The Wood Bee Queen by Edward Cox

The Wood Bee Queen feels like a good old-fashioned portal fantasy. Ebbie, our protagonist is working as a Librarian of a soon-to-be-closed library in a place called 'Strange Ground by the Skea.' Throughout his time working in the library, he befriends Mai, a homeless woman. Mai tells him stories of the realm or, a mythical world called 'Strange Ground Beneath the Skea.' This realm is connected by a magical bridge, there are loads of parallels between the two places that are nicely played out. It is a place where centuries of peace, is now threatened by the gods who like to interfere in people's lives. Then, one day, Mai is just gone and Ebbie discovers that she has died and left him the role of her executor, which involves travelling to the Realm and ensuring that her granddaughter becomes queen.

Ebbie, an unlikely and unwilling hero, and full of flaws, shy and very sceptical which makes him easily relatable. There is a great cast of secondary support characters including Bek, who has a fascinating back story that is revealed throughout the book. The magic is very convincing, especially how you travel between the two worlds.

Wood Bee Queen is a solidly written story, full of charm, moments of dark and light, hope and wonder. The story is further enhanced by the history between the two places and the very nature of stories, especially, folklore, folk-myth.

Thanks to NetGalley and Gollancz for allowing me to read this e-arc, in exchange for an honest review, all opinions expressed are my own.

If Stardust and Strange the Dreamer had a love child with more straightforward prose, I imagine you’d get something similar to The Wood Bee Queen.

The book caught my eye because of its clever, quirky title and beautiful, just as quirky cover, although even after having read it, the royal bloodline’s connection to bees, besides being their last name, still elludes me... Almost as if the whimsical fairytale name were deliberately chosen just for the sake of being whimsical and quirky without any narrative or character motivated explanation, which actually aptly encapsulates the nature of the whole book for me.

I went into The Wood Bee Queen blind but what you might want to know is that it is a contemporary portal fantasy story which merges a fictional modern day English town and the mystical land Strange Ground Beneath the Skea, just a Skea (and a bridge) away from our world. It focuses on a good-natured librarian down on his luck who decides to / is actually kind of forced to fulfill the last wish of his elderly friend Mai, and a magical queendom with some strained family relations and dangerous ambitions among the royal bloodline.

In several ways, this is quite a charming and entertaining book like its title and cover suggest. It read like a dark, modern fairytale with numerous endearing magical elements, vivid setting, predictable plot conveniences and simple, somewhat two dimensional - albeit likeable and easy to root for - characters, some of whom serve as blatant plot devices without tangible personalities. When it occasionally starts feeling too juvenile, the book jolts you with some swearing, gruesome violent imagery and cruelty of its villain to remind you that although its atmosphere, narrative and writing might imply so, it is definitely not for children.

I have made the Stardust and Strange the Dreamer comparison at the beginning and I do think that fans of Neil Gaiman‘s, V.E. Schwab’s or Laini Taylor’s type of stories might enjoy this one, though it definitely lacks their signature poetic prose and (Taylor’s) heavy focus on romance, foregone here completely which I’m sure many adult fantasy readers will welcome. Don’t get me wrong, the writing of TWBQ is beautiful and effective for what the story requires. Cox doesn’t attempt to emulate the lyricism of the aforementioned authors, he’s much more direct and accessible to a casual reader than Gaiman and Taylor, in my opinion. TWBQ reminded me of their works because of its quirky story, interesting concepts and fun, unique spins on fantasy lore and tropes. I enjoyed the author’s reinterpretation of witches, dragons, princesses and even the Queen of the Underworld herself, Persephone. But while I respect and am continually intrigued by Gaiman’s, Schwab’s and Taylor’s works, themes and ideas, I usually have a hard time fully immersing myself in their stories and connecting with their characters, which was also the case with The Wood Bee Queen.

There was nothing I actively disliked about the book; initially, it hooked me in with the worldbuilding (which is quite contained) and a promising mystery, but it was never gripping, my mind easily wandered off and I didn’t feel a strong incentive to read on to know what happens next. The last 20% especially dragged and made me zone out to the point where I had to reread several passages a few times, and yet, things wrapped up very neatly and abruptly.

Nevertheless, overall, this was a fun, enjoyable standalone novel that I believe will find its readership and could be a welcome palette cleanser after some epic fantasy series. Unfortunately, it’s not likely to stay with me for long.

Thanks to NetGalley and Gollancz for providing me with an e-ARC copy for review.

Edward Cox is a very talented creators of fascinating universe and his stories never disappoints or fails to keep you hooked.
The Wood Bee Queen is another well written, gripping and entertaining story. A standalone book that I loved and I was sad when it ended.
It's a slow burning story and we met the unlikely heroes: Ebbie and Bek. Both are interesting even if I prefer Ebbie the shy and skeptic librarian.
The character development is excellent and all the characters are fleshed out.
I loved the world building and the idea of another universe that you can only access via a bridge.
As with other book by this author I would be happy to read further adventures featuring this characters.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

I kindly received a copy for review fro. Netgalley.

The Wood Bee Queen was an enjoyable read. The main character, Ebbie, finds himself transported into a story. Underneath his own town there's another and in this town there's magic. The world is like ye olde England and it was certainly charming to read about. The second lead, Bek Rana, had a fascinating back story that's revealed throughout the book. She unwillingly helps Ebbie on his quest.

The magic system was good and the world was convincing. The story and how you can travel between worlds was well explained. I found myself expecting a few of the twists but it didn't make them less enjoyable.

I don't know if I missed something but the ending was a bit confusing. There was a big epic fight then suddenly it stopped with no clear reason. I found that a shame as it just seemed to convenient for the good guys.

Overall a good read.

‘They say that in the Realm, the sea is in the sky…’

So starts The Wood Be Queen, a story spanning the Earth and the Realm, where the sea really is in the sky! I was delighted by this, and by the description of rolling waves high above, the sun shining through them. I love the idea of there being a town called Strange Ground by the Skea on earth and one called Strange Ground Beneath the Skea in the Realm. And I absolutely love the fact that in the Realm the messenger birds of choice are seagulls. It’s such a cool detail, and it made me smile each time it was mentioned.

The first character we meet is Mai, a homeless woman in Strange Ground by the Skea, and on the night events begin she receives a message from a gull, with the words We have failed. Come home. written on it. It is immediately intriguing and shows there might be more to this woman that appearance dictates. This first chapter with Mai is such a strong beginning, and if you want a feel for the book I’d highly recommend you listen to Edward Cox himself reading the opening pages during Gollancz Fest@Home (his section begins at 10:35, which you can skip to by clicking the time in the description).

Mai, with her mysteries, is the one that pulls Ebbie Wren, our hero, into the story. Ebbie has been friends with Mai for a few years, believing her only to be a strange yet wise woman who lives on the streets, but on the last day of his job at the closing Library of Strange Ground, he finds himself in the possession of a strange satchel containing a letter from his missing friend, a ring that sounds like the crashing of waves, and an unusual lantern in need of a candle. From there, he is catapulted into the Realm, and is pulled toward Bek Rana, a thief in Strange Ground Beneath the Skea, who wants nothing to do with Ebbie’s appointed mission: find the missing Heir to the Wood Bee Throne and save the Realm from Yandira Wood Bee, the Queen’s sister who has made a dark deal with Lady Persephone of the Underworld, and has seized power as Empress of the Realm.

There are a lot of threads in this story, many characters scattered throughout the Realm and our world, all being pulled slowly together like woven threads, and I won’t mention all of them, because Bek and Ebbie are, for me, the two principal characters. They are the ones on the quest, the others all pieces in a game being played by the Uldonfolk, the gods of the Realm. Now, the Uldonfolk are fascinating; I mentioned Persephone, and the other principal one is Lady Juno, the High Queen, and the events that unfold are being moved along by the game they are playing against one another. I really enjoyed the way their names are pulled from Roman mythology, but their behaviour and traits have been reshaped by the author to create something new. They have retained that element of unpredictability though, and sometimes reading The Wood Bee Queen felt a bit like reading the Iliad, in which our heroes are at the mercy of the whims of the gods.

It can feel a bit like deus ex machina, because everything has been lined up for the characters by forces beyond their control, so a lot of their journey is reactionary instead of pro-active. In this sense, it does have the feel of an older story, an old folk tale told around the fire. This threw me off a few times, especially at the start when some of the characters hadn’t been fleshed out as much and seemed to be solely archetypal, but as I went along I did see that at the heart of this story are still the choices of the little folks. In some way this reminded me of The Lord of the Rings, in which the hobbits are up against such huge forces, but in the end it is the small choices they make that determine the course of the future. It’s something very different to the current trends of fantasy, and it certainly won’t appeal to everyone, but I really enjoyed this story full of hope, magic, and wonder. I think it’s something the world needs right now, the idea that ‘When darkness comes, lighteness must follow, but never to shine upon a clear and easy road…’ There is light and there is dark, and there are the choices we make to change the world around us. This story is a beautiful reminder of that, and I hope others will enjoy it as much as I have.

The Wood Bee Queen is one of those homages to classic story telling that reminds me why I love picking up a book and going anywhere with infinite possibilities on each page.
Yandira is a delicious villain, Ebbie a true hero, brave and charming and a librarian, the hero is a librarian!!!!! The parallels between the 2, both sides written so richly, it was a joy to read. I wasn’t as keen on Bek, the majority of the characters in this book have terrible things happen to them but Bek is the only one really treated like a victim and allowed to behave poorly because of it. That said, she did warm on me as the book went on.
A problem I have sometimes when reading fantast novels is remembering all the rules, names, story etc of a land entirely new. What I enjoyed about this book is how often it referred to the history/story that was the heart of the book, the story of the Wood Bee Queen, the princesses and this mirrored land. I really enjoyed the world building, visually this book would be fantastic as a film. It just takes you so far and to so many places that I would love to read this again and go back to all of them.

Thank you NetGalley for the early copy to review, this was an adventure I desperately needed.

It's really difficult to put my finger on why I didn't enjoy this. The premise grabbed my attention instantly - I was so excited to get approved for an arc! - but then...

I want to say that the writing is...stilted. Pretentious, maybe? The flow of words was jerky, subtly *off* in a way that made me want to take an editor's pen to the text. There were sentences like this;

)"What's your point?"

Eddie didn't suppose he had one.(

See? There's nothing grammatically wrong with that sentence, I don't think, but it feels...odd. I had to double-check the passage because my brain automatically remembered it as )Eddie supposed he didn't have one.( And it's a little maddening because the first version *feels* wrong, but in a way I can't explain and which might just be an issue of taste. *Is* it grammatically incorrect? Or am I the one being odd?

The thing is, I do think that sense of oddness is deliberate, because it permeates the text - it's not just an occasional sentence here and there. So...maybe it's all purposeful and I just don't like it.

Regardless, it made it really difficult to focus on the story, which was interesting. But there was a fair bit of somewhat clunky telling-not-showing as the fantasy aspects were introduced - telling-not-showing is perfectly fine, but you have to do it well, and I don't feel that The Wood Bee Queen did.

DNF for me.

<I>The Wood Bee Queen</i> is a standalone fantasy novel from a writer, I have to be honest, whose books I haven't got on with in the past - I've bounced off two of his previous books partway through (though I didn't remember this at the time of requesting). I admit I probably wouldn't have pushed on to the end of this book either, had I not been reviewing it for Netgalley, so not a massively auspicious start.

In a lot of ways, <I>The Wood Bee Queen</i> feels like quite an old-fashioned book - it has royalty fighting over who gets to inherit a throne, divine intervention on a regular basis, dragons and very convenient plot devices like letters which magically appear and tell you what's going on. The latter I found particularly annoying, to be perfectly honest.

We start off in a small town where our initial protagonist (Ebbie) is working as the manager of a soon-to-be-closed library, with him getting drawn into the overall story by his decision to befriend a local homeless woman. She tells him stories of the Realm, a mythical world connected to this one by a magical bridge, and the gods who like to interfere in people's lives. Then, one day, she is just gone and Ebbie discovers that she has died and left him the role of her executor, which involves travelling to the Realm and ensuring that her granddaughter becomes queen.

Meanwhile, the other side of the magical bridge, we have another princess attempting to take the throne by using dark magic to control people and plenty of indiscriminate violence. She's thwarted by the disappearance of two jewels, without which the royal crown is incomplete and she can't persuade the priests of a particular god to let her become queen (cue more violence because nothing leads to violence like slightly unhinged royalty being thwarted in any way).

So, in a lot of ways this is a pretty classic quest narrative - Ebbie travels to the Realm, finds an unwilling accomplice who just happens to have the knowledge and skills he needs to complete his quest, various things happen, everything works out. Things are complicated a bit by the revelation that what's going on at the coalface, so to speak, is the result of direct machinations between two gods and in the end there's a fairly predictable use of <I>deus ex machina</I> to resolve matters.

I struggled a bit with the characterisation too, as I couldn't quite get a handle on Ebbie in particular and a lot of the others really didn't seem 3-dimensional either. There are a lot of moving parts to this book and I'm not convinced all of them were needed. We didn't really gain much from Ebbie's initial presence in this world and then going over to the Realm and I wasn't completely convinced by it as a plot device.

<I>I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.</i>

The author Edward Cox has invented truly remarkable worlds. Separate, but joined through a history, where magic and powerful beings, once caused a cataclysmic war.
After centuries of relative peace, once more this peace is now threatened by the malevolent whims of some these beings.
Unlikely, and unwilling, Heroes from both worlds, must try and help each other, to stop the encroaching darkness.
A great tale of myth and magic, juxtaposed with a modern world.

I loved The Wood Bee Queen. I didn’t know exactly what to expect when reading this as I haven’t read any of the author’s previous work but the synopsise sounded intriguing so I gave it a go and was not disappointed.
Ebbie Wren is a soon to be unemployed librarian with a heart as big as a football entirely made of gold, he doles out hot chocolate to mysterious vagrant old ladies who tell good stories and turn out to be exiled queens of the fey realm. What are the chances? Next thing you know Ebbie is working on her behalf to save her country from her wicked third daughter who was always no good and hasn’t improved after ten years imprisoned in a tower. Ebbie only has the reluctant help of thief extraordinaire Bek Ranna and her recently boosted mystery sword.
The Wood Bee Queen gave me a lot of Stardust vibes, with a bit of Lud in the mist and a hint of game of thrones style politics how could it good wrong. The plot zips along and doesn’t get too bogged down info dumping. I don’t, however, have any clue as to what any of the main characters look like, it makes them a bit nebulous which kind of fits with the unotherworldliness of the narrative. I liked the blending of the two different worlds, fey being freaked out by kettles will never grow old. Ebbie is a charming fish out of water and librarians are always the heroes but Bek was probably my favourite, she’s got gumption, she’s grumpy and she knows what to do with a sword. Oh yeah and there’s dragons! The Wood Bee Queen is worth reading just for “she vomited death” this might be my favourite sentence ever. Top stuff.

Little does Ebbie, a librarian in Strange Ground by the Skea, realise his friendship with the homeless Mai will introduce him to the mysterious realm of Strange Ground Beneath the Skea. He will become the hero she believes he is capable of becoming when he is dragged to Beneath the Skea to defeat Mai's evil daughter and ensure that her granddaughter can be crowned The Wood Bee Queen.

Ebbie will have to overcome precocious gods, evil magic and even dragons to prevent his two worlds violently colliding. He is not alone in his quest, he is joined, reluctantly, by Mai's adopted granddaughter, oldest friend and defender of Beneath the Skea and of course a magician.

The Wood Bee Queen is a fantasy tale which sparkles. Edward Cox has not necessarily written the most daring or groundbreaking story, but it is a story that you can settle down with and really enjoy, it is honest, delightful fantasy. There are proper heroes and villains, a setting which is familiar and at the same time slightly different.

Thank you to Netgalley and Orion Books for an ARC of this novel, all opinions expressed are my own.

Being this was from one of my favourite Authors, I expected much. But I was wrong. Edward Cox surpassed much and went onto deliver something that seems to have surpassed his previous works. The stories (primary) setting is both unique and yet twists some myths on their heads in the most delightful way. The heroes are delightfully flawed as all good heroes should be at the start of any tale. And the villains, well, who doesn't like a good villain?

The story is not the type to ease you in slowly, but more grabs you by the face, and kicks you up the backside all the way through. It was totally delightful!