Sunday, 8 June 2025 08:52 pm
Book Review: Greenteeth
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deckardcanineI don't recall where I first learned of Jenny Greenteeth, the dangerous amphibious fairy from English folklore. It wasn't in A Field Guide to Demons, Fairies, Fallen Angels, and Other Subversive Spirits, which I still check on occasion. Regardless, Molly O'Neill's 2025 debut novel sounded promising.
In this telling, there is a race of Jennys, however few and far between, all going by the same personal name. They multiply by assimilating abandoned human children, which makes it all the more disturbing when they kill and eat children. The first-person narrator Jenny hasn't done that in centuries, but only because they're too filling. Like many traditional fairies, she is not straightforwardly bad or good.
In what might be the 17th century, a circa 30-year-old witch named Temperance, who's sweet enough that I assume she didn't get her powers from Satan, nonetheless is convicted in a sham trial and thrown in the nearby lake in chains. Reminded of a bygone daughter, Jenny takes pity and gives her a chance to flee in secret, but she would rather cast a memory charm and stay with her husband and children in their English hometown of Chipping Appleby. Alas, the new pastor who stirred the town against her turns out to be possessed by the legendary Erl King. What's he doing off the mainland, especially in a, well, backwater area? Whatever the reason, Jenny, Temperance, and sleazy goblin merchant Brackus Marsh (who'd hate to lose customers) go on a multi-month quest for what they need to banish the Erl King from the island.
A lot of the fun is in the trio bouncing off each other. OK, Temperance and Brackus get along swimmingly (heh), but he and Jenny have long had semi-vitriolic interactions. Temperance soon learns not to fear Jenny, but they do have conflicting principles at times. And of course, spending a millennium largely unaccompanied leaves holes in Jenny's knowledge of social matters, human or fae. She does have a way with words, tho, often tickling me. When push comes to shove, all three care deeply about each other's survival.
There's also the adventure, of course. We meet several other mythical creatures, some nonverbal but all pretty intelligent. Temperance's magic is diverse, but she hasn't practiced many offensive spells, and what she casts can exhaust her. Brackus is even less of a fighter, useful mainly with disguises, equipment, and charisma. Jenny has super strength and hydrokinesis like Aqua Man, but the further she ventures from her home lake, the weaker she gets. The action sequences aren't a walk in the park for them.
The journey takes them to Wales and Scotland. O'Neill evidently did her homework in geography as well as literature. I appreciate the lessons. I only wish I'd seen the Welsh name pronunciation guide toward the back sooner. (Afterward come acknowledgments, a bio, and clips from two books by other authors, one of which I might get.)
Here it is, folks: the first novel I've loved this calendar year. Basically every page delighted me. The climax threw me for a loop, and the resolution delivered. I was afraid there'd be a questionable moral in play, what with the conventionally vilified heroes, but devout Christians can enjoy it fine.
On a whim the other day, I picked up a Silver Age collection of Doom Patrol comics. It may be a while before I pick up a non-graphic novel.
In this telling, there is a race of Jennys, however few and far between, all going by the same personal name. They multiply by assimilating abandoned human children, which makes it all the more disturbing when they kill and eat children. The first-person narrator Jenny hasn't done that in centuries, but only because they're too filling. Like many traditional fairies, she is not straightforwardly bad or good.
In what might be the 17th century, a circa 30-year-old witch named Temperance, who's sweet enough that I assume she didn't get her powers from Satan, nonetheless is convicted in a sham trial and thrown in the nearby lake in chains. Reminded of a bygone daughter, Jenny takes pity and gives her a chance to flee in secret, but she would rather cast a memory charm and stay with her husband and children in their English hometown of Chipping Appleby. Alas, the new pastor who stirred the town against her turns out to be possessed by the legendary Erl King. What's he doing off the mainland, especially in a, well, backwater area? Whatever the reason, Jenny, Temperance, and sleazy goblin merchant Brackus Marsh (who'd hate to lose customers) go on a multi-month quest for what they need to banish the Erl King from the island.
A lot of the fun is in the trio bouncing off each other. OK, Temperance and Brackus get along swimmingly (heh), but he and Jenny have long had semi-vitriolic interactions. Temperance soon learns not to fear Jenny, but they do have conflicting principles at times. And of course, spending a millennium largely unaccompanied leaves holes in Jenny's knowledge of social matters, human or fae. She does have a way with words, tho, often tickling me. When push comes to shove, all three care deeply about each other's survival.
There's also the adventure, of course. We meet several other mythical creatures, some nonverbal but all pretty intelligent. Temperance's magic is diverse, but she hasn't practiced many offensive spells, and what she casts can exhaust her. Brackus is even less of a fighter, useful mainly with disguises, equipment, and charisma. Jenny has super strength and hydrokinesis like Aqua Man, but the further she ventures from her home lake, the weaker she gets. The action sequences aren't a walk in the park for them.
The journey takes them to Wales and Scotland. O'Neill evidently did her homework in geography as well as literature. I appreciate the lessons. I only wish I'd seen the Welsh name pronunciation guide toward the back sooner. (Afterward come acknowledgments, a bio, and clips from two books by other authors, one of which I might get.)
Here it is, folks: the first novel I've loved this calendar year. Basically every page delighted me. The climax threw me for a loop, and the resolution delivered. I was afraid there'd be a questionable moral in play, what with the conventionally vilified heroes, but devout Christians can enjoy it fine.
On a whim the other day, I picked up a Silver Age collection of Doom Patrol comics. It may be a while before I pick up a non-graphic novel.