not weather well, but this novel stands up to it with gusto. It's extremely well-written, with Fay a troubled and complex central character, and features an unusual structure where the story proceeds in three different periods in Michael's life and the story moves between them as he has prescient visions of his future journey into the forest as a boy, flashbacks to it as an adult and then we see it during the present. There's an element of Heart of Darkness also at work, as Michael's journey into the heart of the forest to confront an elusive enemy also becomes a confrontation with his own soul and his desires to save a family member clash with the desire to stay with a beautiful woman he meets in the woodlands.
There aren't many weaknesses. The sequence set in the future when Michael is grown-up are somewhat brief and not as well-explored as the earlier episodes, but then it doesn't really need to be. Some may find the ending also to be a little abrupt given the novel's build-up, but it still worked well and was a thematically appropriate conclusion. I particularly like the way you can't really read it as a 'happy ending' or not, depending on your interpretation of the story.
A Different Kingdom (*****) is a rich, powerful and strikingly good novel. Solaris have recently reissued the novel in the UK and USA.
A Different Kingdom was Paul Kearney's second novel, originally published in 1993 by Gollancz. It's a stand-alone, although it shares a thematic link with The Way to Babylon and Riding the Unicorn in that it features a person from our world who is drawn into a fantastical one. Those more familiar with Kearney from his later work, such as the excellent Monarchies of God series or his recent accomplished fantasised historical, The Ten Thousand, will find the book a surprise and a revelation. This is a work that is steeped in earthy Celtic mythology and is riddled with the sensibilities of Ireland. During early sequences on the Fay farm you can almost taste the soda bread and buttermilk, whilst later sequences in the fantastical 'other place' are rooted in the earth, the musty smells of the forest and in the palpable terror of the hunted.
A Different Kingdom reaches into the same taproots as works such as Robert Holdstock's Mythago Wood, a comparison most books would not weather well, but this novel stands up to it with gusto. It's extremely well-written, with Fay a troubled and complex central character, and features an unusual structure where the story proceeds in three different periods in Michael's life and the story moves between them as he has prescient visions of his future journey into the forest as a boy, flashbacks to it as an adult and then we see it during the present. There's an element of Heart of Darkness also at work, as Michael's journey into the heart of the forest to confront an elusive enemy also becomes a confrontation with his own soul and his desires to save a family member clash with the desire to stay with a beautiful woman he meets in the woodlands.
There aren't many weaknesses. The sequence set in the future when Michael is grown-up are somewhat brief and not as well-explored as the earlier episodes, but then it doesn't really need to be. Some may find the ending also to be a little abrupt given the novel's build-up, but it still worked well and was a thematically appropriate conclusion. I particularly like the way you can't really read it as a 'happy ending' or not, depending on your interpretation of the story.
A Different Kingdom (*****) is a rich, powerful and strikingly good novel. Solaris have recently reissued the novel in the UK and USA.
December 3, 2013
http://www.mybookishways.com/2013/11/...
In mid 20th century Ireland, Michael Fay is coming of age on his grandparent’s farm, after the death of his parents. He’s particularly close to his Aunt Rose, who is young and impetuous, and who dotes on Michael. Days are spent tending the animals and working the land, yet Michael begins to sense something watching him: a dark horseman, just out of the corner of his eye, always at the edges of the woods. When Rose is sent away, never to return, Michael suspects that Rose has been taken by the thing in the woods, and when he meets Cat, a wild, feral girl who dwells in another world altogether, he makes it his quest to find Rose, even if it means going to another place, a place deep inside a dark and dangerous wood, where magic lives.
A Different Kingdom is Paul Kearney’s first novel (Macht Trilogy, etc) and I’m so glad Solaris is reissuing the book, otherwise, it may never have come to my attention, since I’m not a big reader of epic or military fantasy. It actually takes a rather simple premise: a boy on a quest aka coming of age and plops it down amidst an Ireland in political turmoil. The romance between Cat and Michael is earthy, frank, and quite sensual and Kearney’s language is such that you can almost smell the loamy woods and feel the give of the soil under your feet as Cat and Michael travel to the dark lair of the horseman that Michael is convinced has taken Rose’s soul. However, as time passes, Michael begins to age, and Cat changes too, until Michael slowly begins to lose himself and long for the life he left behind, and of course, he comes to mourn his innocence lost. Most of the narrative takes place in the dark woods that Michael and Cat traverse, but we also get a glimpse of Michael’s adult life as a bartender who has succumbed to the temptation of the bottle, and thinks he sees fey, and Cat in every dark corner. Story-wise, there isn’t anything earth shattering here, but Kearney’s language is so gorgeous that I didn’t see that as a negative. If you enjoy through-the-looking-glass fables and of course faerie tales, you might want to give this one a try.
In mid 20th century Ireland, Michael Fay is coming of age on his grandparent’s farm, after the death of his parents. He’s particularly close to his Aunt Rose, who is young and impetuous, and who dotes on Michael. Days are spent tending the animals and working the land, yet Michael begins to sense something watching him: a dark horseman, just out of the corner of his eye, always at the edges of the woods. When Rose is sent away, never to return, Michael suspects that Rose has been taken by the thing in the woods, and when he meets Cat, a wild, feral girl who dwells in another world altogether, he makes it his quest to find Rose, even if it means going to another place, a place deep inside a dark and dangerous wood, where magic lives.
A Different Kingdom is Paul Kearney’s first novel (Macht Trilogy, etc) and I’m so glad Solaris is reissuing the book, otherwise, it may never have come to my attention, since I’m not a big reader of epic or military fantasy. It actually takes a rather simple premise: a boy on a quest aka coming of age and plops it down amidst an Ireland in political turmoil. The romance between Cat and Michael is earthy, frank, and quite sensual and Kearney’s language is such that you can almost smell the loamy woods and feel the give of the soil under your feet as Cat and Michael travel to the dark lair of the horseman that Michael is convinced has taken Rose’s soul. However, as time passes, Michael begins to age, and Cat changes too, until Michael slowly begins to lose himself and long for the life he left behind, and of course, he comes to mourn his innocence lost. Most of the narrative takes place in the dark woods that Michael and Cat traverse, but we also get a glimpse of Michael’s adult life as a bartender who has succumbed to the temptation of the bottle, and thinks he sees fey, and Cat in every dark corner. Story-wise, there isn’t anything earth shattering here, but Kearney’s language is so gorgeous that I didn’t see that as a negative. If you enjoy through-the-looking-glass fables and of course faerie tales, you might want to give this one a try.
March 26, 2014
3.5
The story follows Michael, a young boy growing up in rural Ireland who is lured through a portal between worlds by the enigmatic Cat. This is very much a grown up fairy tale that delves into the loss of innocence, and the consequences of choices we make.
I really enjoyed the dream-like quality to the writing style, which very much fit with the fairy tale theme of the book. However, I felt a bit cheated the closer I got to the end. The book implies early on that Michael spent "an entire lifetime" on the other side of the portal, and he grew old during his journey and became a great warrior. While he does "grow old" it is a magically induced aging, and he in fact only spends a year in the fairy tale world. I had been hoping for tales of an entire life lived in a different world where Michael became this grizzled old warrior described early on. Instead I got a drawn out year where he and Cat do a lot of bumbling around and get extremely lucky. While I understand that the traumatic events he experienced could feel like a lifetime lived in another world, I still felt like I fell for some false advertizing.
The story is engaging, if a little unbalanced. The book spends too much time on Michael's youth and then turns into a rushed fantasy adventure in the second half. The writing is solid, the characters well developed, and the descriptions of the world are absolutely beautiful in places. Worth a read for people interested in stories that go "through the wardrobe" to a different world.
The story follows Michael, a young boy growing up in rural Ireland who is lured through a portal between worlds by the enigmatic Cat. This is very much a grown up fairy tale that delves into the loss of innocence, and the consequences of choices we make.
I really enjoyed the dream-like quality to the writing style, which very much fit with the fairy tale theme of the book. However, I felt a bit cheated the closer I got to the end. The book implies early on that Michael spent "an entire lifetime" on the other side of the portal, and he grew old during his journey and became a great warrior. While he does "grow old" it is a magically induced aging, and he in fact only spends a year in the fairy tale world. I had been hoping for tales of an entire life lived in a different world where Michael became this grizzled old warrior described early on. Instead I got a drawn out year where he and Cat do a lot of bumbling around and get extremely lucky. While I understand that the traumatic events he experienced could feel like a lifetime lived in another world, I still felt like I fell for some false advertizing.
The story is engaging, if a little unbalanced. The book spends too much time on Michael's youth and then turns into a rushed fantasy adventure in the second half. The writing is solid, the characters well developed, and the descriptions of the world are absolutely beautiful in places. Worth a read for people interested in stories that go "through the wardrobe" to a different world.
July 28, 2021
A different kingdom is the first book by Paul Kearney and is based on a theme that is prevalent in his work, that of the parallel magical world that overlaps with our own and is only seen by a few special individuals. Here that special person is Michael Fey, a 12 year old boy growing on an Irish farm in the 50's with his extended family. The deep woods near the farm hide passages to a different kingdom and with the urging of a mysterious girl Michael finds himself on the other side. The novel takes place in 3 different timelines, the young Michael, seduced by the mysterious girl Cat and the promise of adventure tries to understand the new reality he finds himself in, an older battle hardened Michael tries to evade pursuit and escape back to his own world and years later a beaten down Michael tries to escape his horrible memories in alcohol and crowds. Kearney even in his early works leans towards the grimdark and his magical world is no exception. This is no fairy land, it is an endless dark forest filled with perils. Life there is a constant struggle for survival, the people are hard, dirty, hungry and live in constant fear. The creatures are at best mischievous and at worst outright evil. A dark horseman haunts the land and his power remains undisputed despite spells and prayers. It is that darkness and its long living results on Michael that set this novel apart from similar books and make it a first effort worth reading despite the lukewarm ending.
September 10, 2016
Probably 3.5 stars.
As with most of Kearney's work, this is one very dense. Meaning there is so much packed into a relatively small amount of pages that I don't know how he manages to pull it off without it feeling rushed. But he always seems successfully do it. Somehow you're left feeling you've read an entire series of books when you've finished.
I understand why, at the time, he was urged to write more "traditional" fantasy, though. Probably a case of being too far ahead of what might eventually become "urban" fantasy.
Hopefully these re-released early stand-alone novels find a home in today's more varied fantasy landscape. Because Kearney certainly deserves to be more widely read. Having said all that, however, I'm not going to say this one blew me away or anything. The writing is quite good (and I enjoyed it a great deal), but there's some pacing issues. He should have Robin Hooded it a bit: stole from the rich beginning to give to the poorer (but nowhere near destitute) ending.
As with most of Kearney's work, this is one very dense. Meaning there is so much packed into a relatively small amount of pages that I don't know how he manages to pull it off without it feeling rushed. But he always seems successfully do it. Somehow you're left feeling you've read an entire series of books when you've finished.
I understand why, at the time, he was urged to write more "traditional" fantasy, though. Probably a case of being too far ahead of what might eventually become "urban" fantasy.
Hopefully these re-released early stand-alone novels find a home in today's more varied fantasy landscape. Because Kearney certainly deserves to be more widely read. Having said all that, however, I'm not going to say this one blew me away or anything. The writing is quite good (and I enjoyed it a great deal), but there's some pacing issues. He should have Robin Hooded it a bit: stole from the rich beginning to give to the poorer (but nowhere near destitute) ending.
April 2, 2014
Bought it last night read it thru in one sitting !
That is testament to the way this adventure fantasy will keep you turning the pages.
Reminded me a bit of my friend Barry's favorite, Weaveworld and one of my favorites, Stardust, but this is its own world with its own secret ways.
That is testament to the way this adventure fantasy will keep you turning the pages.
Reminded me a bit of my friend Barry's favorite, Weaveworld and one of my favorites, Stardust, but this is its own world with its own secret ways.
December 5, 2014
Disclaimer: This ARC was given to me for free in exchange for an honest review from Netgalley.
I really enjoyed reading this. It was a little hard to follow at first, but once I got going it started to make sense. It's like a early 20th century fantasy tale mixed with faerie tale. There are some time travel aspects, but it's not exactly time travel. Really hard to explain. If you like fantasy and/or faerie tales you'll enjoy this. This is also not a children's book.
I really enjoyed reading this. It was a little hard to follow at first, but once I got going it started to make sense. It's like a early 20th century fantasy tale mixed with faerie tale. There are some time travel aspects, but it's not exactly time travel. Really hard to explain. If you like fantasy and/or faerie tales you'll enjoy this. This is also not a children's book.
December 25, 2016
Not bad, but the stumbling-on-faery-realm-in-the-woods premise has been done far better in Robert Holdstock's classic Mythago Wood.
May 4, 2014
The best novel of its kind that I've read since The Silent Strength of Stones.
June 6, 2014
116 pages and I just dont care about anything in the book. it takes much too long to tell the story and goes in and out of anything even remotely interesting. maybe I'll pick it up again later. but for now I have to move on to something more interesting.
June 15, 2022
Если вы хотите книгу, где можно найти:
- неповторимый дух Ирландии;
- множество фольклорных элементов;
- изящные игры с реальной историей и попытки осмысления некоторых вех на пути человечества;
- размышления о взрослении человека и старении мира, где он живет;
- немного экологической риторики и развитие идеи о том, насколько губителен тезис "все люди равны, но некоторые равнее";
- (и при всем при том) динамичный сюжет и каплю будоражащей пикантности...
то вам несомненно надо брать в руки книгу Пола Керни "Иное царство".
И однозначно вам следует пройти мимо, если душа просит:
- историю об абсолютной Отваге и Мужестве в духе Толкиена;
- классического повествования про таких классических-классических троллей и гоблинов;
- чего-то в духе типичного young adult (ибо герою фактически 14 лет);
- розовых единорогов в соответствующем антураже.
9 / 10
June 8, 2022
A little dull and with a poor ending.
This is Kearney's first book and it shows, it has no real depth in the plot or characters.
It mixes a nostalgia for a lost way of life, life without machines, and a dark coming of age story.
It is not a childrens' story even though the description sounds like one, it has very dark and adult elements.
The main problem is that there is no real substance, it feels like a bloated short story rather than a real novel.
The ending is also very soft, almost dreamlike.
Readable but far from good.
This is certainly his worst book, if you haven't read anything by him then don't start here, The Monarchies of God series is in a completely different league to this.
This is Kearney's first book and it shows, it has no real depth in the plot or characters.
It mixes a nostalgia for a lost way of life, life without machines, and a dark coming of age story.
It is not a childrens' story even though the description sounds like one, it has very dark and adult elements.
The main problem is that there is no real substance, it feels like a bloated short story rather than a real novel.
The ending is also very soft, almost dreamlike.
Readable but far from good.
This is certainly his worst book, if you haven't read anything by him then don't start here, The Monarchies of God series is in a completely different league to this.
January 29, 2018
In A Different Kingdom a young boy, Michael Fay, lives on his parent's farm in the Irish countryside, and stumbles upon an alternate world at the river at the end of the property. He becomes drawn to it, encounters the strange inhabitants and befriends Cat, a girl who lives in this "other place" and goes on an adventure with her.
The story reminded me of Mythago Wood to a degree - a woodland that has a life of it's own, with bizarre inhabitants that are steeped in mythology and folklore. Kearney's created some fully realised characters in Cat and Michael, as well as excellent world-building that had me immersed in the story right from the start. Another very good novel from the author.
The story reminded me of Mythago Wood to a degree - a woodland that has a life of it's own, with bizarre inhabitants that are steeped in mythology and folklore. Kearney's created some fully realised characters in Cat and Michael, as well as excellent world-building that had me immersed in the story right from the start. Another very good novel from the author.
March 16, 2017
An adult fairytale....I was very unsure about reading this initially but loved it. The two main characters were so vividly portrayed, the descriptive prose had me hooked from the first page. It was gruesome in parts...as are most fairytales...but all in keeping with the story. I didn't give it give 5 stars as suspect you would get somewhat bored reading this sort of novel again ....checking out his other books, they appear to be in a similar vein ....slipping back into another life/forest where things come alive etc . worth venturing out of your norm and giving this book a go!
February 20, 2019
This was a really good book which made me want to travel to Ireland and look for mystical beings and old legends. The writing was of the sort that conjures pictures in my head and I enjoyed every bit of it. This is not a fairy tail in the sweet "happy ever after" meaning. It is dark and feels realistic and even cruel at some points. It shows that not all quests can be solved and not all heroes can save noble maidens. The ending though didn't feel quite fitting for the story, that's the minus one star.
January 30, 2024
Decent read. Jumped back and forth between two different realms quite a bit without any clear separation. So it would take me a few paragraphs to realize that the book had jumped realms again. But that wasn't a show stopper. I'll have to check out the next book to see if the jumps continue.
November 4, 2018
It was long time coming but I finished it....
It was worth the wait. Fantastic tale of 2 worlds, 2 fleshed out characters making their way thru the worlds. Highly recommended.
It was worth the wait. Fantastic tale of 2 worlds, 2 fleshed out characters making their way thru the worlds. Highly recommended.
April 8, 2019
Enjoyed this author's take on the parallel world of fae folk and the primeval forest that sometimes intrudes into our world.
June 3, 2023
I enjoyed the writing, the characters were good, nature captured beautifully, but the story was a little thin, and it was the descriptions rather than the action that kept me reading.
March 7, 2025
I expected some good old vintage fantasy with fairy tale/forest vibes, but this exceeded all my expectations and ended up being so much more than all that?? I genuinely loved the ending especially.
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