M. D. Massey continues Colin McCool’s tale in Underground Druid, which starts several weeks after the end of Moonlight Druid. Colin decides to launch a rescue mission into Underhill, the hidden magical realm of the Tuatha De Danann and the Fae, to rescue the children abducted by the bad guys in Book Three. Unfortunately, Colin needs the Austin Fae queen’s help to enter Underhill, as she is the guardian of the earth-side gateway, and Maeve adds an additional quest of her own as payment for her “help”—gather the four treasures of the Tuatha De Danann and bring them back to her. Failure to do so will mean Colin and anyone he brings with him, as well as the children, will be trapped in Underhill forever.
This installment of the series was, as usual, both interesting and entertaining, but felt a bit too much like someone narrating aloud the events of tabletop RPG, though that might have been intentional. Massey does make references to dungeon crawling a few times. His plotting is air-tight otherwise, and the story was well-paced, if fast (this book was short at about 233 pages). It’s a lean, hard story with very little to no padding and, as is usual with the series, a single linear storyline. Massey does leaves hooks and hints here and there for future storylines, however.
As for characters, there are a few new faces, though it’s unlikely they’ll be series regulars, and the sudden reappearance of an old enemy from Book One. Crowley’s not such a bad guy, as it turns out, though he’s not exactly Colin’s friend, either. The loyalties and motives of some of the more established characters come into question in this segment of Colin’s story, as it isn’t quite clear if their dedication is directed towards helping Colin for himself, or if they’re acting on someone else’s orders.
Massey’s depiction of Underhill was vivid and consistent with the conflict he has been setting up in earlier stories between the earth-dwelling Fae and those that still live in Underhill. For those that have read Alice in Wonderland or watched any of its movie adaptations, it may even look a bit familiar in places. His extensive dips into Irish mythology and folklore can be seen quite frequently, along with a few sprinkles of old Germanic beliefs.
I enjoyed underground Druid’s journey into Underhill, even if I did hear dice rattling in the background at times. Although it was a bit short, it added significantly to the lore of the world Massey been building, as well as fleshed out some of the more familiar faces in the cast that had been skeletal and anorexic. I’m looking forward to reading the next book in the series.
Title: Underground Druid
Author: M. D. Massey
Copyright: 2017
Publisher: Modern Digital Publishing
Edition: 1st
Format: Amazon Kindle
Dreams of Blue Glass 