Cloven Hooves

I can't recommend this book highly enough. I don't normally go for urban (or in this case rural) fantasy, preferring my fantasy to be based off Earth but I couldn't help being spellbound by this. The narrative, characters, character "arcs", description, pacing, mood - all excellent, with incredible attention to detail. How many other writers, writing about an outsider, the decline of a relationship, your in-laws, loss, childbirth, the fragility of the human body, actually create something as worthwhile, poignant and true as this? How many of them actually have something new or meaningful to say? This book has the feel of someone really getting their teeth into the subject, squeezing every scene and character interaction for all it's worth - fantasy is much better off for this book being written. Shame on fantasy readers for letting such a gem fall out of print! You should buy it. It's terrific.

Though I liked this book, I'm going to have to agree with the reviewers who called it depressing. It's a very melancholy book, moving from one heartbreaking situation to another with no respite. The story starts with two stories intertwined: first, Evelyn's wild, rough-and-tumble childhood and her youthful escapades with a faun in the Alaska forest, and second, an older, tamer Evelyn's marriage, which is on the rocks after she, her husband, and their son move in with the husband's family. His family is horrible in ways that are devastatingly realistic. I know people like Tom's folks. Unfortunately. Evelyn, at first, tries to fit in with the in-laws, but it soon becomes apparent that she never will. Then she begins to see her faun again. Some very bad things happen, and Evelyn faces difficult decisions. I'll say no more for fear of spoilers, but there is no choice in this novel that does not lead to heartbreak. So, yeah, this is a very sad story. It's also good, though, and does a great job of integrating mythology and animal nature and human nature.

Megan Lindholm taps the root of teen angst and the pain of being different while struggling against societal norms for a young woman. Her prose and timing are brilliant and the enlightenment almost heart breaking. Her characters shine with life. She employs a technique of jumping back and forth between young woman/mother and child teen from chapter to chapter. I've rarely seen this used successfully, but Lindholm makes it seem ideal. Even as a man, I felt and perhaps began to understand the agony a teenage girl/young woman can feel when she refuses to or can't "fit in". The character of Pan just feels right and adds to the magic of childhood, motherhood, and the struggle for independent thought. The story would have worked well even without the mythic side turning out to be "real", but throughout is original and uncontrived.Only someone who refuses to read literature that asks us to grow and insists on only cheery stories could fail to see the brilliance of Cloven Hooves. From beginning to end it is unique, balanced, and extraordinary. I recommend it at the highest level.

Megan Lindholm writes a moving story about a misfit, a woman who feels more comfortable in the wilderness of the cold north than with other humans, who loses her son in a tragic accident and her husband in its destructive wake, and who retreats to the forest with a childhood friend -- a faun. If you like "crossover fantasy" where the present day reality mixes seamlessly with other realms, you'll enjoy this and her earlier book "Wizard of the Pigeons." Also highly recommended is her Farseer series (beginning with "Assassin's Apprentice"), under the pen name of Robin Hobb.