M T MgGuire

Although I label MT's books as funny fantasy, this is rather different.  It's far more introspective and angst-ridden. It's full of tension and nicely ratchets up our expectations for the final book. No pressure, then!

One Man, No Plan

amazon.com One Man, No Plan

My review - 

I assume readers of this review have read the first two books in the excellent K'Barthan series but if you haven't I'll try to make sure that I don't spoil either of those for you. The villainous Lord Vernon is determined to declare himself The Candidate and marry The Chosen One. She, however, is in love with The Pan of Hamgee – form a queue behind me! Actually, I have a thing for the Thing. Big Merv, the Swamp Thing. On with the review! 

This book is more introspective than the earlier two which were full of action. Here we deal with motivations and feelings. Ruth is asked to choose between her own happiness and the life of the person she loves. She has to be convincing so he must believe she doesn't love him. There are some heartrending passages here. It's horrible but it's beautifully done. The Pan pulls things together towards the end, then steps out to meet his fate. I won't be the only one hardly daring to breathe till we find out what happens in Book 4.