Reviewed by Dan
TITLE: Renewal
SERIES: The Green Man #1
AUTHOR: Leona Carver
PUBLISHER: Less Than Three Press
LENGTH: 18,000 Words
BLURB:
Sterling is broke and tired of living in a cramped city. A week-long job surveying an old forest seems like the perfect break. It doesn’t hurt that his technician partner is more than friendly.
Then he starts hearing voices and hallucinates an encounter with a fawn who wants him to complete an arcane ritual. Combined with a partner who suddenly needs his help with some mysterious, deadly problem, a boss accusing him of sabotage, and a dying forest, Sterling isn’t certain what’s real, what’s madness, or which is worse.
REVIEW:
Leona Carver’s Renewal sounded tailor made for me to enjoy. It said “The Green Man” right on its cover. I’ve recently had a large Green Man tattoo designed for my upper right arm, and I’m itching to have the ink applied. I love the Green Man legends.
But, there was no Green Man in this short story, unless Sterling is somehow a Green Man in disguise? We do have an incarnation of Pan (which to me is not the same as a Green Man), and a sentient toad, but no Green Man from legend.
Sterling has signed up on a crew to investigate the viability of an ancient forest somewhere in Eastern Europe or Russia. Its location isn’t exactly clear, and really doesn’t matter to the storyline. He and a team, headed by a woman who is portrayed as a really nasty piece of work, have a few days to determine if the forest is alive, or dying. He is working diligently with his work partner, who he is also having sex with. One day while working they stumble on a cave under a huge old tree, and have sex in the cave.
Now something is whispering to Sterling from the woods and no one else can hear it. Who is it, and what do they want?
I have to keep it real. I felt the story was really too short to develop an interest in the characters or the storyline. I read it quickly, but in the end wondered why. Overall, I would say the story was kind of mediocre and it was definitely not for me, as I expected way too much on the Green Man end. It is science fiction, but other than a couple references to space colonies near the end of the story, there isn’t much science. It was futuristic, set in a grim future world with massive overpopulation and dwindling resources. Grim setting, shallow characters and not enough of a story to capture my attention.
RATING: 
BUY LINKS: