second in the Anti-Matter of Britain Quartet series, and if anything a bit better than the first (though still not for everyone). Medieval England in this time is still a shithole, filthy, violent, and corrupt (the Holy Church is contributing gaily to that these days); they haven't quite yet managed to stamp out magic, but you know they will. this one is based more on folklore and ballads than on the Matiere itself, not to mention adding in Walter Scott's Ivanhoe and whatever else comes to hand on the way to Sherwood Forest. it's the perfect soil for a Tidhar-style review of the state of the English nation. spoiler: he doesn't found it edifying, or even very different now. but the report he leaves when he draws all of this together is still brilliant, all the same. ( )