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Review: Tangleweed & Waterbloom (The Garden Knight #1) by Justin Greer

January 29, 2025 by Bill Adams Leave a Comment

Rating: 9/10

Synopsis:

After years of travel in the wide world, Derry Melyvante has made his home near the quiet woodland village of Haverdell. He lives with his dog Barrow on a small island outside town and spends his days in singular pursuit of his craft: Derry is a gardener, a master of woodlore and plants and green growing things, a man whose heart belongs in the trees and high hills and soft grassy meadows around sleepy Haverdell. He and Barrow have built a home and found friendship in Haverdell—a quiet, fulfilling life.

Derry’s placid work is interrupted by the appearance of a knight from the king’s court with a summons for the gardener of Haverdell—a message specifically requesting Derry by name. The gardener is escorted to the capital by Caedan, Knight of Mira, where he is asked to investigate a similarly strange affliction in the holy gardens of the king. Derry performs his work, makes his recommendations for care, and thinks to return to Haverdell and the gentle calm of his chosen home.

But strange magic and stranger maladies are afoot, both in the king’s court and in Haverdell. An unknown blight has taken hold in the Brightoak Tree in town. Derry and Barrow swiftly find themselves embroiled in affairs beyond their imagining, as monsters and blights and shadowy figures foment catastrophe throughout the land. Plants have begun to turn against the gardener. The king is in hiding. Allies have become traitors. Together, Derry, Barrow, and Caedan seek to end the mayhem and find a solution to the strange curse that has gripped the kingdom—before wild plant-monsters overrun everything and swallow the land into their greedy, leafy maw. Even if the trio is successful, they will have to contend with traitors in the king’s court, magical devices now stolen by rebels, and ancient temples reawakened for unknown purposes…

Review:

Tangleweed & Waterbloom is a cozy loveletter story about a simple man with a particular fondness for gardening who yet carries a big stick… er… spade.

Master Gardener Derry is a man who loves plantlife and caring for them. With his trusted doggo, Barrow (good doggo), he spends his days cultivating trees, flowers, and other greenery in a little village where everyone knows everyone. But one day, a blight takes hold of the royal gardens and Derry is sent for. This blight is caused by some hexing magic and soon enough our faithful gardener is drawn into a political web and overgrown vines. 

This is one of those stories that the laurels rest squarely upon its casts’ shoulders as its not epic in scope, nor action focused. This is a lower stakes tale (at first) so the characters must be great. Luckily they are. Derry is such a unique protagonist. He is truly just a simple man who knows woodcraft lore. He has no aspirations of leaving his home to be a hero. He’s also older so he likes the simpler things like gardening, tales with friends over pints, quiet life on an island with only Barrow for company. I just loved Derry. Caedan is a Knight of Mira and one of the other main characters we spend time with as he accompanies Derry on his royal mission. He’s a loyal guy, good guy. Jaslan and Kalligan are great friends to Derry and bring some levity to the adventure when they are present. Then obviously Barrow is the bestest doggo.

There is a bit of magic here in the form of chaos magic, held within hex boxes. It’s a neat little magic system, one that acts as the tool for driving the plot. There’s also some political intrigue here with the blight and some fomenting of rebellion. A bit of some crosses to be doubled. 

But ultimately, this is a very cozy story, and by that I mean the stakes are relatively low and the haste is quite languid in presentation. This is where Greer shines. His prose is lyrical, quite evocative, and aptly descriptive. There is never a rush to get to the next scene, we get to witness Derry’s journey in the manner in which a simple gardener might. It reminds me of classic Tolkien in a way, the focus is on the little things in the journey: the discussions over a meal, the campfire revelations, the simple pleasures of a good walk through nature. There is some action, Caedan does some swordplay and defeats some foes, but this is not a bloody tale. And that’s why I really liked this story, I enjoyed the different approach by Greer here.

Tangleweed & Waterbloom is the first book in the Garden Knight series and I, for one, am very interested in reading more of these slice…I mean plots of life type stories! Highly recommend if you are looking for something different in your fantasy reads, something homey, something that just blooms specialness!

Filed Under: Cozy Fantasy, Fantasy, Low Fantasy, Reviews, Self Published, Slice of Life Fantasy Tagged With: Book Review, Fantasy, Fantasy Books, Justin Greer, Self Published, Tangleweed & Waterbloom

About Bill Adams

When not writing, Bill is a product manager for a company that tests food using analytical chemistry and microbiology.

During his collegiate days at the turn of the century, he began to develop his passion for writing, especially within the epic fantasy genre about unlikely heroes. It was there, Bill began to formulate the story that would eventually become Ashe’s unwanted journey and The Divine Godsqueen Coda.

Aside from writing, Bill loves movies and reading, especially SFF B-movies. He likes to know all the useless trivia, like who played who, and what the stories were behind the curtain. He is a master at Scene It. Bill’s few other hobbies include soccer, a good whiskey, a slice of pizza, and growing a beard. It is the little things he enjoys most.

Bill currently lives in the greater Chicago, IL area with his wife, goblin (aka toddler) son, & daughter.

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