The Grass People

I loved this book! I loved the style of writing, the world building and the characters.
The book is lovely and entertaining.
A very good discovery.
Highly recommended!
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC

The grass people have forgotten how to listen and follow the way; the elves and fairies have disappeared from the tall prairie grasses. Their once Idyllic existence is now fraught with danger. They must evade or defeat wild beasts, predators, and four legged shadows. It also rumored that tall men exist and may arrive soon. Dyra leads his village with great courage while some grass people await the return of their spiritual leader, Dokrimalitzla, and the restoration of magic.

This is a story about a family in a small village, the grass people. They are tiny and live alongside men, although they rarely come in contact with the big people. The village consists of a few families of the grass people, they all know each other and love traditions. 

One day, another grass person arrives from the big town. He wants to know everything about the village's way of life and traditions.. thats where the members of our family get a little suspicious. The son, Hoyim, goes out to find out why all of a sudden there's interest in the little village. He finds out the government of the big village is trying to gain power of all the little villages...

This is a sweet story! Loved the grass people and their traditions. In the beginning it feels like nothing happens for a long while and now I'm done I'm still asking myself, did anything happen? Not really. But it's not boring, just not very eventful. A little troublesome was the great amount of characters, I found I couldn't keep up. The main characters are very relatable and great to follow. You really feel you get to know them.

Anyway, I enjoyed this, would recommend if you love fairy tales and stories as a grown up. Also love the little drawings at the end!

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC. These are my opinions and are in no way influenced by the fact I got the ARC!

This was an unusual fantasy book that I really liked. It was an intriguing read with great writing, although it was a little tricky to keep track of all the characters. The world building was interesting and I really enjoyed the world overall. The plot was engaging throughout, however I would say that there were too many sub plots going on. Overall I really enjoyed this book and would recommend checking it out, if you are interested.

Wowee what a unique magical fantasy with all of my go to kinds of creatures, lore and mythology all rolled into one big ball of bizarre that I enjoyed.
Elves, faeries, grass people, wild creatures, birds, tall people, it's prophecy filled & dangers lurk in deep dark corners combined in the oddest world.
This fantasy is characters aplenty which at times becomes confused and the multiple sub plots throughout take away from the core plot yet it gives off a nostalgic historic feel to the writing and world styling.

The plot was interesting, engaging, unique and exciting yet the multiple pov and character additions made the storyline difficult to follow at times.
I enjoyed this writing style it was rich and descriptive, full of depth, intricate dialogue yet controlled pacing.
The world building was unlike anything I've seen this year, it was filled with lore and mythology, rich, vibrant, filled with fantasy concepts, the tiny civilisation incredible imagery and the unique language of the grass people.
Language plays a massive role in this fantasy and thankfully there is a glossary contained at the back of the book and this helped imensly to decode any of the words unusual or that stuck.

Overall it was a fascinating, complex and magical read that was fresh and full of flair giving unusual perspectives and lore in this refreshing take on magical fantasy and I highly recommend it be given a go.
3.5 Stars ..

Many thanks to Radiant Press and Netgalley for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.
(All opinions expressed are my own and are unbiased)

"When I was a boy
Flying feathers in trials
I thought that my roots
Were as deep as the pyles,
I thought that my home
Was my refuge for life
I thought that my village
Was sheltered from strife.
An apprentice at forge
I would make the blades ring,
For I knew that by evening
I'd dance and I'd sing.
My lady, my beauty,
Her hair and her smiles
Had me rafting a house
On our very own pyles.
My babe in his backpack, 
My parents at home,
'Twas all that I wanted,
'Twas all that I've known.
The mower took all,
My lady, my home,
My babe in his backpack - I'm left all alone.
Oh, Life, keep my village
In store through the years,
And let me return
When I've shed all my tears.
Then nothing will vanish,
Nothing will die,
And we'll walk with my lady,
My baby and I."

The Grass People is about a tiny civilisation living in the grass. There is general discontent as many of the grass folk feel that they have lost their Way; which is their self application to life which relies completely on intuition, creativity and hard work in nature. They used to be in tune with the elves and the fairies and now nobody has seen one for years. The discord leads to the prophecy of a new Dokrimalitzla, which is a spiritual leader above all authority, and the restoration of the relationships the Grass people had with the elves. And with the rumours from the big city, Karep, that the major of that cave city wants to have complete control of all the villages, the Grass people need the Way more than ever.

I liked this book. I just didn't love it. 

The prose has a consistent dream-like quality to it that was very easy to follow - even though the created language of the Grass people isn't familiar. I thought that the writing gave the most incredibly imagery. It seemed to provoke a dichotomy of childhood nostalgia where I believed in fairies, elves, and every body being friends. And the opposite end of the scale of basic survival instincts combined with brutal propaganda. 

The little world reminded me of The Borrowers which I loved as a child. Although The Grass People was more of a slow burn. 

There were always new names to learn of side characters who would become main characters and vice versa, these names seemed to slip my mind as easily as they slipped into it. To be honest, I felt like there were too many characters in general to really keep track of who's who. Especially when I had to dip in and out of the novel and couldn't stay in there for a prolonged period of time. Although the characters didn't really have an individual defining trait or persona to help me remember them, it did give the book a very community feel. 

There was quite a bit of unfamiliar colloquial language as mentioned earlier, but the book does include a glossary at the back which was such a helpful tool to iron out any words that had flagged up in my mind after I finished the read.

I found the political sub plots really interesting although they didn't really peak or amount to anything, I would have liked a better conclusion to the attempt of widespread authority which went against many of the Grass people's beliefs rather than a general acceptance and then moving swiftly on.

Overall, this was a really intriguing and complex read that could easily ensnare the mind. The grass people are familiar in all the ways that matter and unfamiliar in their world building and perspectives. This was a really fresh, unusual fantasy read.

Thank you to Net Galley and Radiant Press for a copy of this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

*I received an ARC by Netgalley but all opinions are my own. The fact that I got to read this book for free does NOT influence my rating. (Thanks for the free book though!)*

I am not sure what to do with this book. There are grasspeople in it, fairies, elves, prophecies, tall people, dangers from wildbeasts (= badgers) and wheelers (= birds), but even after finishing I still have no idea what I just read. Odd. Interesting world building but I couldn't immerse myself into the story as there were too many characters and too many sub-plots. The story somewhat lacked focus it was more of a narrated genealogy plus fantasy. I don't know. 2,5 stars because I actually skipped some pages...

Aside: The cover is beautiful!! I mean, look at it!
Aside 2: The author is over 90 years old. I am very impressed.

Excellent writing was obvious right out the gate. Interesting characters and world-building. I don't much fantasy (which is where I'd put this), but I liked this. I found it engaging and pleasantly complex. Recommended.

I was lucky enough to receive an advanced copy.

I am very impressed by this book. I went into this with no idea what I was getting into. Interesting story. The narration and the characters are superb.  I enjoyed reading it and will definitely recommend to others.