Village of the Folk'd - Laurence Donaghy

Queer as folk'd

This is a nice little bonus for anyone who has been waiting patiently/impatiently (depends if you've been reading it since its ebook original publication or not, but I guess it also depends on whether you're an impatient person or not) for the concluding book of Laurence Donaghy's Folk'd trilogy. If you haven't read any of the Folk'd books before, this small but substantial untold episode will also serve as a good standalone example of the author's work, although it's not the best place to start, revealing as it does the 'special' nature of the Morrigan family.

Otherwise it's business as usual, this time with Danny's father Tony Morrigan as the unlikely successor to Cú Chulainn in the on-going struggle between the mortals of modern-day Ireland and the world of ancient Irish legends, fairies, demons and spiders. Oh yes, giant spiders too - hundreds and thousands of the unthinkably oversized monsters. This is not a tale for arachnophobes, or for anyone lacking a sense of pitch-black humour with a colourful line in sarcastic banter for that matter. Donaghy's prose and dialogue remains as creative as ever in his inventive laugh-out-loud one-liners. They're as plentiful as giant spiders around here, although I'm not sure that's the best kind of recommendation.

Also recognisable is the author's ability to spin (ahem!) a good yarn based in ancient mythology and at the same time tie it in to a very real and recognisable human situation in a way that raises the personal and emotional stakes. Family matters, and all the good and the bad times that come with them, are to the fore again, but given a touching arachnid dimension (seriously) here and in the background of a gutsy new female character that is introduced. You'll never complain about having a bad day at work again when you hear what she has to put up with. That's the strength of Donaghy's writing, the recognition that the best in people can be brought out in the worst of times and that life can indeed be funny sometimes, in more ways than one.

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