Once in a Blue Moon (The Forest Kingdom) Paperback – January 7, 2014

I'm a fan of Simon R. Green's books. He writes vivid descriptions that make it easy to imagine the action, his heroes are snarky, his heroines are not swooning maids, and his villains and heroes both are bigger than life. There is always enough action that it makes me think "I'd love to see this as a movie" with violence and sarcasm everywhere. Sometimes there seems to be a sameness to his heroes, but that's part of what makes them utterly reliable light fiction to read for fun. I know he'll make me laugh, that his villains and sometimes his heroes will be scary and that I'll stay up past my bedtime to finish one of his books.In this one, Rupert and Julia, also known as Hawk and Fisher come out of semi-retirement as teachers to save the Forest Kingdom and the world one more time. It starts kind of like his Deathstalker novels did with several characters to learn about. It's still mostly about Rupert and Julia, but there are princes, princesses and Kings as well as R&J's family, as well as some old friends from previous books. This is not a standalone novel. There are a lot of quick references to the previous novels and the plot is based on the previous books. Look for the other Blue Moon and Forest Kingdom books.It's a big story, but Simon Green is an economical story teller. He puts a lot into a few paragraphs, and heavy on the visualizations. If a picture is worth a 1000 words, he can knock that down to 600 and make you feel like you were there. The first part of the book after the reintroduction of Hawk and Fisher was slow to read because it was introducing all the new characters and setting the scene. After that, the action picked right up and stayed fast and furious until the end.

Another one! What a great story and a fitting end to the story of the Forest Kingdom. If you have followed this story from the beginning, you will not be disappointed in the least.

Its been many years since Hawk and Fisher, two former Haven guards and ex royals, left the Forest Kingdom to leave their elgends behind them. They started the Hawk and Fisher school of Heroes where they train budding adventurers in the arts of doing good while not being stupid. But when an ancient enemy threatens not just them but their son and daughter and their children, the two legendary figures come out of their comfortable semi-retirement and with Chappie (yes that dog) to return to the Forest Kingdom on the eve of a historic event - the wedding of their great nephew Richard and Catherine of Redhart so a peace treaty can be signed. But who can the whole family trust when those behind the scenes try to end the wedding even before the two exchange vows and bring about a war that may just bring about the Blue Moon, and the Demon Prince, again.I love the other Hawk and Fisher books, the attitude of the main characters who know they are good, it just never goes to their heads (though the banter afterwards is always hilarious), the snarky one liners, and the quick combat scenes. New characters and old favorites are well developed in the way only Simon Green can. A good way to bring a end to a good series, and if there is another I would be all for it.

Having read all of the books in this series as well as the Hawk and Fisher books, I loved getting to go back to this world. It's been a lot of years since the first book, but everything came back easily as I read this one, original characters, swords with their own magic, and the Forest castle. The Forest Kingdom needs help as a war is brewing, not of their doing, and Hawk and Fisher are instinctively called home. Enjoyed reading about old friends as well as new, and children of the famous legends. It seems as if some reviewers wanted logic to prevail, but these books are about magic and characters who aren't your normal heros. Suspend logical thinking and "but it has to be this way beliefs" and you'll have a rollicking good time. The humor is there and the attitudes of the characters haven't changed much over the years. It was a fun read and good visit with old friends.

The last few years have not been Simon Green's best. With the end of his very worthwhile Nightside series he seemed to be phoning it in.The Secret Histories started off interesting enough but quickly degenerated into a sort of porn sensibility where the story was simply there to carry the reader to the next clichéd, unexciting scene. (If I have to listen once more to Our Hero moan about how he's "an agent not an assassin" while he leaves the Bad Guy alive and then deal out death and destruction in Costco-sized portions I will explosively regurgitate). The Ghost Finders is abysmal.The return to the world of the Blue Moon sits up, takes the reader by the hand and says "See! He still has it. He just needs to write with some Love." Yes, it's a touch predictable. But it's so very well done. The old characters are very much themselves. The new ones fit. The villains are suitably loathsome. The peril is frightening. There's exactly the right mix of humor, pathos and action.The Swedish Academy won't be short-listing it anytime soon. But that's fine. It's exactly what a light fantasy reader is looking for.

This is the latest in Green's saga of Hawk and Fisher (or Rupert and Julia, if you prefer). A century has elapsed since the end of the Demon Prince; he has returned and so must other legends. There is nothing deep here; there is just good story-telling, action and adventure, and a good deal of Green's not so tongue-in-cheek humor. If you haven't read any of the Hawk and Fisher stories it is still a good read, although you'll miss a lot of the allusions to what has happened in the previous stories. A good, fast read that is perfect for a winter evening's fire or a summer's day at the beach.If you'd like to read all of the stories: Blue Moon Rising, Swords of Haven and Guards of Haven (each has three stories), Beyond the Blue Moon and then Once in a Blue Moon. I've also enjoyed the Deathstalker books, the Nightside series and Shadows Fall and Drinking Midnight Wine. My wife loves the Nightside books and also enjoys the Ghost Finder novels.

Blue Moon Rising, by Simon R Green, was the book that first got me in to fantasy over twenty years ago. I remember enjoying some of his other fantasy works – Down Among the Dead Men, Blood and Honour, the Hawk and Fisher books. I read Beyond the Blue Moon when that one came out, and seem to remember thinking it was a good addition to the Forest Kingdom series. Then I heard that there was a third “Rupert and Julia” book in the set, with Once in a Blue Moon offering a final hurrah for the characters who first introduced me to fantasy fiction.This one was... disappointing, and there’s a number of reasons for me saying so. Firstly, I’m not sure how much of a difference this would have made, but it’s not the book that’s advertised on its own back cover. The relevant section of the blurb reads as so:Hawk and Fisher’s adult children, Jack and Gillian, have been kidnapped. They were taken by the Demon Prince, an old enemy from the Forest Kingdom who challenges the couple to one final battle for their lives. But Hawk and Fisher believe there’s another motive behind the abductions, one connected to a case they worked in Haven many years ago—a case they refuse to discuss.Now, unless I missed it, there’s no kidnapping of Jack and Gillian, and no reference to an old Haven case. It’s like the blurb was written for the book that was meant to be published, but then the author took it in a different direction and no one thought to update the back cover. If this makes the book seem rushed, there are other areas within that give credence to the idea.There are sections where the wrong characters are mentioned, in one scene it’s a bit like Gandalf and Sauron having a discussion at Orthanc and you read it thinking “surely that was meant to say Saruman there, not Sauron?”There are also sections that are as good as duplicated, though I seem to recall finding something similar when reading one of the Hawk and Fisher omnibuses years ago, so maybe this is a genuine trait of the author. In Once in a Blue Moon, we are introduced to two creatures who act as avatars for opposing countries in conflict – the Green Man for the Forest Kingdom and the Red Heart for Redhart. These two are brought into the world in almost identical circumstances by opposite numbers from the two sides, it’s like the first to occur was simply copied and pasted later in the book with just the names and locations changed.At least the Red Heart wasn’t just called the Red Man though. In Once in a Blue Moon we already have the Walking Man, the Stalking Man, the Burning Man and the aforementioned Green Man – and yes, there are passages where the Walking Man and the Stalking Man are both included, just to take the confusion levels up a notch.Outside of these nitpickings, the writing style is, from what I remember, typical for Simon R Green, but here it doesn’t seem like that’s a positive. The first chapter is a good fifty pages and a large portion of it is just unnecessary filler. This chapter sets the scene, and sets Hawk and Fisher on their way from the Hero Academy and back to the Forest Kingdom (that’s the part the back cover blurb got right). Unfortunately, it’s mostly just made up of one liners and passages that are there just to say how awesome the Hero Academy is, or how unbeatable Hawk and Fisher are.For this last part, there’s not a vast amount to back up the claim for those who haven’t previously experienced Hawk and Fisher, or their alter-egos Rupert and Julia. There’s a few little action sequences that are less than memorable, and there’s a section detailing how the two (plus both of their not-kidnapped offspring) go nonchalantly through a tournament of the greatest warriors and come out completely and unbelievably unscathed. Too much however relies on the reader being told that these are great warriors and the reader asking no questions.In this sense, I would say Once in a Blue Moon is definitely not a book to pick up out of sequence. It’s not for those who haven’t read (and enjoyed) the rest of the Forest Kingdom series, and indeed probably its only redeeming feature is the closure it gives to some of the characters. There’s a satisfactory ending not just for Hawk and Fisher / Rupert and Julia, but also for some others first mentioned back in Blue Moon Rising. The best is the ending for one (or two, depending on how you look at it) newly introduced characters, even if it does come across as a little too coincidental, almost rushed in at the last to tie up a little loose end raised early in this book.The story itself is ok but not great – the one advertised on the back cover might have been a better one but we’ll never know. New characters that are introduced are a bit one dimensional for the most part. Jack, Gillian and their children (also not kidnapped), Richard, Catherine and the Champion of Redhart all lack a little body. Probably the only new introduction with a bit more to him is the Sombre Warrior, but he is too underused and his most interesting part (his backstory) is brushed over far too quickly.There’s romance in the book, but not very good romance. We start out by seeing a chapter largely devoted to explaining how deeply in love Catherine and the Champion are, a chapter where the biggest surprise is the failure to start it with “Once upon a time”, so sugar coated are the words within. Despite this, Catherine’s head is turned at practically the click of fingers and she’s suddenly and devotedly in love with a man she said she could and would never love. There’s no wooing, no great seduction, just a switch flicked and away we go. To reverse a popular meme, even Twilight must surely be a better love story than this (full disclosure: I have never read any of the Twilight books or seen any of the films, so perhaps there’s still hope for Once in a Blue Moon yet).Overall, and especially when following Hawk and Fisher to the Forest Kingdom, there’s just too much swagger and not enough substance. It’s almost like the main characters (magical talking dog-slash-comedy-sidekick included) take a helicopter ride to convenient points in the story, pick up someone new and ride on to the next spot. It’s just all a little too convenient and not detailed enough.

This is the last in the Forest Kingdom series.*Spoilers contained*The Hawk and Fisher academy is where hero's to be train and learn and the "Hawk" and "Fisher" run the academy soldiers and witches train side by side and periodically a new "Hawk" & "Fisher" appear.A return of the Demon Prince reveals "Hawk" and "Fisher" for the hero's they are.They are joined by their son and daughter,a monk doing penance and soldier and their children too a necromancer and a bravo in disguise.A peace treaty is at stake between the Forest Kingdom and the Red Heart kingdom.First loves are swept away and ghosts who can't remember their past haunt the living. Legends and horrors thought dead, and if not buried, return for one last adventure.I have to say not the best Forest Kingdom novel, it's slow pace only picks up about half way through the book. I will be extremely sad to see the end of this series and bid a very fond farewell to Hawk and Fisher.

As we get older, we all seem to get that extra bit of padding. It would seem that Mr Green is no exception to the rule and the myriad of typical characters draw the story in a dozen different ways that fleshes out what would have been a 5* star rating.However... remove the padding and you will get vintage Simon R Green, with amazing heroes that you will grow to love in the space of a few pages and dastardly villains who tread the thin line between right and wrong. And, of course, excellent actions that range from epic battles between heroes to great armies clashing in the night.One gripe that i have to point out and which I hope other readers also find confusing is that the blurb on the back has nothing to do with the actual story.Semi-Spoiler aheadFrom the back of the book:"Hawk and Fisher's adult children, Jack and Gillian, have been kidnapped." At no point in the story are they kidnapped."They were taken by the Demon Prince... who challenges the couple to one final battle for their lives" No they weren't"But Hawk and Fisher believe there's another motive... one connected to a case they worked in Haven - a case they refuse to discuss" Unless I completely missed this one, at no point at all do they mention any case!!Hopefully someone can post some comments and enlighten me or otherwise the publishers should be lining up someone for a disciplinary.Anyway, that little gripe apart - if you are a Green fan and have enjoyed the previous Blue Moon books then you will feel perfectly at home with this, as long as you can put up with a bit of padding. If you've enjoyed the divergent character stories found in the Deathstalker books then you'll enjoy this all the more.

I've read all of Simon Green's books and I think that the Blue Moon/Hawk and Fisher are some of his best. However this one is padded, still very good but padded nevertheless. Anyone familiar with Hawk and Fisher knows the basic plot (even if the back cover does not relate to this story, maybe it was an earlier plot synopsis that slipped through? ) but to be honest that doesn't matter it is still a great read If you haven't read some of this series don't start here, this is the end, go back and get Blue Moon Rising - you will not be disappointed.

I had seen several critiques of this book which, to precis them, rated this book as 'Wishy Washy'. However I read it and enjoyed it, perhaps for different reasons than 'Blue Moon Rising'. If you are in doubt just get the book and then judge for yourself. I am perhaps biased as I am generally not a Fantasy Fiction fan, read the book when I had run out of everything else to read and over the last few months have bought the book for around 10 of my friends (I am not keen to lend precious books out and that way they don't have to rush to return the book). Please buy and enjoy.