Enjoyed it but it's not his best. ( )

Once by James Herbert was more than a little disappointing. Yes, I had read other reviews first and they were all pretty consistent about this book... sucking. Yet I still hoped for more. The synopsis sounded great and I really liked James Herbert's Haunted. And from the synopsis, I was hoping for something more like John Connolly's The Book of Lost Things or Neil Gaiman's Stardust. Faery with some horror elements. My expectations were set way too high.

The story initially drew me in and had me quickly turning the pages, but it wasn't long before the descriptions of Faery became tedious rather than magical. The horror was gross rather than creepy. But I think what irritated me the most and put me off was the unnecessary sex that did absolutely nothing to further the plot. 300 pages in and I no longer cared about any of the characters; who lived or who died.

So, if you are looking for some great dark fantasy and adult fairy tales, skip this one and read instead John Connolly's The Book of Lost Things, Neil Gaiman's Stardust, Lord Dunsany's The King of Elfland's Daughter, or any of the fairy tale collections edited by Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling. Just to name a few... ( )

Dreadful - the worst James Herbert I have read - I persevered until half way and just as I was going to ditch the book the second half did become more readable and interesting. ( )

I've loved James Herbert (a Brit, naturally!) ever since I read The Magic Cottage many years ago. He has a wonderful way of blending the everyday world with the supernatural in a way that's seamless and utterly believable, and I appreciate his ability to explore very different subjects and rarely repeat himself - no doubt a difficult task for a fairly prolific writer. In this story, he delves into the world of the Faerie, which, ironically, has never been one of my more pressing interests. He brings it out so naturally, though, that I found myself just going with it!

Thom Kindred has returned to his childhood home of Castle Bracken to heal from a devastating, early-age stroke. Bracken really is a true castle, a relic of the distant past, and Thom grew up in a small cottage on the property - the cottage having been occupied by his mother, who served as a tutor to the children of Bracken's owners. When the story begins, Thom's mother is long dead - of suicide, or so Thom was led to believe those many years ago - but the glimpses we get of her through his memories are intriguing. She seems mystical, lovely and ethereal, and I don't know about others who read this book, but I would have loved to know more about her and to have another 200 pages or so reserved just for an exploration into Thom's childhood and growing up with this mysterious woman of the woods.

Then, of course, there are the woods themselves, which we soon learn are unlike any other. It doesn't take long before we find Thom plunged into a mystery both beautiful and terrifying, and the woods come alive with all the creatures we hear about in fairy tales as children - the original fairy tales that were both dark and light, alternately fascinating and frightening. He falls in love with Jennet, a faerie creature who slowly re-awakens his long-suppressed memories of life as a child in this otherworld, and also reveals to him the truth about his mother. When he learns that the fate of the magical world he inhabited as a child and has re-discovered as an adult is in terrible, immediate jeopardy, he realizes that, ready or not, he's about to be caught in the middle of a torturous battle between the past and the present, and what is seen and unseen.

I have only two complaints, and they're relatively minor. The first is in reference to one of the villains of the story, a witch whom he specifically identifies as Wiccan. It's not an accurate depiction of the religion of Wicca or its practitioners, nor is there any adequate explanation, even briefly, of the word itself and the numerous ways it's used. It's a somewhat broad and hotly debated topic anyway and probably why he left all that out, but I still think it's confusing and more than a little misleading to anyone who is not familiar with Wicca either as a religion or as a word.

My other complaint may sound a little weird, but it has to do with his depiction of Jennet, the faerie with whom Thom falls in love. It's a very sexual relationship, which is fine and I have no issue with that. It's the description of her as (and I apologize in advance if this is a little TMI or inappropriate!) 'hairless' and small-breasted, and essentially very child-like. I realize I'm not articulating this very well, since obviously "small-breasted" in no way translates as "child-like". It's just the depiction of Jennet in general as more of a 13-year old...at least, that's the image I get in my head. I'm uncomfortable with a grown man expressing such lust for a girl who comes across almost pre-pubescent. I should make clear, of course, that Jennet's character is NOT a child. It just gives me an itsty bitsy bit of the creeps. At any rate, it's a small thing because the other sexual attraction he feels, towards the witch of the tale, is very much the opposite. I don't know if there's any significance to the fact that the "woman" of the story is the evil witch, while the child-like female is ultimately the heroine and an object of true love, but I'm sure that in any case Herbert wouldn't appreciate my Freudian analysis of his sexual predilections. LOL

All in all it was a good, satisfying story. A nice addition to anyone's collection of supernatural, dark fantasy and other similar tales in the genre. ( )

An unusual combination of horror story, faerie tale, and erotica - definitely not recommended for arachnophobes. ( )