DANIEL AND THE ERL-KING

A 1970s English village is upended by a nefarious giant and the ragtag group determined to stop him in Swan’s fantasy novel.

Young boys have gone missing in Nunn’s Wood for generations. According to local legend, a giant lurks in the trees—but without proof, the townsfolk blame local scapegoat Floyd Jenkins, presumed guilty after the disappearance of his friend Paul 50 years earlier. When a boy named Daniel’s best friend Jack vanishes under similar circumstances, Floyd joins forces with the newly appointed reverend Harlan Williams to clear Floyd’s name by “find[ing] the giant and mak[ing] him talk.” Their plan soon spirals out of control, however, when they come face to face with the Erl-King—an exuberant, immortal 8-foot-tall monster who has been luring boys from the village into the Land of the Dead for over a century. With the Erl-King now intent upon taking Daniel, the last boy in the village, Floyd and Harlan must protect him at all costs. Their last hope lies in the eccentric occultist and monster-hunter Prof. Whitsun; together, the unlikely trio engages in a high-stakes game of cat and mouse with the mythic creature. As they pursue the giant, they must also keep a step ahead of the local police and growing mob of villagers convinced the three are behind Jack’s disappearance. Despite the dark subject matter, Swan’s novel is an enchanting romp through a magical forest filled with heartwarming heroes, dastardly villains, and an evil curse, to boot. While the whimsical tone seems aimed at a younger audience, the language and content skew adult—especially the cantankerous, cigarette-smoking Floyd Jenkins and his fondness for vulgarities (he bemoans the “bloody-minded, pissed-off, bona fide, flipping, giant”). This tonal discord may limit the book’s appeal, but the author injects the narrative with a humor that buoys the story, often via Daniel’s boyish antics and the absurdist soliloquies of the Erl-King himself. Readers may get lost in a plot that often circles back on itself, though this doesn’t detract from the novel’s quirky appeal.

An offbeat, charming fairy tale best read with adult supervision.