Blurb:

Welcome to the world of The Garden Knight.

Derry is a gardener who has made his home in the quiet woodland village of Haverdell. Accompanied by his faithful dog Barrow, Derry intends to spend all his days tending to his gardens, roving the wilds, helping his friends in town, and enjoying the peaceful solitude of life in the hills. But as Harvest Night approaches, strange plants begin to appear: first crawling from the lakeshore near Derry's cottage, then emerging from a hollow in the hills overlooking Haverdell. These plants wriggle along the forest floor, pierce man and beast with long prickling needles, and devour the forest around them with rapid new growth.

Their hunger is increasing. As the gardener of Haverdell, Derry must employ all his wits, woodlore, and cunning to thwart the invasive, ravenous frond-tendrils before they consume the forest completely—as well as his own home and everything he loves.

Review:

We start off in cozy Haverdell, an idyllic town deep in the woodland countryside, following the town’s gardener and all-around overseer, as Harvest Night approaches and with it the promises of merrymaking and glee. Derry is a lovable protagonist, but his furry companion Barrow steals the show on more than one occasion, going so far as to save Derry at times.

The novella (book 0.5 of the Garden Knight series), is short and definitely sweet. We start at Derry and Barrow’s island cottage as they come across a strange frond that wasn’t meant to be in town. The only problem? Derry has so much going on in town to prepare and make safe that his mind is divided for a time. But before long, he discovers more of the strange lifeforms and finds that they threaten the safety of Haverdell and Harvest Night.

Resolving to protect that which he holds dear, Derry heads out to put a stop to the spread of the invading plant-like growth, and before long, gets roped back into town and the festivities and dances begin in full swing.

The prose was absolutely wonderful and masterfully done, and I could not help but fully immerse myself throughout the novella and the cozy world Justin created. I cannot wait to see where the story goes from here in book 1 and will have to read it before autumn ends for maximum effect.

A cozy novella comparable to the likes of Travis Baldree and Becky Chambers, this was truly a fantastic book, and a must read during the autumn season.